Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Blood Promise
By Richelle Mead
Published: Aug 25th, 2009
Series: Vampire Academy #4

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters ... Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

My Rating:

My Thoughts:

4.5 stars I obviously really liked this book and I'm absolutely loving this series right now.. but I couldn't help but feel like many parts of this book wasn't necessary? Maybe that's a bit too harsh. It's just that while reading the first three books I never had that feeling, there was always a purpose and the characters always accomplished so much. There was always leaps and bounds in the plot.. but not as much in this one. I liked that Rose left for Russia and this book really showed just how...more 4.5 stars I obviously really liked this book and I'm absolutely loving this series right now.. but I couldn't help but feel like many parts of this book wasn't necessary? Maybe that's a bit too harsh. It's just that while reading the first three books I never had that feeling, there was always a purpose and the characters always accomplished so much. There was always leaps and bounds in the plot.. but not as much in this one. I liked that Rose left for Russia and this book really showed just how brave she really is. I was so heartbroken at the end of Shadowkissed.. I felt like that writing style was still amazing and it wasn't a slow read by any means.. just, less happened, I suppose? I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say. I guess I just kind of looked at how the book ended and compared it to when Rose started her journey. What exactly did she accomplish? I need to start the next one and hopefully I'll feel better about this// Spoilers: She got to meet her Dad, so that was nice. Abe's a little.. odd.(I definitely didn't see that coming by the way..)The main problem was that she failed to kill Dimitri many times (which was the only reason she went to Russia in the first place).. it was nice that she got to see his hometown and meet his family, but for what? Is that really what she needs? Maybe. At this point I don't see how their relationship is going to work out. I'm a little heartbroken myself.. (although that's ridiculous I know). I HATED reading about Dimitri in this book. Every time he responded with him "wanting her" instead of "loving her" I just cringed.. Rose clearly doesn't want to become a Strigoi (even if it means spending eternity with Dimitri - I don't blame her though. He's not the same...) and so I don't think that that's where this is going. Towards the end of the book a "fairy tale" was mentioned about a Strigoi becoming "alive" again. I sincerely hope that THAT is where this story is heading.. I can't stand Dimitri like this..