Vampire Academy: Blood Promise [Paperback]

I only started this series because I was really stuck for something to read, and I had enjoyed previous works by Richelle Mead. I was hesitant at first for a couple of reasons; the main one being that it is aimed at YA's, and another being that the description of this new vampire world seemed complicated and even tedious.

Now, 4 books in, I cannot wait for the next installment to come out, because these books are simply AMAZING! If you haven't started them yet, stop reading and go to the first book - I don't want any spoilers to ruin the journey.

Although it is aimed at YA, the subject matters that Mead handles are far from juvenile - the build up of the last 3 books comes to an emotional sort-of climax (still plenty of plot for sequals by the end-thank god!) that had me feeling grief, despair, hope, anger, joy, the list goes on...at one point I was crying so hard I had to stop reading for a few minutes. Not every reader will have the same reaction of course, but Mead has managed to create really realistic characters that we love for themselves, flaws and all.

There isn't really much I can say on the plot without giving stuff away. 'BLOOD PROMISE' starts where book 3 left off: Rose has left the Vampire Academy - and Lissa - to hunt Dimitri, her love and newly turned Strigoi. The main bulk of the book is, obviously, taken up with Rose's hunt and what happens when she eventually finds him. We are given regular updates on Christian, Lissa and Adrian though by Rose's visits into Lissa's mind however, which balances the book out.

I was slightly apprehensive at how Mead was going to handle the hunt-to-the-death between Rose and Dimitri, as it was bound to be emotionally charged and perhaps a not very cheery reading; I was worried that whatever outcome Mead had planned would either be unbelievable because it gave the reader what they wanted, or unrealistic in how the end - what ever that may be - came about.
However, the plot flows smoothly and at no point do you stop and say Hang on, couldn't she have just done/said that and made it all ok?? as sometimes happens to me in other books. We believe all of Rose's actions and emotions because we live them with her; such is the power of this author's writing.

A YA book that adults could definitely enjoy - it handles mature content, and makes you want to read more and more. I can't wait for book 5 - Spirit Bound! If you enjoyed the previous 3 books in the series then you will be bowled over by this one :)

I cannot even begin to tell you just how brilliant this book was! There are so many reasons, and it was so different from what we've read so far in the series, and I could just gush forever, but this is a review so it needs some semblance of coherency.

I'll start with the differences. In all the other books, Rose and Lissa have been together, and if not at school - as is the case in Frostbite - they have always been with the students and the school authority figures. Not this time. Rose spends pretty much all of the book in Russia, away from school, away from anyone to reprimand her for breaking any rules - and there are no rules. She's out in the world on her own, with only her training and her own idea of what's sensible to guide her, and it's great to see Rose going about things as she wants and she sees fit. It's refreshing, but also worrying.

This doesn't mean we leave Lissa, Christian and Adrian behind. Rose does look in on Lissa through their bond several times throughout the book, and through it we follow the sub-plot at St. Vladimir's; there is a new head teacher, and with him comes two of his own children, Reed and Avery. And Lissa's erratic behaviour becomes increasingly more worrisome for her friends, for Rose, and for herself. It may seem convenient that we're able to get to this sub-plot through Rose and Lissa's bond, but there is always a reason for Rose to check up on Lissa, rather than just "oh, let's go see what Lissa's up to." It's very well done, and it's great to be able to keep up with both girls.

We meet a fair number of new characters in this book, and it's just awesome! We meet Sydney, and Alchemist, with Alchemists being a group of humans who know all about Moroi, Strigoi and Dhampirs, and has a unique way of "cleaning up" when guardians leave around dead Strigoi bodies. She's very off-ish at first, but I really liked her! She's very resourceful, and also opinionated about all the Vampire Academy races. I like how she's wary of Rose, and doesn't trust her. It's great to have a human's view and opinion. We also meet Dimitri's family in Siberia; Olena, Dimitri's mother; Karolina, Sonya, and Viktoria, Dimitri's sisters; Yeva, Dimitri's grandmother, and Paul, Dimitri's niece. They are everything you would have thought them to be, considering they're related to Dimitri; they're kind, they're caring, and they soon start thinking of Rose as one of their own. I love them! We meet the mysterious and slippery Abe, a non-royal Moroi with a lot of money, who just oozes untrustworthiness. We also meet Oksana, a Moroi, and Mark an ex-guardian, who are a bonded married couple. Oh, how we learn such wonderful things from them about Spirit, things that not even Adrian knows about. It's exciting and wonderful, and I look forward to how things will span out Spirit wise in the next book.

Finally we meet Dimitri-as-Strigoi - as I'm going to refer to him in this review. When I reviewed Shadow Kiss, someone commented on how they didn't like Dimitri based on what they see of him in Blood Promise. I still love Dimitri. Why? Because Dimitri-as-Strigoi is not the Dimitri we all love. He's gone, and as awful as it is, this person left is cold, uncaring and violent, and couldn't be any further from the Dimitri we know. It's not him, and so I can't hate Dimitri. What's also great about this book is that we get flashbacks of times with Dimitri we haven't yet seen. That may have taken place in the books with read, conversations that weren't important at the time, or in between books, and it's great to see these lovely, swet, soft moments between Rose and Dimitri, and see the love between them. It was beautiful.

Blood Promise is a very emotional book, and the time spent with Dimitri - the length of which I will not allude to, long or short - is just heart breaking. Not only do we see Dimitri-as-Strigoi and really dislike him and what's happened to the guy we knew, we also get to see Rose's reaction to him, and it's just so sad. There is also a fair amount of action too; most of the time, Rose is on her own and has no back-up, and she just goes to show her immense skill. It's just fantastic, and her strength to fight when she's so emotionally messed up is incredible.

The book ends on such a cliff-hanger, it's fantastic. It's the kind of cliff-hanger where it gives you an idea of what will happen in the next book, and I can't tell you how excited I am for Spirit Bound! It's going to be just brilliant! It will be even more action and more emotional, by the looks of it. I can't wait for it to be released on 18th May in the UK. Seriously, you need to read this series if you haven't yet started. You have no idea what you're missing out on.

Blood Promise is the forth book in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead. After the heartbreaking events of Shadow Kiss, Rose has walked away from the academy, her duty and her best friend in an effort to hold up an unspoken promise. Now she's alone in Russia hunting the man she loves. But when she finally finds him, can she do what she promised? It's what he wanted, but he's not dead and he still wants her. She has the chance to finally be with him, for good, without anyone else in the way. Rose meets several people along the way on her journey to find Dimitri, who help or hinder her, but all give her a better look at the world around her and the way some things work. Blood Promise is very different to the first three books in the series, with Rose away from the Academy, Lissa and the rest of the people she trusted. It's the first time we've seen her truly alone and without a safety net. She's in the real world and in a lot more danger than normal. It's much darker than the previous books as well. There is less humour and Rose isn't quite up to her sassy best, but at a realistic level given the circumstances. Rose is dealing with a lot of pain and sadness at the loss of Dimitri and you feel every moment of it, and you can completely understand her desperate desire to believe Dimitri is still the man he always was. Rose does a lot of growing up through Blood Promise. And back at the Academy Lissa is struggling to cope without Rose to lean on for the first time in her life. A real wake up call for her too. There are plenty of twists and turns, and the book is well written, blending the flashbacks and time in someone else's head well with the mostly emotional journey Rose is going through. There was a lot left open at the end leaving me wanting the next book now. But it wasn't the killer ending that Shadow Kiss was. Not a bad thing!