Monday, April 9, 2012

Review: Blood Promise by Richelle Mead



The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

Positive:

      The plot twists- There were so many moments when I went *gasp* “What?! No way!! Ohmygoodness!!” And that ending… wow. When I first read this book I thought it would be the last in the series. And then I got to the end and there was no way the series could end that way. Such a cliffhanger. I loved it!

      Dimitri- Yeah, yeah. I know he’s a bad guy in this book, but this is my favorite of him. I think it was the way he acted, not passive as usual. He isn’t normally a pushover, really, but this time he let it be known what he wanted.

      Adrian- Hehe, do I have to say more? Adrian is just Adrian. Cute, flirty, and actually a really nice guy. I love him, but I know he’s not for Rose. He’s for someone else later on *cough cough*

      Sydney- We don’t really see her that much in Blood Promise, but she becomes a more important character later in the series, and actually is a main character in the spinoff Bloodlines series. She’s serious and hardworking yet has a side that you could easily be friends with.

      And then there’s Abe- Such a shady guy! He’s like..from the Sopranos or something. Jeesh. Can a guy be more mobster? I like him though. And really? This series would be nothing without him, in a weird technical way. Let’s just say, I don’t know how I didn’t make the connection earlier.

Negative:

The flashbacks- Well, they aren’t flashbacks. It’s Rose going into Lissa’s mind through their psychic spirit bond. I get that what’s happening to Lissa while Rose is in Russia is important, but I just didn’t like it. Plus, the time span of Lissa’s event didn’t coincide with the time span of when Rose goes to her mind. For example: Rose goes to Lissa’s mind. Lissa is at a party. Rose goes back to herself. Days pass. Rose goes back to Lissa’s mind. All of a sudden it’s just the next day for Lissa. What the heck? I don’t even know…

      The length- I was just so used to breezing through the first three books and then this one just seemed to drag on. I ended up skimming through the last half this time(This review is from me re-reading this book). A lot could have been left out, I think.


All in all, it was still an extremely good book. Really, the scenery of Russia has persuaded me to start learning the language and one day I’d like to visit there.

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