Blood Promise: Vampire Academy, Book 4

I love this series, each and every book. But this one is by far the best one. Beautifully written but aside from that the story is incredible. Loved Rose's time with the Belikovs. I even loved the time she spent in a kind of drug induced addled state. It illustrated the reality of addiction as well as how only your own force of will can pull you out of addiction.Although it was an interesting read seeing Dimitri as a Strigioi, I certainly miss the old Dimitri. The end of Shadow Kiss almost killed me when he was turned. But as Ms. Mead sets up the ending go this book for the next, it's fairly obvious what will happen in regards to Dimitri.Sometimes, however, I find it hard to engage in suspense of disbelief. For example, finding the probable only other people in the world who are bonded. What are the odds really? But I have to admit, it did make for interesting reading.Side note: I really wish the creators of the Vampire Academy movie had done a better job conveying the seriousness of the book. It was all lighthearted fun which I found inappropriate. Sure there are moments in the book where Rose is funny but she's not "on" 24/7 like in the movie. I felt the portrayal of one of my favorite heroines to be very lacking, through no fault of the actress. She did great with the material given to her. Hopefully enough people watched the movie to generate interest in the rest of the books because I would love to see the rest played out on screen. But get someone else to write it!! Perhaps Richelle herself should write it. If the Hunger Games movies are any indication, the movies CAN get better with the right writers and directors. It would be a shame for Vampire Academy to only be portrayed by that terrible teenage crap that tried to pass itself off as a movie. Hard to believe Richelle Mead actually liked what they did to her story. I thought it was crap and I LOVE these books. Ok, long side note tirade over.

Why do I put myself through this? Why do I always pick the books that like to play havoc with my emotions? It seems with each book in this series, the emotional impact gets greater and greater. The author is a master story teller when it comes to this series! Each book is getting better and the characters continue to grow.Rose is on a mission to find Dimitri. She knows he is Strigoi now, and she needs to fulfill her promise on putting Dimitri at rest. She travels to his home in Siberia in the hopes of finding him and killing the love of her life. The first half of this book was focusing on Rose and her search for Dimitri. We get to meet new fighters and even his family. I loved his family and you could tell from the love the family shared that Dimitri grew up in a wonderful home and helped shape him into the man he is. The interaction between Rose and Dimitri's family was bittersweet though because you have to read about their mourning of his passing and how they needed to move on with their lives.The second half of the book brings Dimitri back into the picture. Frankly, I wanted him to be present for the entire book, but the author needed to go through the search for him first. When he appears though, you get excited to finally have him back in the picture, but you can also tell he is not the same. Aside from the physical appearance that has changed with him, you can also tell that he is changed emotionally. Like Rose discovers, he is Dimitri but he is also not Dimitri. My heart broke so much for him. There were moments that the old Dimitri would surface in his actions and words, but then he would do something that proves he is not what he used to be.When Rose and Dimitri finally have their final confrontation, after he has subjected her to being his play toy, I could feel the emotional turmoil that Rose had to go through because of the outstanding writing that the author provided. Seriously readers, this author knows her stuff.After finishing this book, I am a little hesitant in starting the next one. I desperately want to find out more but at the same time I don't. I am scared of what the author is going to throw at me next and I am hoping it is just as great as this one.

This book was so intense and very hilarious. Gets the heart racing and it will leave you wanting more at the end.

Highly recomended!!

Ottime condizioni!

No me esperaba tanto de este último libro. De hecho, estuve a punto de dejar la saga al leer el tercero...Leí algunas críticas aquí y me sorprendió ver que a la gente le gustaba tanto, así que con bastante pena empecé a leer el libro...Para mi sorpresa, la historia se vuelve cada vez más interesante: por la trama, los personajes nuevos y algunas sorpresas.Sin contar con un giro romántico que parece que esté dando... que no me lo esperaba... pero me chifla!

And I thought I'd had enough of vampires. After many beloved and some stereotypical YA vampire books in the past years I felt fine with putting that category on the waiting list for a while. Until I decided to pick up the first book in this series and Richelle Mead's VAMPIRE ACADEMY restored my faith in good and imaginative vampire worlds.I'd had my eyes on the VAMPIRE ACADEMY books for quite a while, many people kept recommending them and I can remember the rave about the last book in the series. Now with the first movie coming out in 2014 I couldn't hold out on this series any longer.Richelle's series isn't your average -There's a vampire in this story and he's gonna bite you, so you become one, too- story. In the VAMPIRE ACADEMY series you don't encounter ordinary vampires. There are different types of blood-suckers, like different links to an evolutionary chain. Our two heroines Rose and Lissa cover the two categories of Moroi and Dhampirs. Moroi are vampires who have the power to wield magic. Dhampirs are a crossing between Moroi and humans and their task is to protect royal Moroi. At the St. Vladimir's Academy they are receiving a special training for the purpose of becoming body guards when they are finished. Those two kinds are co-existing and depending on the other, never purposefully harming humans.The Strigoi make up the third and an entirely different category. They are soulless creatures only existing to destory and hurt humans, Moroi and Dhampirs alike. Strigoi are effortless killers, but they can also be cruel enough to turn the other vampires into one of them and doom them to become evil and heartless, too. They make for evil and seemingly unstoppable enemies in all six books of this series.The fight between Moroi, Dhampirs and Strigoi is the main focus of the VAMPIRE ACADEMY series. Of course you can expect political, social and personal conflicts as well.Now the St. Vladimir's Academy is home to many Moroi and Dhampirs and is the central setting for the six books in this series. Housing, training and study rooms assembled like a small campus, the academic feel is definitely there. But with all the unexpected attacks and complications appearing on the scene it's no wonder Rose and her friends are forced to leave their textbooks behind and step into battle.The characters are travelling a lot, too. Really enjoyed seeing many new places together with Rose and her friends.All six books read on a book binge equal a huge vamptastic adventure beyond imagination. So much action and fights! However the series has its quiet moments, too. The greatest personal focus lies on the bond Rose and Lissa share as best friends and their spiritual bond that's pretty special for Moroi standards. Rose can feel what Lissa's feeling and in certain moments even see through Lissa's eyes. At first this was a very fun aspect about their friendship. The more often Rose visited Lissa's body though, story lows occurred. Sometimes I just felt like skipping these scenes altogether.Rose is the breakaway, tough and sexy warrior. Lissa her well-guarded, spiritual, emphatic protégé. They are body and mind, friends who rule the hearts of many readers. They are lucky to have been gifted with two equally appealling love stories, slightly erotic, romantic and steamy for sure.Lissa finds Christian, an outsider, who was not even looking for acceptance until he met Lissa. They are healing each other from the wounds of their pasts and click together like a puzzle meant to exist. And Rose gets her love story with Dimitri. Just like everyone told me, that guy is sexy! Their difference in age and experience puts a forbidden touch to their love story. He is her instructor and she is supposed to keep her hands off him. Is that a dare? Major turn-on!BLOOD PROMISE is a lot about travelling and enduring hardships. It's probably the darkest book in this series! SPIRIT BOUND is about returning to the place you belong, your true self and the fight for justice.The books keep getting longer and longer. Currently LAST SACRIFICE is the longest book I've read so far this year. Not just in page count – 2688 pages- is this series truly epic, but in its emotional variety, youthful voices, and imaginative, adventurous story line.5/5 ***** VAMPIRE ACADEMY Series- One of the most enthralling and memorable YA vampire worlds I've had the pleasure to live in.A series I wish I would have encountered much sooner. I'm so glad that all six books were released already and I could pick up the next book right after one was finished. I wouldn't have wanted to wait one year for each of them to come out. The first three BLOODLINES books are waiting on my Kindle to be read. The decision whether to start the series now or wait till all of them have been released has yet to be made.