{Review} Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice
by Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #6
Pages: 594
Release Date: December 7, 2010
by Razorbill (an imprint of Penguin)

Goodreads / Purchase

They come first.
My vision was growing dimmer, the blackness and ghosts closing in. I swore it was like I could hear Robert whispering in my ear: The world of the dead won't give you up a second time. Just before the light completely vanished, I saw Dimitri's face join Lissa's. I wanted to smile. I decided then that if the two people I loved most were safe, I could leave this world.

The dead could finally have me.


Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules.
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 guardians 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 whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

One of the most epic series ever has come to a close.  What am I going to do with my life?  So many emotions, so many feels, so many laughs and tears.  I’m so glad I read this series.

This book was a perfect finish to a perfect series.  It had action, a complex story, twists, turns, and explanations.  It was everything you could ask for in a last book.  I can’t even begin to describe how epic, painful, and beautiful this book was.  There was non-stop action, non-stop humor, non-stop feels.  The beginning was so exciting and from then on it just blasted off into a fast-paced, thrilling ride.  The writing was so good and the story was so good and the romance was so good.

Can we just talk about the two really big twists in this book?  [SPOILER: Jill being Lissa’s sister and Tasha being Tatiana’s killer.  What. The. F**k.  I couldn’t believe it.  First, Jill.  That caught me completely by surprise.  But the big thing that just completely blindsided me was Tasha.  When Mead started hinting at how Rose knew the murderer I started going through all the characters that were women. I counted out Lissa immediately, but I kind of thought Rose’ mom did it (but I only thought that for like 5 second).  Then I thought Mia might have done it.  But when it was revealed that Tasha did I was like “WTF!” ]  What an amazing twist.

But it all made sense.  Everything was staged so well and the mystery was unraveled in a completely believable way.  The ending summed up everything…except for one thing.  [SPOILER: Rose’s death.  To me it wasn’t ever really explained.  From what I can gather, Rose just brought herself back…what?  That’s it?  No explanation?  Just “you were hurt badly but sometimes people can heal themselves”.  No.  Not when you’re shot at least twice in the chest. ] That was the only big thing that I felt needed more of an explanation.

Rose is by far one of my favorite heroines.  It’s really hard to describe her…but I think the best word is difficult.  She is so freaking difficult and she never listens and she’s stubborn and sassy and kick-ass and she’s amazing. I absolutely freaking love her.  The amount that she has sacrificed and done in her short lifetime is amazing, and I have great respect for her.

I feel like I have to mention Lissa.  For me, Lissa is ok.  I don't particularly like her.  She comes off as selfish and entitled sometimes and annoying. I don't really know what Rose sees in her to be so devoted to her.  But sometimes Lissa has her moments of goodness so I guess that's it.  But she's not my favorite.

I definitely need to mention Adrian.  Even though I am one hundred million trillion percent team Dimitri, Adrian is still a really great guy. I feel bad for him, but I love Dimitri more than I feel bad.  Adrian really loved Rose, but they just weren’t meant to be together.

Dimitri and Rose – Romitri – however, were destined to be together.  They just had to be.  After all they went through, after all the little arguments and flirting and training sessions and sneaking around…they just had to be together.  It was so painful reading this book and [SPOILER: seeing Dimitri just refuse to admit he loves Rose.  This whole book was leading so perfectly up to the best possible scene where Dimitri finally allows himself to love Rose and it was everything I had hoped for. ] Dimitri is the sexiest, nicest, strongest love interest I have ever read.  Rose, move out of my way, he’s mine!

I’m so sad to see this amazing series come to an end.  This world was so well-developed and I don’t want to leave.  The story and characters have come so far and done so much and this series will forever sit on my shelf and be re-read many, many times.  I have been through so many emotions reading this series, pain over Romitri, laughing, crying, loving, hating…this series is amazing.

 

5 stars

 

 

Richelle Mead's other YA books:

 

Vampire Academy series (6 books)

 

Vampire Academy - Frostbite - Shadow Kiss - Blood Promise - Spirit Bound

 

Bloodlines series (5 and counting books)