Book Description
Rose is on trial for high treason and the death of Queen Tatiana. Someone is trying to frame her and it looks like even Dimitri might not be able to save her now.
Review
*May contain spoilers*
Out of the whole series I think this book was the one I least enjoyed. That being said it was still fabulous. Richelle Mead is one of my absolute favorite authors. I've never read a book of hers that I haven't really enjoyed and most likely gushed over. So when I say I think this book could have been better it is based on really high standards.
First for a last book there were quite a few loose ends. Richelle has mentioned there will be a spin off series so I’m assuming these issues will be resolved in those books, since they don't directly relate to Rose. There were lots of little things but one issue that was not completely concluded was the servitude of the Dhampirs to the Moroi. I was really hoping there would be some change here. There was some indication by Lissa that there would be change concerning it in the future, but that was it. The same thing can be said for the Moroi fighting.
Second it felt a bit rushed in some aspects and drawn out in others. The romance between Rose and Dimitri had a sudden turn-around from Dimitri saying he couldn’t love anyone anymore, too I love you, and I want to be with you. In contrast the search for Lissa’s sister was longer than I thought it needed to be. I thought this could have been completed quicker and enabled Rose to return to court to flesh out the situation between Rose, Adrian and Dimitri and embellish on the conclusion and some of the loose ends. I think this would have been a better solution than cheating on Adrian. By the end of the book I felt really bad for Adrian.
A lot of time in the book was spent in Lissa’s perspective at court. I found a lot of this pointless. Usually I enjoy reading the bits where this happens but there was too much of it in this book. I would estimate 50% with Rose and 50% with Lissa. Most of this time with Lissa was searching for the queen’s killer and court duties which could be a bit boring at times. Other things that got concluded too quickly was the insanity Rose was gaining from Lissa, her relationship with her parents and her response to how she caused potential problems for other characters that helped her such as Jill.
My rating out of 5
4/5
I keep trying to get into this series and I just can't seem to. It could be that I read them in a strange order, but as I got them from the library, beggars can't be choosers. I haven't read 5 or 6 yet, and I just can't seem to work up any excitement for them. Why? No idea. Maybe the library will have 5 this week and I can give it another whirl.
ReplyDeleteI liked this book the least--for many reasons. Personally, even from the start, I never bought the love relationship between Rose and Dimetri. True, it had its hot moments, but it was predictable, uninspiring, and bland. Matching souls? *yawn* The only thing that got me through the series was Adrian, who I loved from the first word. He was far more fleshed out and I not only felt bad for him--I ached for him. I only read through the scenes for him--knowing it was going to end disastrously. I know the author always intended it to be Rose/Dimetri (such was obvious), but why make Adrian so likable? And I'm glad he got his jabs in in the end. I will NOT be reading any follow up books because I don't care for the foreshadowing of him and Jill getting together. I was a Rose/Adrian only girl.
ReplyDeleteI'm disappointed, both with how Adrian was treated and with this theme in books (The House of Night series) that have girls cheating on their boyfriends simply because they "love" the other person. What the hell are we trying to teach young readers? That cheating is alright as long as you love the person?