Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Blood Promise

503 pages, YA Paranormal Romance

Vampire Academy #4

Synopsis

Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same. 

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?

My 2 cents

I'm not sure why I waited so long to read this series.  What an amazing series, and this book was even better than the last!

First of all, Rose and Dmitri's romance was so hot, and forbidden, its made a great story arc.  I keep reading reviews where readers are getting tired of the forbidden love theme in so much YA fiction.  I do agree, it has been overused after Twilight.  But when reading it in this series, it feels like a new fresh take on it.  After the last book, I was a little surprised Rose was ready so quickly to go out and save Dmitri's soul (by killing him, no less!) but it doesn't feel quite so sudden this book.  Rose spends about the first half of the book dealing with his loss, dealing with abandoning Lissa, and just trying to figure out what she's going to do with the rest of her life.  She is truly lost, that really came through with the writing. 

I was so unprepared for the last half of the book.  In my wildest dreams, I don't think I could have imagined that plotline! Kudos to the author!  I had to read the last half all at once to find out what was going to happen with Rose.

Another thing I loved about this story, was that we still had Adrian, Christian, and Lisaa in it.  Rose "travels" to Lissa's mind frequently to keep up on her friends' lives.  She feels really guilty about leaving like she did.  She realizes she picked Dmitri over Lissa, and its hard for her to deal with.  Adrian also visits her dreams frequently.  

The ending was another shock cliffhanger, and now I can't wait to read the next book!  Another great Vampire Academy read, I give it 5 stars!