Blood Promise (Vampire Academy, #4) in Addicted to YA

Nov 10, 2013 Renuka rated it it was ok

Shelves: paranormal, young-adult, romance, action, magic, suckish-endings, e-book, cliff-hangers, reviewed, pn-vampires

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was really upset with this one. I was enjoying the Vampire Academy series a lot. It was gaining a little maturity and I loved the cliffhanger in the third book. I was so excited to see how Rose would weather this trial and how she would change. I was excited to see where they would go. But I was sorely disappointed.

Beware spoilers.

When Rose goes chasing Dimitri, I realized it was rash, but I thought that maybe it was a good thing. Rose was finally doing something for herself. I love Rose. She I was really upset with this one. I was enjoying the Vampire Academy series a lot. It was gaining a little maturity and I loved the cliffhanger in the third book. I was so excited to see how Rose would weather this trial and how she would change. I was excited to see where they would go. But I was sorely disappointed.

Beware spoilers.

When Rose goes chasing Dimitri, I realized it was rash, but I thought that maybe it was a good thing. Rose was finally doing something for herself. I love Rose. She's sarcastic and funny, intelligent, and super badass. The amount of Strigoi she has killed is awe-inspiring. I thought she would have gained more of a sense of responsibility I guess, some real development. It looked as if she was really starting to understand herself.

But the chase is slow. Mind-numbingly slow. The first 3/4 of this book is so boring I had to stop for a little while. My attention kept wandering, and her heartache over Dimitri did not move me at all (I know, shocking). Dimitri's family was really adorable, and I was glad for new characters - especially Sydney and Abe, and also Yeva and the shadow-kissed couple - but even so, there was literally no action for the first 75%. I don't even remember much of what actually happens. I guess lots of talking and non-action .

Then finally, it blasts off. But only for about three seconds. Basically she finally gets up to Dimitri, she chickens out, and then Rose does the one thing I never thought she would. She ends up becoming a slave to Dimitri. The Strigoi version. Yes, seriously. She ends up completely doped up as Dimitri drinks her blood day after day. What happened?!?! I felt like I'd been punched in the face and robbed of one of my favorite heroines. I was really appalled. Rose all drugged up is disheartening and unfortunate. When she finally gets herself back together, I just couldn't enjoy it that much. It constantly feels like she's throwing away her future. When she finally gets accepted back into Vampire Academy, it looks as if she's just planning to drop out and run away again in the next book. Why???

Now okay, there are some redeeming qualities about this book: Rose and Lissa's bond, Lissa's story and the fight with Dimitri. Lissa was fascinating in this one. Seeing her teetering on the edge was scary and learning more about the shadow-kissed was amazing. I love that aspect of these novels, and the fantasy is getting better and better. The "mind-fight" is one of the best parts, and I loved it. It was unusual and strange, and filled with tension. And Rose's final fight with Dimitri was one of the most charged parts of the book. So much action and intensity. It nearly made me knock this book up to a three, but I still couldn't.

In conclusion to my ramblings and rants, I still adore Vampire Academy. One crappy novel doesn't change that. But I just really want to see a bit of a change start to happen in their society and in the characters. I want to see them unite against the Strigoi threat and I want them to become responsible for their behavior. The action is always good, but I desired more after the high expectations I had. ...more

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Nov 04, 2014 Wendy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series, books-i-own, 2014, box-set, paranormal, vampires

My star rating:

Plot: 4/5
Pacing: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
World: 4.5/5
Romance: 4/5

Enjoyment level: 4/5 stars

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Aug 18, 2012 Dawn rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya

The best in the series so far. Can wait to see how the whole ' Dimitri evil cure him ' plot turns out. ...more

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Apr 18, 2014 Logan rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, borrowed-library, borrowed-ebook, paranormal, 2014-books-read

This wasn't my favorite by any means, but it did serve its purpose well by setting up the next big arc for Rose and friends. I'm very anxious to see if they can discover the cure for Strigoi and how they plan to deal with Victor. It was too bad that Rose had to spend nearly the entire book away from the St. Vlad's crew, but I liked the introduction to the Alchemists. Good book that suffered from the disparate settings and characters, but ultimately rebooted the series focus in an interesting way ...more

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