Last Sacrifice

by Richelle Mead

Here it is, the final book in the Vampire Academy series. One of the things I've liked most about this series is the different take on vampires. In the VA books, there are a few types of vampires - the royal, pure Moroi vampires, who live on blood, but don't kill to get it; the dhampirs - a mix of Moroi and human who don't drink blood and live to protect the Moroi, and the evil Strigoi, who kill anyone they can get their hands on. Throughout this 6-part series we've meet Rose (the dhampir), Lissa (her best friend, the Moroi), as well and their ever-widening group of friends and acquaintances. We've seen Rose's love Dimitri turned Strigoi and then back again, and watched Rose struggle with her feelings for both him and party-boy Adrian.

At the start of this book Rose is in prison, accused of killing the Moroi queen. Desperately trying to think of a way to clear her name and avoid execution, Rose is surprised when she is suddenly broken out of jail. On the run, Rose and her companions begin a search for Lissa's previously unknown half-brother or -sister. Meanwhile, back at court Lissa and the gang are searching for who really killed the queen so Rose's name can be cleared.

Oh, and did I mention that Rose is still trying to decide between Dimitri and Adrian? Because she is - that's what young adult book heroines do!

I liked the whole solve-the-mystery aspect of this novel, even though it was a little slower than the previous books. The main thing I didn't like was how blase Rose was at the end about how things had turned out for others. **Spoilers**Adrian was right when he called Rose out for not being concerned enough for others. She didn't fret long over cheating on him with Dimitri, as soon as she was back at court and had the answers she needed she forgot all about Sydney, and she only spared a few passing thoughts for how Christian was feeling about the turn of events. It was all about her getting Dimitri, with a side of saving Lissa. I actually think this could have been alleviated by including an epilogue at the end, to fully explain where everyone ended up, and hopefully showing how Rose had made an effort to patch things up with everyone. As it was, she came across a little selfish. **

Mostly satisfying conclusion, a few character problems, but redeemed mostly by good story-telling.