Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead - SPOILERS
Yesterday I read LAST SACRIFICE, the sixth and last book in the VAMPIRE ACADEMY series by Richelle Mead.
Overall I loved the book, I think the way it ended is the only logical way for this story to end. There were a few surprises along the way and some things more predictable than others, but in general I wouldn't change anything, even the things I didn't like because I see the reason why they are there.
It's funny because after SPIRIT BOUND I was sure the murder was Adrian's mum and when everyone started to suspect her in this book I felt so damn proud. Turns out she had her own agenda but didn't kill anyone! lol And really, Tasha killing the queen was kind of predictable the moment you learn about her new Guardian and how he works for the Queen's court and has access to her chambers. Her reasons? I knew she was not over Dimitri and I always knew, being as hardcore as she was, that at some point she'd pay Rose back. But this was taking things farther than I expected, tbh. I guess she saw a great opportunity to solve two problems at once.
The book is packed with Dimitri. And since I do love Dimitri, I loved getting to know him better. It was the most interesting aspect of the book for me, considering how reserved he always was in the series. Seeing him with his guard down, sharing his feelings, flirting with Rose, and getting pieces of himself back until he became the himself again was fascinating. I lost the count of how many times he made me swoon. He delivered some pretty amazingly hot lines, too ("Next time I'll do things that'll make you lose control within seconds."). But the best of all was realizing he was no longer the same Dimitri we were used to, he was better.
I don't agree with some of Rose's decisions, but she was never perfect and it never stopped me from loving her before. I still want to smack her for a few things she did in this book, though. Concerning men in general and Adrian specifically.
I assumed the fact that we got introduced to the Keepers meant they would be of any relevance in future plots, so I didn't really mind "wasting" time with them when I was dying to know what'd happen next. But the whole storyline with the guy wanting to marry Rose and she being so oblivious was painful to read. I had enough with the love triangle, I was dying to read its resolution and suddenly there is this random guy, that Rose finds very cute, wanting to marry her. This and my next point would be the only reasons why I'd give this book four of five stars.
What she did to Adrian was not cool, she knew and regretted it but still, it was too late. I understand it was a necessity for Adrian to keep having a story to tell, and I admire Richelle Mead because the way she ended their relationship was shocking and daring. I think I've never seen a love triangle in a YA book before where the rejected guy ends up hating the girl, or even just not being friends with her.
I didn't want Dimitri and Rose to get it on while she was still officially Adrian's girl. Just the idea enraged me but then, well I guess Mead has a way of writing certain circumstances that you'd hate IRL and make you see them under certain light, so to speak. Yes, what Rose did was bad. And Dimitri had more consideration toward Adrian than her. He respected and thought Adrian was a good man, meanwhile Rose thought he was, well weak and dependent, and kept on forgetting about him when it mattered.
It surprised me how once it happened I didn't hate it at all, though. I was still sad for Adrian, but really, after all that Dimitri and Rose had said to each other, even without the sex, if I were Adrian I'd have felt my girlfriend had cheated on me. And with or without the sex, the damage was done.
The only time I really, really got angry at Rose was when right after having sex with Dimitri and falling asleep in his arms, she met Adrian in the dream and decided not to break up with him and wait to be in person. That was her biggest mistake, IMO. I can understand you slipping and having sex in the passion of the moment (…) but once you've decided you're done with your boyfriend, you deciding not to tell him the first time you see him after taking that decision is just plain shitty. She was a coward. I always thought once she came back from Russia she did everything she could to please Adrian and was careful not to say something that might hurt him. This time it was the same. She knew she was breaking his heart, so she got cold feet and couldn't tell him. And she fucked up.
Adrian surprised me. I have to confess I was always suspicious of him, even in SPIRIT BOUND for a moment I believed he was helping his mum, who I suspected was the Queen's murder… But he proved me wrong and I have to agree with Dimitri, he's a good man. His last scene in the book, well that was one of the most amazing things I have ever read. His outburst of fury toward Rose and his words were powerful and I finally understood why Richelle Mead had developed things this way. At first I was so mad at her because Rose never told him, she never broke up with him and gave him an explanation. It had to be him who, after Rose and Dimitri were official and an item, went to her and asked for an explanation. I mean, how awful is that?! At the same time, as shocking as it all was, it was a different development for a love triangle, it was interesting! And it opened the door for Adrian to have his story told in the spin-off series, too.
Rose and Dimitri were, like always, perfect together. Even so more in this book. Their connection was so strong and so real it hurt, quoting Dimitri. How they rescued their friendship, how she helped him to fit missing pieces in his puzzle back, how she was there for him when he needed someone, and how he was there for her. Always helping each other. Finishing each other's jokes. And the auras thing? I was on board this ship before, but after Sonya's explanation? I was captain of the ship! They just belong together. I still believe this series would have been truly perfect if Rose had never got herself involved with Adrian, but even then what she and Dimitri had was so amazing, I find myself not caring that much about the rest...
I loved all the parallels with some of their scenes in other books. We go back to the first book, when Dimitri caught Rose making out with Jesse and she asked him if he saw something he liked. Only this time Dimitri's reply was very different. But my favorite parallel was hearing Dimitri say once again how Rose is so beautiful it hurts him. I lost it right there, reread the phrase 5 times while crying and even now if I reread their scenes, I cry a bit every. single. time. And how, when Dimitri confess there are times he doesn't know if he is no longer a Strigori, Rose helps him to realize Strigori can't appreciate beauty but he does, and how the concept of 'beauty and life appreciation' carries through the whole book.
Lissa was surprisingly amazing in this book. We divide our time between Rose and her tale with Dimitri, Sydney, Sonya and Victor, and Lissa and her trials to be Queen with Christian, Adrian and Rose's parents. And to be fair, many times we changed from Rose to Lissa and I cursed in frustration because I needed to know what was going to happen with Rose, but Lissa was extraordinary during her scenes. You could actually see her developing and growing into a Queen. It was a slow and long process that happened during the book and it was so damn well done, too. I'm a bit sad that her relationship with Christian felt a bit flat and he, still being the awesome character he is, felt a bit off somehow, too. I think Mead was too occupied with other characters and she overlooked Christian's character and the relationship between him and Lissa.
At the end of the book, you can see a very different Lissa, too. Honestly? I found her a bit bitchy at times, like being in a power position had already affected her somehow. And the way she treated Jill was totally unexpected. Again, I see Mead played it that way so Jill can have a place in the spin-off series, too. But it kinda broke my heart seeing Lissa being a bit of a cold bastard toward her step-sister…
Rose killing Victor was something I knew would happen. I mean, it was pretty much inevitable. He was too much of a threat to let loose. But her reaction was something I never envisioned. It was... completely heart breaking. Her state of mind was so upsetting for a moment I didn't know what would really happen to her.
I'm glad the bond between Rose and Lissa is over. I understand it was very convenient for Rose, since she was fast heading into Loony Town in this book. But I always thought they needed the bond gone to really get their friendship tested and also to, well, be normal people! And it'd be interesting to see Lissa handling Spirit without Rose's help, specially now that she's queen.
Surprisingly, the scene that made me cry the hardest was Mikhail's and Sonya's encounter. They ran to each other's arms and cried in total bliss making everyone around them swoon and cry with them. I kinda lost it and burst into sobs. The other character that made me cry was Dimitri. The alley scene was so powerful, he was so raw and desperate, it was unexpected. And when he told Rose once again she was so beautiful it hurt him, I completely lost it for real. Big, fatty tears and all.
The bookstore scene marked me forever, I can't explain it better, it just was important for personal reasons. But now I'm rooting for a spin-off 10 years into the future where we see them visiting all those places they randomly picked in the travel book. Also, we need to see them going to Dimitri's childhood town and like getting married there with his mother, grandmother and all his sisters and nephews and nieces! LOL
Also, I know they are young, and I know they are fighters and that they come first but not for a little while and that they don't want to stop being guardians and… But I wonder, what about the future? What about having kids? Won't they ever want it? We learned in FROSTBITE Dimitri was ready for kids, so now what? Once you love someone, over the years, the feeling of wanting to create a family with that person is usually there, but they can't conceive together. Their race can't have children among them. So what then? Or will Rose never want kids? And what will Dimitri think 10, 20 years into the future? This question is seriously driving me insane right now.
And what about Robert? He saw Rose kill his brother Victor and he was unstable enough before that. I can see him wanting revenge and going after Rose or the ones she loves.
Re: Spin-off. After reading this book it's pretty obvious who four of the six main characters will be:
1) Sydney, as Mead already said. Her ending in the book is less than worrisome. And she was a surprisingly amazing character through the whole book, saving the day more than once.
2) Jill. Sweet, innocent Jill living among Royals, half of whom want to kill her to dethrone Lissa. We'll see how she struggles with her new life and hopefully how Lisa and her grow closer.
3) Eddie. We end the book without knowing what will happen to him or where he will be assigned to and dammit all if he doesn't deserve a good future!
4) Adrian. Obviously, Mead conceived the plot so he had a story to tell in the spin-off, seeing how things ended up between him and Rose. And taking in consideration Rose's foreshadowing words "When you find that person... you'll know." I wanna read Adrian forgiving her and telling her how he found the one and now he finally understands her.
5) I'm guessing Mia. She had only one appearance in the whole book, though.
6) ???
I know the spin-off will center on other characters, but I wish we got a resolution in some open ended issues like, Dimitri's family knowing he's alive and no longer a Strigori, even a future Rose/Dimitri story concerning family/babies, as well as a story of Lissa dealing with her new queen duties and how she faces Spirit alone. And a real conclusion with Robert, too. Does he seek revenge? Does he disappear forever? And what about Mikhael and Sonya? I want them to live happily ever after and I want details about it. Or maybe a royal wedding between Lissa and Christian? There are so many open ended issues, I feel like we could read about these characters forever.
It saddens me to think that this is it, this is the end, that I will never read any new Dimitri/Rose interaction. I won't read more angst scenes, or scenes filled with sexual tension or how they misunderstand each other or how they fight or how they finally touch each other after a long time. And it utterly and totally breaks my heart. Which I think is a good sign of how good this series is. :)
Edit: I added bits now and then since I first posted it.