‘Last Sacrifice’ by Richelle Mead

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

It was the end of an era. With Vampire Academy I did something that I have never been able to accomplish with any other book. I put off reading the last one, just so I always had that excellent little feeling of: it’s not over yet. I get the same feeling if I freeze some spaghetti sauce, or a buy two bottles of wine, or if I’m rich enough to hide $100 in my sock drawer. It’s a comforting, don’t worry, I’ve got your back when you just can’t go on – sort of relief. But just like the plumbers bill to my $100, Last Sacrifice (how apt) was called upon to get me out of a particularly boring evening.

This was by far the best Vampire Academy book in the series. Rose and Dimitri have fucked right off to – wherever with an alchemist that hates them, Vasilisa is going through gruelling trials of royalty nominations with all the calm and poise of a lady, and meanwhile the vampire community is in political turmoil over various Queen killings, archaic laws, and some Strigoi reversibles.

It upsets me to announce that I saw Tasha’s betrayal coming a while ago. I never really liked her, perhaps because Rose never really liked her. Way to revoke the stigma of evil surrounding your family you bitch. I mean she was evil for a good cause, but she for real killed a person, she was indirectly responsible for another Moroi death, she used that poor boyfriend of her, and set up Rose to take the fall so she could have her boyfriend. The strangest thing is, she didn’t seem like a psychopath at all. Poor Christian and Lissa have been through some dramatics. Both of them with their families dead, and the closest relatives they have betraying them for selfish gain. Meanwhile here is Rose with her parents both alive and well, multiple boyfriends alive and well, and eating doughnuts for breakfast and not getting fat.

Though Rose is lacking magic. It occurred to me while reading the first book, that this would truly be a horrendous punishment. To be a similar race to these people, but not able to use magic. They are the muggles and squibs of the vampire world.

The only complaint? The ending sentence was trash! “But I think it’s going to be good.” !!! WHAT!  This is the swill we get left with after 6 books of jazzy scenes and witty quips and you leave us with some soap-opera-esque, everything is gunna be alright! SO DONE!

Let’s explore some of my favourite of those quips to wash the taste of bad last lines out of my mouth.

“What the hell?” I asked. Is this daring escape being sponsored by Honda?”

“So that’s how you’re going to fix the family problem. Little Dragomirs. Good idea.”

The saleswoman’s eyes widened. “No one has ever worn straps to a funeral. It wouldn’t be right.”

“What about shorts?” asked Adrian. “Are they okay if they’re with a tie? Because that’s what I was gonna go with.”

Oooh speaking of Adrian. Poor sonovabitch. Cheating is cheating, true love or not, and while I’m glad they ended up together, I’m glad Adrian didn’t let her get off lightly:

“I loved you!” he yelled. He jumped up out of his chair so quickly I never saw it coming. “I loved you, and you destroyed me. You took my heart and ripped it up. You might as well have staked me!” The change in his features also caught me by surprise. His voice filled the room. So much grief, so much anger. So unlike the usual Adrian. He strode toward me, hand clasped over his chest. “I. Loved. You. And you used me the whole time.”

Luckily, I have the Ruby Circle coming out next year, on my own birthday no less. I will get to see Adrian happy once more, see Lissa pull off some royal decision making, and revisit some old grievances I’ve had with the royal Moroi and the Alchemists. Let’s just bring the lot of them down in one fell swoop. Saddle up Mead, I have some requests. God now I really want to reread Bloodlines… But I have so many other books to read. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★