Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Title: Blood Promise
Author: Richelle Mead
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 503
Format: Hardcover
Acquired: Bought
Interest: Series
Others in the Series: Vampire Academy, Frostbite, & Shadow Kiss
Age Group: Young Adult
Rating: 5 Stars

Rose Hathaway's life will never be the same.

The recent attack on St. Vladimir's Academy devastated the entire Moroi world. Many are dead. And, for the few victims carried off by Strigoi, their fates are even worse. A rare tattoo now adorns Rose's neck, a mark that says she's killed far too many Strigoi to count. But only one victim matters . . . Dimitri Belikov. Rose must now choose one of two very different paths: honoring her life's vow to protect Lissa—her best friend and the last surviving Dragomir princess—or, dropping out of the Academy to strike out on her own and hunt down the man she loves. She'll have to go to the ends of the earth to find Dimitri and keep the promise he begged her to make. But the question is, when the time comes, will he want to be saved?

Now, with everything at stake—and worlds away from St. Vladimir's and her unguarded, vulnerable, and newly rebellious best friend—can Rose find the strength to destroy Dimitri? Or, will she sacrifice herself for a chance at eternal love?

I fall in love with the series each time I open a new page. I was not expecting to fall in love with the book series so quick.

This was different than the other novels because now you have Rose on her own, searching for Dimitri who now an evil vampire, and I have to find new respect for her. In this age you would imagine having strong female characters in every day books, but that's not always the case. Yet, Rose is a strong female character, one that you can grow to respect. Sure, chasing after a guy may seem like a weak thing, but the hardest thing, I think, that happens is that Rose had to leave all behind for a while in order to fulfill a promise.

For a good portion of the novel I was afraid what Rose would do when she did find Dimitri, and my fears deepened when I thought that she was going to be awakened. Somehow I don't know how Rose can keep her sanity in the madness that is her life.

I fell in love with Dimitri's family and I wish that they had been introduced under different circumstances. And as for Abe? I was not expecting that. And I actually liked Sydney a lot. She was so stiff and uncomfortable, someone could almost laugh with her around. I'm glad Richelle brought her in, because Sydney makes for a good friend, despite how she much she hates Rose.

And for the first time in the series my heart actually went to Lissa. I agreed with Mia that Lissa should have gone, instead of feeling sorry for herself and thinking that Rose was abandoning her, and yet I couldn't get myself to be upset with her because of everything that started to happen with Avery, Jill, and Christian. I wish someone had noticed sooner, but then again Lissa has always been a little damaged.

And I'm afraid on how things are going to go later on between Rose and Adrian. I can already feel things go downhill.

Haunting, dark, nerve-wrecking, anticipation ride that you do not want to get off.