Review: Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

4.5/5 Stars

I know, I know. I apologise for the string of VA book reviews but I have been marathoning the sereis to far and I just have so much to say about the books. As soon as I finished Shadow Kiss I just had to pick up Blood Promise, even before I put the review up which made things interesting, but I aim to read a few diffrent books before I get back to the word of Rose Hathaway. I'm enjoying the series so much that I just don't want it to end (just like Mortal Instruments and look where that's gotten me, haven't read City of Heavenly Fire yet have I?) so I've decided to take a little break. These books though, I don't know what it is but I just fly through them, Blood Promise is around 500 pages and it only took me two nights to finish it. 

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?

In Blood Promise, we join Rose in a dark place. To say she’s been through a lot in the last few months would be an understatement. Mason's death, followed by Victor Dashkov's trial, followed by the Strigoi attack on St Vlad's would have enough... But then Dimitri. For the two to finally came together, only for him to be torn away and turned Strigoi, is practically more than one person can handle (hell, it’s more than I can handle!). But Rose can't let the man she loved carry on as a soulless monster--he never would have wanted that--so she's travelling through Russia, searching for him, so she can drive a stake through his heart.

But seriously, CHARACTER. FREAKING. DEVELOPMENT. Rose Hathaway is sincerely one of the funniest, most unique characters I have met. She is just so addicting and interesting to read about. Just about everything she says cracks me up, and I absolutely love that. I don't mean to make it sound as if everything she says is a joke, because there is so much more depth to her character than her one-liners. In the beginning of Blood Promise, Rose has her mind set on finding Dimitri as a Strigoi and killing him, but when confronted face-to-face with him, she hangs on to the hope that, maybe, just maybe the old Dimitri is still in there. Rose constantly fights with her mind and her body and comes so close to abandoning her morals and beliefs she has been brought up by since childhood about the Strigoi. She confronts her struggles about wanting to be with Dimitri forever because of the love and desire deep down she still has for him and their relationship, and she remembers the promise they had once made to each other that if they ever turned Strigoi they would want to be killed. By the end of the book, even though she might not want to, Rose has decided to come to terms with her past, and faces the consequences of her actions. Rose is no longer the naive, impulsive(okay, not nearly as impulsive), immature, arrogant, selfish girl she once was. She is strong and kind and lethal and caring and mature, and she puts others lives' before her own. She has matured so much throughout the series, and I feel so proud of her. Rose Hathaway is incredibly identifiable. 

It's heartbreaking watching Rose carry out this final task for Dimitri. Not only is she grieving his loss with a crushing intensity, but she's missing Lissa, and dealing with an isolation she's never really experienced before. For me, Dimitri and Rose have come to complete each other and I, in turn, had come to see them as two halves of a whole. In another way, I've come to feel the same with Rose and Lissa. Rose feels off balance, incomplete, without them, and it's deeply upsetting to see her this way.

Blood Promise is a very different book from the first three. We really see the characters develop and come into their own in this one, which always makes for a better read. It's the first book that doesn't take place at the Academy which is a nice change and we get to see the separation of Rose and Lissa which was a pleasant experience. I really think that Lissa's character grows and learns so much in this books, ultimately making her stronger. We also get to see more of Adrian and see a different side to his character. Adrian is more sweet and lovable in this book, which gives it a nice twist. Now for the Strigoi Dimitri. What can I say, I loved this part of the book. I loved how Richelle took a character we all loved and turned him completely evil. It was just so interesting to see how his character evolved and I really think she made the transaction clear to the reader. Bottom line: Strigoi-Dimitri = evil, Dhampir-Dimitri = good.

Possibly the most emotional charged, heartbreaking and key instalment for Rose yet,Blood Promise is another exceptionally good offering from Mead. Seeing characters I've come to love suffer so much in Blood Promise made it difficult to read, but that bittersweet edge made it that extra bit more rewarding. The last week I've been asking myself over and over why I waited so long to read this series... I still don’t have an answer.