Blood Promise: A Vampire Academy Novel (Vampire Academy, #4)

by Richelle Mead

The recent Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir’s Academy was the deadliest ever in the school’s history, claiming the lives of Moroi students, teachers, and guardians alike. Even worse, the Strigoi took some of their victims with them . . . including Dimitri.

He’d rather die than be one of them, and now Rose must abandon her best friend, Lissa—the one she has sworn to protect no matter what—and keep the promise Dimitri begged her to make long ago. But with everything at stake, how can she possibly destroy the person she loves most?

• ISBN10: 1595143106
• ISBN13: 9781595143105
• Publish Date: 6 April 2010 (first published 1 August 2009)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Razorbill
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 528
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781595143105

Reviews

3,5 stars

Many mixed feelings...

The first half of Blood Promise doesn't add much to the plot, but it does a lot for Rose's character development. I enjoyed reading about Rose's adventures in Russia as well as her interactions with many new characters such as Sydney, the Belikov family, Mark and Oksana and Abe. However, I missed Rose's snark and sass. She still has it when it counts, but due to her processing her grief as well as the shift to a more darker tone in the series, there's not so much of it. 

I also missed the interactions between Rose and Lissa. The separation between Rose and Lissa means that the only way to interact with Lissa is through Rose's head and it didn't feel like a natural part of the story. The plot involving Lissa wasn't that interesting either. 

The second half of Blood Promise is where it's at. The changing dynamics in Rose's and Dimitri's relationship is extremely interesting and Dimitri seems to have more of a personality, albeit, an evil one. It's ironic that he seems more human as a Strigoi than as a Damphir. However, the Rose and Dimitri flashbacks felt a little out of place and added very little to the plot. 

Blood Promise: a lacklustre first half and an awesome second half. I love that spirit is explored more in Blood Promise and I'm looking forward to all good stuff in Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice.

[littleread1]

Are we supposed to like Dimitri?

[Baroness Book Trove]

THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!! BE CAUTIOUS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK YET!!!

I read this book in one day. Okay two days. I started this book on the twentieth of May and finished it on the twenty-first of May. I soooo didn't want to put my kindle down because this book was soooo good. I ended up dreaming of the book on the twentieth. I felt bad for Rose when she found Dimitri's family. I was a little bit confused about the Alchemist part but it kind of started to make sense to me.

To read more of this review please go to my book review blog: http://baronessbooktrove.blogspot.com/2014/07/blood-promise-by-richelle-mead.html

[boghunden]

Bog tre efterlod os med en KÆMPE cliffhanger og så skulle man jo mene, at bog fire starter der, hvor den anden sluttede. Gid det var så vel. Den starter på sin vis også der, men man skal bare igennem op mod 80% af bogen, før tingene tager fart. Plotmæssigt er der ALT for meget teenagedrama i den her bog; bl.a. snak om at stjæle hinandens bedste venner. Hold nu op altså! Venner er ikke noget, man kan eje og dermed kan de ikke stjæles. Især Lissa irriterede mig, hun var simpelthen så irrationel. Det kan godt være, der var en grund til det, men den var altså ikke god nok. Det var virkelig, virkelig irriterende at læse om. Faktisk har jeg indtil nu godt kunnet lide Lissa, men nu gik hun mig bare på og forstyrrede hver gang historien endelig begyndte at udvikle sig. Flere gange var jeg faktisk tæt på at sætte bogen lidt på pause. Det er simpelthen så ærgerligt, når en god serie pludselig tager sådan en drejning :/

Det er i den her bog, vi introduceres til Sydney. Jeg kender hende ikke, men havde godt hørt, at det er hende serien handler om, så jeg var lidt spændt på, hvornår man mødte hende og hvordan hun ville være. Hun var ikke så meget med, så det er svært at danne sig et rigtigt indtryk af hende, men umiddelbart sagde hun mig ikke lige så meget. Til gengæld er jeg ved at blive ok glad for Adrian. Han er blevet en lidt hyggelig karakter at følge, synes jeg. Omvendt syntes jeg så Rose var blevet en lidt ensidig karakter, hvis man da kan tale om den slags. Hun var blevet lidt for naiv og forudsigelig og jeg sad flere gange og tog mig til hovedet. Det er som om udvikling er gået et skridt tilbage. Når det så er sagt, så traf hun et par finurlige valg, der fik mig til at smile lidt – på den gode måde. Og så var hun simpelthen så rar sammen med familien Belikov.

Kampscenerne i den her bog var noget bedre udført end i de andre bøger; de varede længere og jeg nød dem mere. De var ikke bare overstået på en side. Det var faktisk helt spændende at sidde og læse om. Også selvom man nok har en formodning om, hvordan det må ende.

Slutningen var god, men det er bare ikke nok til at hive bogen op på et højt niveau, det har jeg simpelthen kedet mig for meget til. Jeg er ikke i tvivl om, at jeg gerne vil have de sidste to bøger i serien med, men jeg sidder ikke og glæder mig på samme måde, som jeg glædede mig til denne.

[Mercy]

Esto ha realmente superado todo. Al principio pensé que no estaría a la altura del anterior. Porque vamos, Shadow kiss fue sorprendente. Este, es un poco lento, pero la razón es buena, las cosas definitivamente no podrían haberse resuelto rápido. Los personajes siguieron estando absolutamente geniales. La fortaleza de Rose, adoro a esta chica. Ella es tan buena en todo, a pesar que a veces toma decisiones equivocadas, no importa mucho. Luego vuelve en sí y todo esta bien. Lo que le toca pasar en este libro es duro, mucho. Y ella está a la altura. siguen habiendo giros inesperados muy agradables, algunos no tanto. Pero eso hace mejor la historia. Y el final, pfff... aún estoy en shock. O sea, yo sabía que eso pasaría, pero supuse que en el siguiente libro. Pero no, Richelle Mead va y nos suelta una buena bomba al final, cuando creemos que habrá paz por un tiempo. Me ha dejado muy sorprendida y también contenta con mi decisión de leer estos libros. Realmente son maravillosos.

[nitzan_schwarz]

2014 cleaning my shelves challenge

[Sam@WLABB]

I really enjoyed this book. I loved getting to know more about Dmitri and the ending left me....hopeful.

[Romance Schmomance]

This series is pretty awesome!

[Angie]

The stakes keep getting raised! Pun intended. The best way to describe Blood Promise is intense. It was my favorite book the first reading this series, and while Spirit Bound stole that spot this time, I still love it to pieces! Rose has been through a lot, and she goes through even more. It starts out pretty slow. Rose is aimlessly wandering around Russia, either hoping to run into Dimitri or find someone who can point her his way. Eventually she does end up in his hometown, and stays with his family for a while. It's an emotional time for everyone, but she knows she can't stay and heads back out on her journey. It doesn't go how she's rehearsed it in her mind, because who can really prepare to face down the love of their life with deadly intentions?

Dimitri! He is the highlight of Blood Promise for me (and to Rose for a little while). I don't care that he's evil and doing bad, bad things. There's still that spark of Dimitri-essence in there that cannot be ignored. For three and a half books, we're told how evil Strigoi are and that they are no longer the people that they were. Well, Dimitri kind of proves that wrong, and Rose falls for it for a time. He's just so...persuasive. The venom from his bites help some, but still. I'm probably a very, deeply disturbed person but I love Strigoi Dimitri. The biting and the making out and the hunger for power and...SWOON! Then that scene on the bridge! My heart! I know what happened between them was wrong, but I loved every moment of it.

Given the massive size of Blood Promise, Dimitri (at least in his current form) is actually a very small part of the book. We're introduced to a whole mess of new characters as Rose travels through Siberia. She meets other rogue guardians, Dimitri's mother, grandmother, and sisters, an Alchemist, a Moroi mobster, and another Moroi-Dhampir bonded pair. It's a lot to take in, and most of them aren't really that important to the overall story. But they're all important to Rose's character growth. They each provide her with something that helps her in some way. Sydney, the Alchemist, is probably the most important one since she's the star of Bloodlines. I hated her the first time I read this, but I think since I knew what to expect, her rudeness didn't shock me as much.

Even though Rose is across the world, we still get to see what's happening back at the school with Lissa and Adrian. It's actually pretty interesting stuff, but I won't go into it. Let's just say, some spirit users shouldn't be allowed out in society. But all of this pales in comparison to Dimitri. Seriously. Blood Promise is all about Dimitri, even when he's not around, and I loved it.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[mitabird]

ETA: My re-read was a much better experience. I think since I knew what I was going into, I was able to appreciate the story more. I still think the book was too long, but it was good. 4 stars

I was really looking forward to Blood Promise, but it didn't live up to my expectations. I'm not sure how I thought the book would resolve the issues from the last one, but this wasn't it. It was very slow going and boring throughout most of the book. There were some new elements to the story that were interesting, however. I admired Rose's resolve in Shadow Kiss, but she faltered somewhat in her search for Dimitri. I kind of understand why things went down the way they did, but it was disappointing nonetheless. I'll probably read the next one in the series, but I'm not anticipating it's release. 3.5 stars