Review: Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4) by Richelle Mead

SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS:

Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same.
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 TAKE:
While I didn't like this book as much as the third one, I found plenty to enjoy here.

In Blood Promise, Rose travels to Siberia to look for Dimitri and try to kill his Strigoi form. However, when the time comes, will she have the strength to destroy him?

I enjoyed Rose's Russian adventures a lot. I was a little iffy about the Alchemists and I'm still not a hundred percent sure how necessary they are to the overall story. I did like Abe, though. I also liked Rose's interaction with Dimitri's family. With the exception of Viktoria, who is a brat, I liked Dimitri's immediate family. His grandmother is kinda scary, but in that traditional grandmother kind of way.

I hadn't expected much in the way of romantic scenes between Rose and Dimitri, so I was pleasantly surprised by how a third or so of the book is about Rose and Dimitri's romance as Strigoi and blood whore. That was unexpected and quite brilliant.

The only thing I hadn't liked much here was whenever the action would shift to Lissa. I found it a bit boring, although that whole Spirit battle scene at the end was pretty cool.

THE GOOD:

1. The action scenes are awesome.
2. The Rose and Dimitri scenes were hot, as usual.
3. Most of Dimitri's relatives are lovely people. 

THE BAD:

1. Some of the scenes with Lissa were kinda boring. 

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

“Why?" I asked softly. The word was carried away on the wind, but he heard.
"Because I want you."
I gave him a sad smile, wondering if we'd meet again in the land of the dead. "Wrong answer," I told him.
I let go. 

READ IT IF:

1. You like the first few books in the series.
2. You like stories with plenty of action.
3. You like the idea of Dimitri and Rose as a Strigoi power couple. 

RATING:


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