(WARNING! Review will contain spoilers! Read at your own peril!)Holy. Freakin. Cow.When I got this one from the library (after missing my hold on it at least four times... grr) i have to say i nearly drooled while reading the inside flap. I mean, seriously.Seriously.This is, by far, not only the best book in this series yet, it's also probably the best vampire book i've ever read. Honestly? It's that good.Now, understand that i have this major soft spot for the scenario that is set up in this book (close friends of mine will know why... ;) i absolutely love when this kind of situation happens. And what is this wonderful scenario?Well. Rose falls in love with Dimitri - her mentor and tutor - very early on in the series. And after all the angsty emotional forbidden romancing that goes on, they finally pretty much accept the fact that they're in love. Then Dimitri gets turned Strigoi - the evil soulless race of vampire.*cue sad weeping.*I lovvvveeeee it. (I'm a twisted thing, i know.) I love when one person in the relationship go evil. It makes me so happy. I love the dialogue and feelings that spring from that happening. I love that. And i'm aware that it's a little strange. What can i say? i love romance that is doomed to fail.In this book, Rose drops out of the Academy to do the one thing she promised Dimitri, and that is if one of them was turned Strigoi, then the other had to kill them.Sucks, doesn't it?But, of course, what happens when she finds him? Strigoi and all, and he doesn't want to be saved? *I'm giggling like a schoolgirl right now. i just love it*On the home front, Lissa is slowly spiraling into depression after Rose abandons her, and the new girl, Avery... well... she isn't helping.There's the story, in a nutshell. And i have to say, this is my favourite Vampire Academy book yet (it also pushed the series into my #1 favourite vampire series) New elements were brought into the book, adding to already stand-out-ness, like Alchemists (the cleanup crew for the dhampirs & moroi), and a whole crew of Russian characters.I just love how emotionally charged these books are, especially this one. See, with me, i like a happy ending and all... but i prefer it if everything goes to hell a few times before we get there. And everything has gone to hell multiple times so i'm totally cool with whatever comes in the next book.Speaking of... i can't WAIT for Spiritbound because, honestly? I felt the need to throw my book across the wall at the end of this one. I won't tell you why, of course, but the cliffhanger is MADDENING!!!!This was just epic. Plain and simple. i LOVED it. I can't wait for the next installment... even though i never want them to end ^_^ They're just the best things that have happened to YA vampire books. (not to say they're not without their faults. They are. Sometimes i feel like i'm reading a Gossip Girl instead of an urban fantasy. But, then again, a lot of times that works for these books.) There were some iffy spots for me (like the time jump? so was she with Dimitri a day? Because it was only a day on Lissa's side... and that seemed just weird...) but, frankly, it was fantastic. Simply fantastic. i can't wait to read the next!!
