Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, #4) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Feb 14, 2010 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Being able to read all four of the series straight after each other is not always a good idea, I think it tends to highlight inconsistencies in the characters and plot.
Rose's quest to hunt Dimitri is slow, stalling at his hometown, which gave Mead a way to share more of Dimitri's background, but stalled the action and leeched away any tension. We meet a bunch of charcters with no real purpose, apart from Sydney and her father. Both of these characters could have been built on far more and becom ...more

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Aug 30, 2009 Thenia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed, magic, 2014, r-ab, series, ya-na, 2021, paranormal, vampires, 2009

Rose is on an impossible quest, heartbroken and in a harsh reality. Her road is dark and unclear and she is struggling as best as she can to keep her promises.

There are several twists in the series and the one in this book was pretty chilling and set the stage perfectly for what's to come.

I don't remember all that clearly what happens next so I'm looking forward to listening to the remaining books and refreshing my memory.

First read: August 30th 2009 ~ 5 stars
Re-read: April 29th 2014 ~ 5 stars
Re ...more

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Jan 03, 2011 The Flooze rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: vanquished_2011, ya_teen, urban-fantasy-paranormal, glutton_for_punishment

**3.5**
**Spoilers for previous books**

Well, slap my ass and call me Sally. Mead managed to surprise me. Twice, even! There were still plenty of things that went wrong in this book, but the surprises made for a nice change.

“In my dreams, you shone. You burned like a star, and I saw you as a warrior, someone who could do great deeds. Instead? You’ve sat around and moped. You’ve done nothing.”

Damn skippy. The first half of the book treats us to an overabundance of angst. Granted, Rose has a right t **3.5**
**Spoilers for previous books**

Well, slap my ass and call me Sally. Mead managed to surprise me. Twice, even! There were still plenty of things that went wrong in this book, but the surprises made for a nice change.

“In my dreams, you shone. You burned like a star, and I saw you as a warrior, someone who could do great deeds. Instead? You’ve sat around and moped. You’ve done nothing.”

Damn skippy. The first half of the book treats us to an overabundance of angst. Granted, Rose has a right to grieve and moon over her lost love. Unfortunately, these thoughts consume her. The result is page after page of ineffectual storytelling. Instead of giving us badass Rose on a mission, Mead delivers sappy Rose in a daze. New aspects of moroi and dhampir society are introduced, but the emotional weight obscures their importance. The only advantage of this section is the realism Dimitri gains. Apparently, Rose and her teacher had more private moments together than we thought. Their inclusion helped justify the all-powerful bond Rose feels with Dimitri - not completely, but enough that I’m not as puzzled by the relationship now.

The book doesn’t really take off until Rose and the newly-minted Strigoi boyfriend meet again. This is the most interaction we’ve seen between the two for the whole of the series. It’s bittersweet and includes a decent amount of tension. Rose’s indecision knocks the haughty arrogance out of her, and it was interesting to see her worldview challenged. It showcases her personal agony far more than the sentimentality of the first half did.

While Rose is off on her “quest,” she often uses her bond to check on Lissa. This aspect drove me nuts. Thankfully, it served a greater purpose in the end, but getting there was tedious. It was all too convenient that every time Rose visited Lissa’s thoughts, the moroi just happened to be discussing her. It also halted the action in a book already plagued with false starts. Finally, it created inconsistencies in the timeline (ex: Rose hadn’t checked on Lissa in several days, but when she enters her friend’s mind only a few hours have passed). I liked the magical discoveries resulting from this side-story, but the execution was lacking.

I liked Adrian from the start and Blood Promise shored up my feelings. He steps up in several ways and I wish Rose would put more faith in him. I believe he plays a larger role in the next book - I’m looking forward to that.

Blood Promise is an okay addition to the series. It takes too long to get to its destination, dampening my sympathies. Despite the few surprises, it also supports the predictions I’ve made based on all the clue by fours. I’m invested, but I’m hoping there’s a final added twist to make the six book journey worthwhile. ...more

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Aug 06, 2010 AmandaG rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, ya, 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Oh my goodness, the first half of this book was hard to get through. I kept thinking that things needed to move along already! I was bothered by the fact that right at the beginning, there was an inconsistancy with the story. Rose said that before he went to the other side Mason told her Dimitri was in Siberia. Did that really happen and I missed it? I sure don't remember him saying that.

A lot of the parts of the story I felt were such a departure from the previous books. There were so many new ...more

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Oct 13, 2009 Charlotte (Buried in Books) rated it really liked it

Shelves: vampires, young-adult

One of the great things about Christmas is you get tons of time to read. I started this book well over a year ago. Got about 100 pages into it and put it down, mainly because I think I was still depressed about Dimitri being Strigoi - even though I knew how the series ended. But also because I tend to stop reading series I really love - because I don't want them to end.

But yesterday I picked it up again, and now I'm finished. Whatever happens, alive or undead Dimitri is a BADASS .

This book ju ...more

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Oct 26, 2010 D rated it it was amazing

Shelves: excellent-ya

This book took the series to an entirely new level...

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Mar 27, 2011 PM rated it it was amazing

Loved the book, loved the series. I am so glad there will be more. Richelle has agreed to write a short story about Rose and Dimitri and then she has also begun a new series that takes off on the Alchemists and Sidney. Can't wait.

Love this author. ...more

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