WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS ROSE COULD LOSE HER BEST FRIEND FOREVER?
Rose Hathaway knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa – the last Dragomir princess – must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken . . .
But since making her first Strigoi kills, Rose hasn’t been feeling right. Something dark has begun to grow in her mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy’s iron gates. And now that Lissa and Rose’s sworn enemy, Victor Dashkov, is on trial for his freedom, tensions in the Moroi world are higher than ever.
Lying to Lissa about Dimitri is one thing, but suddenly there’s way more than friendship at stake. The immortal undead are on the prowl, and they want vengeance for the lives that Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most . . . but will her choice mean that only one can survive?
W…..T…..F….. Richelle Mead – if the next book in this series were not out already, you’d be getting some SERIOUSLY angry fan mail from me right now!
Now that I have THAT out of my system, let me ‘splainy. I heart ghost stories. They’re definitely in my Top 3 favorite types of books to read and Shadow Kiss combines it with the two other – vampire fiction and YA.
Now that I am at the halfway point in this series, there is no turning back. I liked Vampire Academy (book #1) a lot, I loved Frostbite (book #2) but this one blows those two away. Shadow Kiss has an element that the other two did not have – it is frikkin intense! I cant say that it is intense from the first page, but it picks up early enough that you are not sitting there saying “Geez! When is SOMETHING going to happen?!?!?!”. It’s nothing like that at all!
As with any other YA/vamp fiction, you have the inevitable love story. I like the fact that Shadow Kiss doesn’t have just the main star-crossed lovers now. Although it is a “scenery” romance, I love Lissa and Christian together. I think they make an adorable couple and I hope to see them make it for the long haul. Of course, there’s Rose and Dimitri…..Well, I will keep my yap shut about that because Shadow Kiss provides a few surprises for our tortured couple and I don’t want to blow it.
Adrian Ivashkov – this is a character that I have liked all along but never really could pin down as whether or not he’s a good guy. After reading this book, I like him more and more but I wont say why. However, I have a theory that he’s going to be a key player in later books. Cant wait to find out if I’m right!
One of the main reasons I love this book (as I already stated) is the ghost story aspect of it. However, I am struggling with this review in that I cant think of a single thing I can say that wont spoil it. Just trust me when I say that we have some creepy kind of heart-pounding moments and some moments that will just make you want to hug someone.
Ahhhh and the tissues. Yes, don’t forget the tissues. There are SEVERAL moments in which you will definitely need them! I was listening to this as an audiobook at work and had to hide the fact that I kept tearing up so that my co-workers wouldn’t think that a family member had died. Some are sad tears. Some are happy tears. Just don’t forget the tissues.
The last thing I want to mention is Rose. Our main character has grown up a lot over the course of these three books. She’s gone from a bit of a whiny teenager to a woman desperately trying to understand the world that she’s in. She’s come to realize that all the glory of being a Guardian is a far more serious thing than she realized. This has been a tough realization for her but something that she needed to see. I think she has a better understanding of that fact than any of her peers and that sort of leaves her in a lonely and sobering state. She’s not 100% there yet but I think she proves that she’s the woman for the job in Shadow Kiss.
And the ending….. O…..M……G! What a cliffhanger!!!! The first two books in this series had a relatively quiet ending. Although left with loose ends for the series to continue, each book sort of wrapped up nicely for the book. Shadow Kiss doesn’t really do that. This one is left WIDE OPEN. This is the reasoning for my opening statement in this review (WTF?). Luckily, this is a completed series and I don’t have to wait for the release of the next book in the series to see what happens. However, I am forcing myself to wait two more days before I get the next book because I have two others that I am currently reading. I am so looking forward to continuing on with this series.
All in all, I give Shadow Kiss a very solid 4 stars! This is my favorite book in this series thus far.
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[…] READ MY REVIEWS FOR THE REST OF THE SERIES Vampire Academy – Book 1 Frostbite – Book 2 Shadow Kiss – Book 3 […]