READING : Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead


Publication date: December 7th, 2010
Published by: Razorbill
Source: Bought
Rating: 4,5/5

She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir’s Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir Princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardian to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose- for a crime she didn’t even commit. She’s in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She’ll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose’s life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back… and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your life is about saving others, who will save you?

To say that I love the Vampire Academy series will surely be an understatement. To say that I admire and respect Richelle Mead as a writer, would also be insufficient. So, you can imagine how much I longed to read the 6th and final installment in the series, Last Sacrifice.I loved it,as I will always love everything VA,but not as much as I wanted to.I wanted it to make me gasp, to make me happy, to make me sad.It didn't.For the most part, it made me angry.

This is not so much a review, as my thoughts on Last Sacrifice and the Vampire Academy series in general.It goes without saying that it contains a buttload of spoilers,so please!If you haven't read Last Sacrifice, don't read the following!

Consider yourselves warned!

Let's start from the beginning.I liked the idea of Rose's escape and that all her friends risked their lives to help her.Even Sydney,who is not so big on the whole emotion thing.Granted, she was doing it because Abe had something on her, which we never found out what it was, but I also think she did it because she liked Rose.I like that it was so full of action, everything changed constantly on both sides, Rose's and Lissa's.Humor was fine, Richelle knows how to use her witty characters, but I expected it to be a little bit darker.I mean, it is the last book, everyone's life hangs on the balance and all that, I think it could be a little bit more somber and grim.OK, maybe not as much as Blood Promise was (ah, good times!) but just a smidgeon of that would have sufficed.Everything Dimitri said made me swoon.The scene in the library was one of the sweetest and most romantic scenes I have ever read.
I admire Rose. In my opinion she is the best female lead in YA because she is such a realistic character.Unfortunately, realistic characters change and not always in a good way. That is what I think happened with Rose.I am all for evolving and becoming a better person, but actually becoming worse than you were in the beginning?After all you've been through??And to be a lying cheat on top of that?I am sorry, but that is not a heroine in my book.Up until book 4, Rose was everything.I absolutely loved her!Amazing,strong,decisive,smart and every adjective that describes "awesomeness" put together.However, in Spirit Bound I realized she had changed, and I said so in my review.Back then,I said it was just human nature and it was a good thing,it showed that she could do something wrong, that she was human.I mean,who could blame her right?After what happened to her in Blood Promise?But to continue to do the same mistakes just because she got so easily away with it the first time and to still get away with it in the end, after all the hurt and pain she caused, was unacceptable to me.That goes beyond human nature and being real.That's just being mean and manipulative.To be honest I don't have to say much about Rose's behavior. If you re read Adrian's last words to her, they express exactly how I feel about Rose's actions.
I knew that the "They come first" mantra, was always in Rose's head and way of life from book 1.Back then, however, Rose thought about other people too, besides herself and Lissa, see Mason and Mia in book 2.But now "They come first" took on a completely different meaning, at least in Rose's head.She wasn't afraid of "collateral damage" as Adrian so perfectly put it."Collateral damage" just so happens to be the people who helped her in her plan in the first place, people that cared for her.And after she got what she wanted, she didn't so much as give them a second glance. Sydney the Alchemist.What will happen to her? "Oh,well!".Eddie and his ruined reputation?"Oh,well!" Adrian and his shattered heart? "Oh.I don't really care!" Seriously?I still can't believe she treated him like that!I am all for Dimitri love, don't get me wrong!I wanted these two to end up together, because they deserve it.They were truly made for each other, I believe it with all my heart.But, there's always a limit to what you can do to find happiness in someone else's expense.Honestly, I think Adrian shouldn't even exist as a character.These books were already awesome, they didn't need a love triangle.That's why it ended so badly in the end.I mean, it was painful to read!I think I'll try to erase it from my mind and pretend it never happened.Because not only had Rose cheated and lied to Adrian, she had the nerve to still make it all about her!Telling him that he was needy??He did everything for her!His great aunt had just died and he didn't even have time to mourn when he threw himself to the "Rescue Rose-mission".And she had the audacity to sleep with Dimitri and then see him,through Lissa, smoking and still scowl????Who do you think you are??I know that it's fiction guys, but some things are just unacceptable to me, especially when they are done by our supposed heroine.I think what Adrian said was right though,telling her it was his fault for being so blind.But he loved her, the fool.I don't believe Rose ever loved him.She just used him till Dimitri got better.And if he didn't,she would have dumped him for another guy. I mean Rose still loved Dimitri even when he was Strigoi, come on!The only right thing for Rose to do was a.not to have led Adrian on in the first place and b.since she did, immediately after Dimitri became human, she should had gone to Adrian and tell him that she was sorry and that she used him all this time and now she would do anything in her power to get Dimitri, the love of her life back.You know, honesty.Have the balls to admit your mistakes and take responsibility.Well, no such thing from Rose.Our heroine.In my head, there is no way around it: the way Rose used people in her life who loved her and were her friends,was awful,to say the least.
Tatiana's murderer revelation was a huge shock!Mostly because Richelle led us to believe something completely different throughout the whole book.But Tasha?Hmm I don't know.I appreciate the surprise element, but making a loving,caring person to be a cold blooded killer in the end and frame Rose on top of that?Yeah, it doesn't sit very well with me.Besides, it made me feel so bad about Christian.Who?Yeah, that's right!Almost 600 pages and Christian's lines could all fit in one page.Where was he?I wanted to see more of him, for sure.I hope he has a book of his own in the spin offs.
Lissa being queen?Too convenient. But I am sensing there'll be an awesome spin off with Jill and politics, which sounds really intriguing!
That being said,the Vampire Academy series is and always will be my favourite series of all time,absolutely no question about that.It's still, after all this time, so different from anything else I've read, that it will always have a special place in my heart, no matter what.

The end.