Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #6 
Source: bought
Publisher: Razorbill
Publication Date: December 7th, 2010
Age Genre: Young Adult

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. 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 guardians 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 whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

   

Last week I told you about my struggles with Spirit Bound, but what I didn't tell you is that I immediately started the sixth and finale book at the series, which did me a world of good because there was no icky adjustment time to the writing or Rose's voice, so it somehow turned out that I read the biggest book in the series in the shortest amount of time - two and a half days. 

And to be completely honest, I'm still not sure if the book deserves 3.5 stars or four. On the one hand, I really did enjoy this book. Like, genuinely enjoyed it. On the other... some things (especially toward the end) grated on my nerves and made me roll my eyes. 

Let's start with - what I liked. First and foremost; Rose's journey. You can really tell how much she's changed from the first book in this one. She's definitely matured, and I was pretty shocked to realize the Vampire Academy series spans only a year and a half or so. It felt much longer. She did so much growing in such a short amount of time! 

Then, this book was kind of filled with happenings. The action may not have been nonstop, but you always felt like what was happening was important and made the plot move farther, which I really liked. 

Then there were the additions of some characters which I adored--and quite frankly, I am so happy they got their happy endings! Hopefully, Mead won't ruin their happiness in the spin off. 

Now, what I didn't like. First, there is the book long theme of Rose "moving on". It's mentioned pretty much from the first chapter, and it made me upset because: she, what, decided to "move on" two days ago!? How is that moving on? Moving on doesn't happen in a day! And they all speak as if she's "moved on" for months. Which everyone--ADRIAN included--know isn't true. 

Then there was the issue of "forgiveness". Forgiving one's self is a big issue in this book - and I totally get why. But Mead completely baffled me by doing it in a realistic and gradual way in Dmitri's case, then completely changing "tactics" and doing it in the most ridiculous way in Rose's. If you're going to make forgiveness a big issue... don't solve it on the same page it's brought up. Seriously. One conversation is not going to effect you if you truly feel that way. 

Third... [cheating]. Not cool, Rose, not cool at all. In fact, I kind of hated her when that happened. The fact she completely forgot about the she even [had a boyfriend] made me want to kill her. You don't do that. Or at least, you don't do that and expect everything to be okay... because it won't be. I was kind of disappointed in Dmitri, too. [The excuse of "I'm with him but meant for you" should not have moved him.]

Now, there is another matter that bothered me a tiny bit. I knew who the villain was beforehand. A while back, I decided I need some spoilers about Dmitri (cause I was anxious to know everything will be okay), and read a bit more than I meant to. So the entire read, I was looking for... clues. There weren't any I could see. That was a bit disappointing, to me. What about you?

In general, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. On the one hand - I did like it. On the other... some of the stuff that happened... I didn't like them. I didn't get why they were necessary... Also - cheese factor! Made me roll my eyes how sweet and sugary they were *gags*. 

P.S I want an Abe spin off, because he is golden. 

Nitzan★