Review: Spirit Bound

Spirit Bound

By Richelle Mead

Publication date: May 18, 2010

Note: This review is Spoiler Free

My review:

I am a new fan of the Vampire Academy series. I didn't start reading the books until this past March so I haven't had a long wait between reading last year's Blood Promise and Spirit Bound. In Spirit Bound, the characters are growing up and graduating, heading out into the real world. Rose is still dealing with the upsetting events from Blood Promise and the new information she has gained about Strigoi and Lissa's abilities. The last book was very dark and bittersweet. Spirit Bound is more action packed and the story just takes off after the students graduate and doesn't let up until near the end.

Rose is still a fantastic character. She has had to deal with a lot of heartache but she does not shy away from difficult challenges. Rose has grown throughout the series but she is as headstrong as ever.  Her temper leads her into trouble at times but she is also fiercely loyal to her friends and what she believes in which I find to be admirable. Rose is protective of Lissa and hates it when her decisions put Lissa in harm's way. In earlier books Lissa has seemed to be the weaker of the two characters but I like how she has become stronger and braver. She really impressed me in this book. One character that has slowly grown on me is Adrian Ivashkov. At first, Adrian seemed to be just a spoiled and flirtatious rich guy. Gradually he has developed into a very likeable character with depth. Of course my favorite male character in the series is Dimitri. Even though things look difficult for Rose and Dimitri's future I still continue to hope that they will somehow get a happy ending.

There are plenty of plot twists in Spirit Bound and the cliffhanger ending sets up the final book nicely. However there were some very minor things that irritated me. I felt that some of the characters disappeared suddenly from the storyline. I also felt at one point that a certain character should have been present but was not. Overall I was very pleased with Spirit Bound and thought it was another fantastic book in the Vampire Academy series. If you are a fan of paranormal romance, this is one series you shouldn't miss!