Times Read: 1+
Excerpt: "WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS ROSE COULD LOSE HER BEST FRIEND FOREVER?
Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires - the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.
Rose 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...
Then a strange darkness begins to grow in Rose's mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. The immortal undead are closing in, and they want vengeance for the lives 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?"
My Rambles: Half of me has already forgotten the first half of the book lol. I think this one was better than the last two in terms of how annoying I find Rose. Don't get me wrong though, she still had her moments. Though I guess half of that is because of Lissa's darkness taking over. Which is a fascinating aspect and I can't wait to see how it's fleshed out. *just skimmed through the first few pages* OK, this starts with the field assignment and idk how that made it feel shorter than the book itself. Neat. All of them need therapy honestly, not just the ones involved in the Spokane incident. Though half of them didn't get any either. I'm proud of Lissa and Adrian learning more and delving into their magic. Christian's jealousy amuses me but half is because I forget how easy it is for teens to succomb to emotions regardless of the rationality behind the opposing thoughts.
The fight was great, well the idea of the fight was. I believe there was a bit more tell than show in terms of how it was going down. Don't get me wrong, I know that fights are very fast and you wouldn't want to mess up the pace, but I think there could have been more to it. So I didn't have to supply as much background images and such. It's nice seeing the novices show their metal and be taken seriously. I semi get what Rose is up to but I think it was a dumb decision at the end. But I guess that's how we get the next book lol. I'm so proud of Eddie. He came a long way through his own devistation and is a better fighter than he was. I feel if he was at the top of the class (well near, I don't recall exactly do correct me if I'm wrong) he shouldn't have been taken so easily. That is a problem with Meads writing that I have. Like "oh here's a bad ass character that's supper tough and amazing" "oh look they lost/got taken/got used/are dead" it's off putting. I get that there has to be flaws and no one can win all the time it's just not ironed out well where it feels convincing.
Recommend: 7/10