liz089
Written on May 8, 2011
Just days before graduating from St. Vladimir's Academy, guardian-in-training Rose travels to Siberia to drive a stake into the heart of the boy she loves, the monstrous vampire Dimitri.
- ISBN10 1101138556
- ISBN13 9781101138557
- Publish Date 25 August 2009 (first published 1 August 2009)
- Publish Status Active
- Imprint Razorbill
- Format eBook
- Pages 512
- Language English
Reviews
rakesandrogues
Written on Mar 26, 2011
Slow beginning but halfway through the book, I couldn’t put it down
I need to get my hands on the next book
BLOOD PROMISE doesn’t quite start where the last book left off which left me a little disoriented as a reader. I actually had to look up the book I was reading just to make sure it was the right one. After a few chapters, I did start getting back into the flow of Mead’s writing. I really loved the change of scenery. Rose is on a set to find and kill Dimitri and her quest takes her to Dimitri’s home country Russia. I wouldn’t say that I cling on to stereotypes of Russia as much as Rose did, but I do admit I thought of Siberia as some kind of barren wasteland. Based on BLOOD PROMISE, I take that back. There’s a lot more to Siberia than I once thought.
The summary calls this a “nail-biting” installment in the Vampire Academy series. I won’t deny that there were some parts that had me clinging onto the edge of my seat, but for the most part, the pace of this book was very slow. I felt that the story dragged on at some points, but just when I was about to lose my patience and put the book down for a while, the action kicks back up again. The beginning is slow, but I think that getting through it is worth it at the end.
About halfway through the book, I couldn’t put it down. I had to know what was going to happen. I eventually did have to take a break for dinner, but I was so giddy with excitement and all I could think about was getting back to the story. Saying any more would give out too much for those who haven’t read it, so I’ll just leave it as that.
Throughout the book, Rose does check up on Lissa through her shadow-kissed abilities. It was nice to see the characters I grew to like during the series and it created a nice sub-plot for the book. It was kind of clever to use Rose’s abilities as a literary device to weave in the sub-plot to the story.
The book doesn’t really leave off in a cliffhanger, but Mead definitely wrote it well enough: I want to rip my hair out in frustration and quickly get my hands on the next book. I am craving for more and now I see why my best friend is obsessed with this series.
Amber
Written on Mar 2, 2011
Linda
Written on Aug 12, 2010
elysium
Written on Jul 29, 2010
I think this was the best book so far. The book had a darker theme and I think Rose has (finally!) matured a little. She certainly didn’t annoy me so much anymore! Didn’t like Lissa at all this time, she was just a page-filler with her partying and drinking. The only good thing was that at the same time you get to see Adrian too. Somehow now that Dimitri is Strigoi, he’s and Rose’s age difference didn’t disturb me that much.
Jo
Written on Feb 18, 2010
I cannot even begin to tell you just how brilliant this book was! There are so many reasons, and it was so different from what we’ve read so far in the series, and I could just gush forever, but this is a review so it needs some semblance of coherency.
I’ll start with the differences. In all the other books, Rose and Lissa have been together, and if not at school – as is the case in Frostbite – they have always been with the students and the school authority figures. Not this time. Rose spends pretty much all of the book in Russia, away from school, away from anyone to reprimand her for breaking any rules – and there are no rules. She’s out in the world on her own, with only her training and her own idea of what’s sensible to guide her, and it’s great to see Rose going about things as she wants and she sees fit. It’s refreshing, but also worrying.
This doesn’t mean we leave Lissa, Christian and Adrian behind. Rose does look in on Lissa through their bond several times throughout the book, and through it we follow the sub-plot at St. Vladimir’s; there is a new head teacher, and with him comes two of his own children, Reed and Avery. And Lissa’s erratic behaviour becomes increasingly more worrisome for her friends, for Rose, and for herself. It may seem convenient that we’re able to get to this sub-plot through Rose and Lissa’s bond, but there is always a reason for Rose to check up on Lissa, rather than just “oh, let’s go see what Lissa’s up to.” It’s very well done, and it’s great to be able to keep up with both girls.
We meet a fair number of new characters in this book, and it’s just awesome! We meet Sydney, and Alchemist, with Alchemists being a group of humans who know all about Moroi, Strigoi and Dhampirs, and has a unique way of “cleaning up” when guardians leave around dead Strigoi bodies. She’s very off-ish at first, but I really liked her! She’s very resourceful, and also opinionated about all the Vampire Academy races. I like how she’s wary of Rose, and doesn’t trust her. It’s great to have a human’s view and opinion. We also meet Dimitri’s family in Siberia; Olena, Dimitri’s mother; Karolina, Sonya, and Viktoria, Dimitri’s sisters; Yeva, Dimitri’s grandmother, and Paul, Dimitri’s niece. They are everything you would have thought them to be, considering they’re related to Dimitri; they’re kind, they’re caring, and they soon start thinking of Rose as one of their own. I love them! We meet the mysterious and slippery Abe, a non-royal Moroi with a lot of money, who just oozes untrustworthiness. We also meet Oksana, a Moroi, and Mark an ex-guardian, who are a bonded married couple. Oh, how we learn such wonderful things from them about Spirit, things that not even Adrian knows about. It’s exciting and wonderful, and I look forward to how things will span out Spirit wise in the next book.
Finally we meet Dimitri-as-Strigoi – as I’m going to refer to him in this review. When I reviewed Shadow Kiss, someone commented on how they didn’t like Dimitri based on what they see of him in Blood Promise. I still love Dimitri. Why? Because Dimitri-as-Strigoi is not the Dimitri we all love. He’s gone, and as awful as it is, this person left is cold, uncaring and violent, and couldn’t be any further from the Dimitri we know. It’s not him, and so I can’t hate Dimitri. What’s also great about this book is that we get flashbacks of times with Dimitri we haven’t yet seen. That may have taken place in the books with read, conversations that weren’t important at the time, or in between books, and it’s great to see these lovely, swet, soft moments between Rose and Dimitri, and see the love between them. It was beautiful.
Blood Promise is a very emotional book, and the time spent with Dimitri – the length of which I will not allude to, long or short – is just heart breaking. Not only do we see Dimitri-as-Strigoi and really dislike him and what’s happened to the guy we knew, we also get to see Rose’s reaction to him, and it’s just so sad. There is also a fair amount of action too; most of the time, Rose is on her own and has no back-up, and she just goes to show her immense skill. It’s just fantastic, and her strength to fight when she’s so emotionally messed up is incredible.
The book ends on such a cliff-hanger, it’s fantastic. It’s the kind of cliff-hanger where it gives you an idea of what will happen in the next book, and I can’t tell you how excited I am for Spirit Bound! It’s going to be just brilliant! It will be even more action and more emotional, by the looks of it. I can’t wait for it to be released on 18th May in the UK. Seriously, you need to read this series if you haven’t yet started. You have no idea what you’re missing out on.
From Once Upon a Bookcase - YA book blog.
jeannamichel
Written on Oct 9, 2009
Rose is back. She just dropped out of school, went to Russia, looking for her true love. Her true love, Dimitri (hotness!!) Belikov went total undead Strigio. An ending that will leave you shocked.
Yeva has to be the most coolest fictional character ever! She reminds me of Sandra Bullock in the movie, The Purposal. As much as I wanted Rose to finish school, Dimitri is still not dead...
The entire "death of Dimitri" scene was fantastic! Lissa and Rose's reunion made me cry. I hated Adrian in all the other books, but maybe it's because Dimitri is gone- I love him!
Hixxup
Written on Sep 10, 2009
I cried when her and her mom reunited it was great! Also.
But for crying out loud seriously nothing until June 2010 SERIOUSLY YOU'RE KILLING ME SMALLS
The crappy thing is I think my son threw away the cover to the book which makes me sad because I liked it. SIGH! oh well!