Book Review: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

I thought I was doing a good job at keeping my vampire/zombie/supernatural obsession at bay… but it turns out everyone I know knows just how much I love things that go bump in the night.

This is a review for the fifth book in the Vampire Academy series, Spirit Bound, but I wanted to share something my sister-in-law made for my birthday last week.

She’s never made a character cake before but she knew just how much I love vampires and zombies so she made this creation:

It’s a Sachertorete – the most delicious chocolate cake ever – complete with lots of m&ms and strawberry jam in the middle because every good zombie and vampire has blood and brains on the inside.

It felt appropriate to show this picture of the best cake ever along with a review for what is quickly becoming my favourite YA paranormal series.

Title: Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy #5)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Vampires, Magic, Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Razorbill (an imprint of Penguin)
Publication Date: May 2010
Pages: 489
Rating: 4.5 stars

Synopsis (from goodreads):
Salvation has its price…

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Siberia, Dimitri’s birthplace, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s – and to her best friend, Lissa Dragomir. It’s graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives outside the Academy’s cold iron gates to finally begin. But even with the intrigue and excitement of court life looming, Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri. 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 has silenced her…forever.

But Rose can’t forget what she learned on her journey – whispers of a magic too impossible and terrifying to comprehend. A magic inextricably tied to Lissa that could hold the answer to all of Rose’s prayers, but not without devastating consequences. Now Rose will have to decide what – and who – matters most to her. And in the end, is true love really worth the price?

My Review:

Spirit Bound is a return to the Rose I had loved from the first few books of the series. She’s still on a mission – and an absolutely crazy one at that – but she’s using the lessons she’s learned from St. Vladamir’s and is starting to think like a Guardian should.

I really enjoyed this book for so many reasons. We’re getting to see more of the world the dhampires and Moroi (and Strigoi) inhabit and how the adults of that world operate.

There’s so much action in this book – and I loved every minute of it. Rose is back to her kick-arse self who is still learning on the job. She’s no perfect and she’s making mistakes but I like that she’s being seen to have grown from her experiences. She’s taking her Guardian training into consideration in the real world – scoping out environments and taking in the minor details that a civilian may have missed.

The other characters are all growing up and growing into the vampires they’re going to be – Christian, Adrian, Eddie and most importantly Lissa. The developments in their powers and personalities are great to read.

Although I’m generally not a fan of love triangles, the tension between Rose, Adrian and Dimitri amuses me. These characters are all so flawed and whilst I have a hope as to how things will end for Rose romantically, I can’t help but appreciate her internal struggle when faced with her relationships with these two very different vampires.

There are some things that were happening that felt like an obvious attempt at setting up for drama and pivotal plot points in the final instalment (Last Sacrifice) but despite these I was impressed as always with the strong writing and attention to detail over the course of the novel.

Purchase the novel from:

Amazon / Book Depository 


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