The recent Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir’s Academy was the deadliest ever in the school’s history, claiming the lives of Moroi students, teachers, and guardians alike. Even worse, the Strigoi took some of their victims with them . . . including Dimitri.
He’d rather die than be one of them, and now Rose must abandon her best friend, Lissa—the one she has sworn to protect no matter what—and keep the promise Dimitri begged her to make long ago. But with everything at stake, how can she possibly destroy the person she loves most?
Ugh…..I spent this entire book with my heart bleeding for poor Rose. As with the rest of this series, I listened to this book as an audiobook. First, let me just say THANK YOU to whoever is in charge of picking the narrator. The woman that narrates this audiobook is perfect! Dimitri has a Russian accent again and Lissa doesn’t sound like she’s two years old. AndAdrian! Adrian Ivashkov is BRITTISH!! WHUT!?!?!?! I missed this somewhere in the shuffle and because I listen to the audiobooks, he never had an accent before. I kind of dig it. I know that none of this is pertinent to the content of the book but I listen to aLOTof audiobooks and a crappy narrator can make or break it.
Anyway, the story. One of the things that I loved about this book is the physical places it took Rose. She’s on her own personal mission to uphold a promise that she made to Dimitri long ago (never thinking that she would actually have to follow through on that promise) and it takes her on a man hunt…..all over the place. I don’t want to reveal too much about where she goes because I don’t want to ruin it for everyone who hasn’t read it yet……although I am almost sure that I was the last one left.
Rose also meets a whole array of new characters. Some I adore. Some I want to slap. And by ‘slap’, I mean whack them upside the head with a 2×4…..a 2×4 wrapped in velvet……I’m not a monster. However, all of these characters comprise one HELL of a story line. My biggest issue (or so most therapists would tell me) is that a lot of times, I find myself totally loving the bad guys! One such character in this book is Abe. He’s dangerous and sends up a whole orchestra of warning bells but I still like him. He’s a funny old man. One character that you meet isSydney. I still don’t know how I feel about her. I kind of like her but she could do with some 2×4 treatment at times. I wont mention the other characters that I adore because it’ll ruin some major surprises in the book and that’s not my mission here at Pure Textuality. Let’s just say, you’re going to love the new cast in this book.
With that said, our old cast is here too! Adrian, Lissa, Christian and a whole slew of other mainstays that we are love or love to hate. There are a few newer ones back at St. Vlad’s too that have some tricks up they’re sleeves. I’m not going to say if they’re good tricks or bad tricks. You’re just going to have to find out for yourself.
There is SO MUCH going in Blood Promise. There are quite a few “revelations” that are both heart-wrenching and stunning all at once. Richelle Mead has outdone herself once again. The thing that I love most about this whole series is each book gets better and better. Every time I read (or listen, as the case may be) to the next book in the series, I finish thinking now THAT is my favorite book in the series. That is where Blood Promise stands with me. This was such a fantastic addition to the series and the things that are revealed in this installment are what makes this book so good.
And the ending……o…..m……g…….the ending. You. Will. Be. Floored.
Overall, I am giving Blood Promise 5 stars. Fantastic 4th installment in a series that I was not 100% sold on at first. Well, Richelle Mead, you have totally won me over. I leave you with that as I hit play on my iPod and start book #5 – Spirit Bound.
GET YOUR COPY FROM AMAZON.COM
Click here for hardcover!
Click here for paperback!
Click here for Kindle format!
READ MY REVIEWS FOR THE REST OF THE SERIES
Vampire Academy – Book 1
Frostbite – Book 2
Shadow Kiss – Book 3
