Thursday, January 12, 2012

Review: Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead (Vampire Academy 5)


THE DETAILS:
Pages: 496
Genre: Teenage Fiction, Fantasy
Published: 18/05/2010 by Penguin Books
Bought Online

THE BLURB:
Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. And she made the wrong one...After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri's birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir's Academy - and to her best friend, Lissa. But Rose's heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he's out there, somewhere. She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true - Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. Only this time, he won't rest until Rose joins him...forever.

MY REVIEW:
In my review of 'Shadow Kissed' I've noted the difficulty and effectiveness of writing a review about one of the sequels in a series of so many books. I realise that I probably already have become repetitive with my praise for these novels. So may I warn you. However, I still venture on regardless to review 'Spirit Bound'.

One new thing I have noticed in this book is how fast-paced the action scenes are. All the thinking discussing and brooding that the characters partake in is often quite detailed and filled with thought, while the battle scenes are quite concise. I really appreciate the author doing this, because all the "stressing" that the character goes through leading up to the big event is enough to create all the hype needed for the battle to seem exciting. This way the reader also doesn't become bogged down in detail when all the exciting stuff is supposed to be happening. I the books are similar to real life in this way. In reality people are often too flabbergasted or too busy focusing in these situations to think about little details.

Another thing I've noticed is Richelle Mead's love for cliffhangers. She has written a few endings in this series that has left some readers very unhappy. I think I actually like her cliffhangers because she somehow manages to make the book feel finished and unfinished at the same time. Some things are actually resolved in each book, unlike other cliffhanger books like 'Illusions' by Aprilynne Pike. I also like the cliffhangers for shock value. Cliffhangers always give a reader something to look forward to.

Can I also just mention how shockingly eventful this series is? The story lines are definitely not slow paced or 2 Dimensional. Mead's work is a little like 'Harry Potter' in this way. She has built her own world where her characters not only exist, but learn and change convincingly within it.

To avoid writing repetitively I would like to recommend that anyone interested in any other things I have discovered or liked about this series to for back to the reviews of previous books in the series. These are all listed in the left sidebar and underneath this review. In each one I have discussed things that occurred to me while reading that particular book.

Overall, Five stars and a Favourite, again. I cannot fault this series! The VA Series shows us that YA is not just about soppy humans with supernatural infatuations, but about real things like: stereotypes, morality, friendship, peer-pressure, relationships, personal growth and family within a supernatural atmosphere. Again recommending to anyone who reads...


THE SERIES:

Vampire Academy Series:
5. Spirit Bound (This Review)


Bloodlines- Spin off series:

Your Favourite Blogger,
Natalie

1 comment:

hbjgvhuogyihpo said...

I feel like I have the same problem when writing my reviews for series with so many books! But this was a great review and I definitely agree with you on the whole world building and how it's like Harry Potter in the sense that the characters grow and mature!