Review: Spirit Bound

Spirit Bound
By: Richelle Mead
ISBN: 1595142509 (9781595142504)
Series: Vampire Academy

1. Vampire Academy
2. Frostbite
3. Shadow Kiss
4. Blood Promise
5. Spirit Bound
6. Last Sacrifice

Summary from GoodReads:
Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong…

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. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and 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.

Review:
Spirit Bound was a great book but if you do not read the others previous to it you miss out on a lot. In this book the story that has been accumulating has finally reached its peak. We finally know the answer to the millions of questions the first four gave us and leaving us with a hell of a punch in the gut question at the end of this book. 

What I really like about the characters in this series is that Lissa who you would suspect to be the protagonist is really more part of the supporting characters or maybe a dual protagonist. Rose is really the one in the limelight and through out this series she has steadily grown into this amazing character. Richelle Mead is truly great at character development because she didn't make any jumps but rather made smooth transitions that are only apparent upon reflection. One example of the above is the love/death threat letters between Rose and Dimitri. These later prove to be invaluable when we understand their dynamic.

Richelle Mead's take on these vampires is truly an interesting one. She splits the vampires into two camps one being the (good) Moroi and the (evil) Strigoi. The Moroi feed off of people (humans) but never kill whist Strigoi feed off people (Moroi and humans) and kill. The underpinnings of the Moroi society is intriguing as well. As a whole the Moroi are a passive community being protected by dhamphirs (half Moroi). If I were Richelle Mead in the last book I would include a family tree and a glossary because it can be a little tough keeping all the families straight.

Mead's characters are all really interesting even the supporting characters that you hear so little about. When Richelle Mead finishes Rose's story I have heard that she plans on making a spin-off with other characters in the same universe. So far I really liked this series but this book moved it into loving this series. The only other book I may have come close to really loving was Rose's trip to Russia in Blood Promise. Overall, I give this book a four and I really look forward to the next book.