Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy, #6)

by Richelle Mead

The astonishing conclusion to the #1 international bestselling series...

Murder. Love. Jealousy. And the ultimate sacrifice.

The Queen is dead and the Moroi world will never be the same. Now, with Rose awaiting wrongful execution and Lissa in a deadly struggle for the royal throne, the girls find themselves forced to rely upon enemies and to question those they thought they could trust. . . .

But what if true freedom means sacrificing the most important thing of all?

Each other.

Can't get enough? Look out for Bloodlines, Richelle Mead's bestselling spinoff series set in the world of Vampire Academy!

• ISBN10: 0606231382
• ISBN13: 9780606231381
• Publish Date: 14 November 2011 (first published 7 December 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Turtleback Books
• Edition: Bound for Schools & Libraries ed.
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 588
• Language: English

Reviews

"ʺEighteen, and already youʹve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.ʺ He paused. ʺI couldnʹt be prouder.""

Based on my memories, Last Sacrifice should have been a five star read. I remember having such a blast the first time I read it. I expected to love Last Sacrifice and I hoped that it would erase the 'meh' feelings towards Spirit Bound. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. 

I hate saying this, but I don't love Rose as much as I used to. I have such a soft spot for impulsive, snarky, sassy, vulnerable and badass heroines and I loved Rose as a character. However, after reading Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice, I like Rose, but I don't love her. There are two main reasons for this:  

♥ In the last two books of the Vampire Academy series, Rose's character development and growth become non-existent. Rose is a frustrating character, but she still acted in character and I could understand the reasoning behind her actions. In Last Sacrifice, I couldn't understand Rose's reasoning and actions as much and felt that she kept on changing to suit the plot direction. 

♥ Rose has a tendency to lead people on mainly because she's in denial about her feelings, but after realising and accepting her true feelings in Last Sacrifice, she does something that could have been avoided. I understand that Rose and Dimitri are meant to be together, but that does not give Rose free reign to cheat. There are so many ways that Rose could have ended her relationship with Adrian before having sex with Dimitri. I get angry when I read about cheating, because someone always gets hurt and I've not yet read a book that makes cheating justifiable or understandable to some extent. 

I also don't care about Rose's romantic relationships. Rose and Dimitri have a connection and plenty in common, but the drama and angst in their relationship is boring. Adrian has grown on me, but I don't think Rose and Adrian are meant for each other. However, I do not appreciate that Adrian was kicked to the curb and made to seem like a jerk for the sake of the plot. Adrian deserves so much better and I hope that the Bloodlines series delivers.  

The Vampire Academy series has always been about the strong bond and friendship between Rose and Lissa. Rose's ability to see the world through Lissa's eyes means that we get to see what's been going on at court from Lissa's perspective. My favourite part of Last Sacrifice is Lissa's rise to queendom and the tests and trials that she has to go through and my favourite scene is Lissa's coronation ceremony. Yes queen!. Lissa's growth and maturity throughout the Vampire Academy series becomes so evident in Last Sacrifice and I always love the little tidbits of information about Spirit.

While the romance in Rose's life leaves much to be desired, I love the relationship between Lissa and Christian and wish that I could have seen more of them being ridiculously in love instead of witnessing the Rose-Adrian-Dimitri train wreck. 

I love most of the secondary characters: Christian, Sydney, Eddie, Jill,Sonya, Mikael and plenty others. The secondary characters are interesting and I am excited to see some of them again when I continue with the Bloodlines series.  

Since this is a reread, I can't comment about whether or not I was surprised by the mystery aspect, but the mystery aspect is lacking and the 'great reveal' is gimmicky. 

I don't love the Vampire Academy series as much after a reread, but it still has some of my favourite characters, friendships, romances and scenes. It's a series that I will always have fond memories of, no matter how much the last two books disappointed me. 

A solid finale! 

"Sometimes the greatest tests of our strength are situations that don't seem so obviously dangerous. Sometimes surviving is the hardest thing of all."

  

[empressbrooke]

This series was everything a YA series about teenaged vampires should be.

[elysium]

3.5 stars

Rose is accused of killing Queen Tatiana but she escapes imprisonment with the help of her friends. Rose, Dimitri and Sydney tries to find Lissa’s half-sibling while Lissa, Adrian and Christian try to find Tatiana’s killer. If they can find the lost Dragomir, then Lissa has a real chance to become the next Queen.

I’m surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I started it simply because I wanted to finish this series but this was the most enjoyable book in the series. Go figure… I didn’t even want to slap Rose, not even once! I wanted to shake few times but that’s all.

Lissa seemed to finally find her backbone when she was alone and had to manage without Rose.
Rose finally chooses between Adrian and Dimitri but really, it’s been quite obvious from the start how she will choose. And I think that the one left will find someone way better…

I guess I’m happy that I finished this series since the last book happened to be the best one.

[nitzan_schwarz]

Somewhere between 3.5 and 4.

[Baroness Book Trove]

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS BOOK!!!

We start off Last Sacrifice with Rose in her jail cell completely bored as she is trying to figure out what Queen Tatiana meant in her letter about Lissa having a half sibling that she had no clue about. The book at first was a little slow. Well the whole entire time she is in her jail cell it was. Even when she goes into Lissa's head to see what was going on around the Royal Court.

To read the rest of this book review come to my blog: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/2014/07/plot-summary-they-come-first.html

[Mercy]

4.5
ESTE LIBRO ES TODO. TODO. ABSOLUTAMENTE TODO. O SEA. ASLAKJLHSFH. ADRIÁN IVASHKOV TENDRÁ MI AMOR POR SIEMPRE ♥ DIMITRI TAMBIÉN, PERO ES QUE CON ÉL ES MÁS FÁCIL. ADRIÁN ES TODO.
ROSE, TAMBIÉN TE AMO A TI NIÑA.
RICHELLE MEAD ERES UNA PUTA GENIO Y HAS JODIDO MI VIDA EN ESOS ÚLTIMOS CAPÍTULOS.

[Sam@WLABB]

I was very happy with the ending. However, I want to know more! I hope to get some updates on our favorite characters in future books.

[reveriesociety_]

It was a very good ending for the series, but the ending ruined it. There were so many things left in the air. What ecactly happened to Eddie? What deal had Sydney with Abe? What bothered Lissa about jill? And Tasha? And Adrian?

[Angie]

After the intensity of the previous two and half books, Last Sacrifice was a bit of a disappointment. I still really enjoyed, but it wasn't quite as good as I think it could have been. As far as finales go, this one had a lot of build up, only to fizzle out in the end. Everything was dragged out overly nearly 600 pages, and then was wrapped up nice and neatly. I love happy endings, but I wish there had been more consequences for Rose to face rather than getting off scot-free.

Last Sacrifice does start off with a bang! Literally. There is an explosion. This sets the tone for the first part of book, which is very much an action packed, daring escape. Rose and Dimitri are like the half-vampire Bonnie and Clyde. Their lives are literally on the line, but they also have other problems to deal with. Eventually things do slow down as they're hiding out and coming up with a plan. Then things slow down even more, so Rose spends a lot of time using her bond with Lissa to watch what's happening at Court. It's mostly a lot of politics, like the upcoming election for a new king or queen. I ended up glossing over a lot of this, because it was boring the first time I read it and I didn't feel like doing it again. However, even from hundreds of miles away, Rose manages to shake up the election process.

Of course, Rose and Dimitri spend a lot of time together in Last Sacrifice. It was torture watching them be together without actually being together. Rose really is trying to get over him and move forward with Adrian, but obviously that is just not meant to be. I don't think that the romance was as strong in this one though. Rose and Adrian have some sweet moments together, but most of the dream meetings are focused on finding out who really killed the queen. Then Rose and Dimitri are running for their lives while trying to find someone who can be useful to Lissa, so they don't have time for any reconnecting. Until...things happen. I love them together, but I don't like what Rose does to Adrian. I love him to, and it was really thoughtless of her. At least he tells her off instead of just letting it go.

Rose saves the day and possibly the world, and lots of things change. Mostly for the better, despite all of the death, destruction, and heartbreak she's caused. I do think I would have liked Last Sacrifice a lot better if some things hadn't changed, so that Rose's life wasn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows. There's one thing in particular that happens, and the explanation for it is pretty flimsy. It's far too convenient. Anyway, this is still one of favorite series and I'd still read it again, although not in hardcover because my wrists are killing me!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[catiebug]

Review coming soon.