As I stood in the long line, waiting to be let into watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 on Friday night, I finished Spirit Bound.

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa Dragomir. It’s graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives outside of the Academy’s cold iron gates to finally begin. But even with the intrigue and excitement of court life looming, Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri. He’s out there, somewhere. 

She failed to kill him when she had the chance, and now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won’t join him, he won’t rest until he’s silenced her…forever. 

But Rose can’t forget what she learned on her journey—whispers of a magic too impossible and terrifying to comprehend. A magic inextricably tied to Lissa that could hold the answer to all of Rose’s prayers, but not without devastating consequences. Now Rose will have to decide what—and who—matters most to her. In the end, is true love really worth the price? 

Fall in love with Rose and Dimitri all over again in Spirit Bound, the eagerly awaited fifth novel in Richelle Mead’s enthralling Vampire Academy series. From Goodreads.

After the roller coaster ride that Blood Promise was, I was expecting the same. While it wasn’t on the same level of pace and excitement as the last book, Spirit Bound was still an addictive read- just like the rest of Mead’s series.

After the creepy note that the last book ended on, the relationship between Dimitri and Rose intensifies, if that’s even possible, as she hunts down ways of making Dimitri a dhampir again. The cat and mouse chase between them ends quickly, which was one thing that I didn’t like. I felt like Mead could have drawn that part out more, to make it more exciting.

Lissa plays a big role in this book, which I really enjoyed. Previously, she hasn’t really played a part in Rose’s schemes, but in this one, she’s fully on board. I enjoyed reading about them together, since both girls are so different, yet such good friends.

Most of the book took place at Court (other than one brief trip to Vegas), and Court politics form a lot of the drama and intrigue. I kept thinking it would move on from there and the real story would start as Rose would find out who she was guarding, so it took me some to realise that what was happening at Court was the main plot. Tatiana also plays a big role, although her motivations weren’t always clear throughout. Abe also makes an appearance.

My thoughts on this book are kind of muddled, because I started Last Sacrifice, the final book, almost immediately after. Look out for my review for that next.

But there’s a definite surprise at the end, one that makes you gasp at the sudden change of events. As in true Mead fashion, it makes you want to grab the next book.

And for that: 4/5

That’s all there is; there isn’t any more.

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas