Book Review: Vampire Academy - Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead & Bloodlines cover alert!

* Please note: in my reviews for the  Vampire Academy series there are spoilers for previous instalments of the series.

Product details:
Publisher: Penguin
Hardcover, 594 pages.
Release date: December 7th 2010.
Rating: 4½ out of 5.
Ages:12+
Series: Vampire Academy #6

Other Books in Series: Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound.

She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir’s Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir Princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardian to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose- for a crime she didn’t even commit. She’s in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She’ll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose’s life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back… and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your life is about saving others, who will save you?

And so it comes to an end...

I have been on such an emotional rollercoaster with this series, and so, I had very high expectations for this finale. Richelle Mead hasn't disappointed throughout this series, and I'm glad to say that here she's provided a great ending to a series I have truly come to love. I can't believe I put off reading this series for so long, and now I'm completely addicted! It was hard to say goodbye! Everything about Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy series is entirely addicting and captivating. If like me, you've been putting this one on the back-burner, or if you are just a little tired of the whole vampire crazy in YA fiction, read this book, and you'll be sucked right back in! Oh, and you'll get to meet Dimitri, and, I promise, he is a delight not to be missed!

The fifth book in this series, Spirit Bound, concluded with a series of surprises and a major cliffhanger involving Rose. Richelle Mead can surprise me like no other author can! As Last Sacrifice opens, Rose is lingering in prison, framed for the assassination of Queen Tatiana, and awaiting trial. Even worse, it seems as though almost everybody has already concluded that Rose is guilty of this heinous crime, and so death awaits her. Let's not forget though, that Rose is armed with an important piece of knowledge, a long held secret, which, if she can uncover, will allow Lissa to ascend to power at the Royal Court. This in turn, would make life a whole lot easier for Rose. The race is on to free Rose, and I can feel another prison break a-brewing!

This book has a little bit of everything. There's all the romance, action and adventure, you've come to expect from this series. We're taken along on a road-trip-with-an-edge courtesy of Rose and Dimitri, who are soon joined by Sydney, the alchemist Rose met in Russia. Back at the Royal Court Lissa, Adrian and Christian, band together to try and prove Roses innocence with some surprising results! This book also saved the character of Lissa for me. I have never totally warmed to her character, but here she's much more mature and considered and really looks out for Rose. I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm on “Team Lissa” but she definitely annoyed me a little less in this book!

I savoured every page of Last Sacrifice, and I will say that while I found a couple of the plot-lines a little predictable, I so loved getting to spend more time with these characters. Rose remains strong and feisty, but she has that vulnerable side too. She's such a well rounded character and is one of my all time favourite female protagonists. Dimitri is just dreamy here, but I have also totally warmed to Adrian recently and I found myself completely torn between the two at times. Christian remains a favourite of mine, as he has been right from the start. He was actually the first VA guy I liked! I think it's safe to say that Vampire Academy has the best boys, and if the movie version comes to fruition, the eye candy is going to be insane!!

As the last in a series, this one doesn't contain the shocking cliffhangers of previous books, and the main storylines are wrapped up quite nicely. I have to say, though, that if I hadn't already known about the spin-off, Bloodlines, when I read this, I would be absolutely seething about the conclusion for one of my favourite guys here! I'm hoping instead, that he'll feature quite heavily in the spin-off, so I'm totally looking forward to that.

Goodbye, Rose. Bring on Bloodlines!

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If you haven't already seen the cover for the Vampire Academy spin-off Bloodlines, here it is! It's not my favourite cover, I'll admit, but then, I've never been a huge fan of the VA covers overall.  With these books, it's what's inside that counts! That's Sydney on the cover there, and I'm hoping that's Adrian right beside her! I do wonder if Sydney can carry a series as well as Rose can, but I'm looking forward to finding out! This is out in August 2011 in the US. No word on the UK release date or cover art yet.

What do you think VA fans?