I’m not sure that I’ve ever been so relieved to start the last book of a series. If there was a book series that perfectly embodied disappointment, the “Vampire Academy” series would be it. The first three books were fantastic in every way: characters, pacing, plot, world building…all of it was wonderfully executed and kept me eagerly flipping pages. And then “Blood Promise” happened, plunging the series into a low that it never fully recovered from, not even in this last installment. Much like the previous book, “Spirit Bound,” “The Last Sacrifice” makes an attempt to put the series back on course, but it fails to achieve the satisfaction of the earlier novels. It’s an ending. A perfect ending…and that’s sort of the problem. Spoilers follow.
Rose is in trouble. She’s in jail as the prime suspect for killing the Moroi queen, a crime that she didn’t commit but may very well die for. Fortunately, her well-connected father and her loyal friends soon bust her out of prison, leaving her free to search for both the real murderer as well as the other remaining Dragomir with both Dimitri and Sydney by her side. Meanwhile, back at the Moroi court, Lissa is nominated as a candidate to occupy the now-vacant throne, a position that she initially accepts as a ploy to buy her friends more time to ferret out the killer…though she soon finds herself tackling the candidacy trials with genuine intent. The fate of the Moroi world hangs in the balance and Rose hopes to turn the tide in Lissa’s (and her own) favour.
I’ll start with a positive – though, if I’m going to be honest, there are precious few positive things to say about “The Last Sacrifice” – and say that a lot happens within these pages. When I think back to the big things that occur, it’s actually quite a list: Rose’s prison break, a frantic flight across several states, the discovery of a secret group of vampires and humans living in harmony, Lissa’s royalty trials, the reentry of Victor Dashkov and his brother, the ongoing investigation into Tatiana’s murder, spirit causing more problems, turning another Strigoi back…let it never be said that nothing happens in this book. From start to finish, there’s usually something that’s at least mildly important going on…
Which isn’t to say that Mead has solved her pacing problems from the last two books. While there’s a lot that occurs in the novel, the old “stop the action so Rose can lament her romance drama” issue still raises its ugly head often. I don’t know why this problem persists. Did Mead initially write it this way, or did she plot out the novel and then decide to start shoving in Rose’s introspection to make it more teen-friendly? Whatever the case, it’s a common occurrence that something significant and exciting will be followed by several pages of Rose bemoaning her complicated relationship with Dimitri. I’m all for a respite after some fast-paced action, but I can’t begin to tell you how much I don’t care about Rose being with Dimitri. And that’s all she ever thinks about. Doesn’t matter what just happened or how important it is, she’ll always fall back to angsting about Dimitri. It takes what should be a pretty packed book and drags it to a slog. A book can’t be back to back action (not giving the characters – and reader – a chance to rest makes for an exhausting story), but it does need to be balanced…and “The Last Sacrifice” has way too much of Rose interrupting important moments to argue with herself about Dimitri to achieve that balance. I found myself skimming or outright skipping some sections.
Alright, so pacing issues aside, how did I feel about the actual events? I’ve just said that a lot happened, but were the events satisfying both on an individual level and as the series ending? Well…I guess to answer this, I’ll start with my expectations and predictions going into the novel:
1. Rose would end up with Dimitri.
2. Jill would be Lissa’s secret sibling.
3. Lissa would be elected queen.
4. Rose’s bond with Lissa would somehow be severed.
5. Rose would be assigned as Lissa’s Guardian with Dimitri possibly being Christian’s or otherwise getting an assignment that would put him and Rose close enough to continue their relationship.
You know what? I was right on every account. Part of it can possibly be attributed to just having read a lot over the years and knowing what trends to look for (Jill was the only character who could be the missing Dragomir since she was the only character who hadn’t yet accomplished anything within the story…and I highly doubted that Mead would pull out someone new for such a significant revelation), but the rest was foreseeable simply by thinking about what needed to happen for Rose to have a happy ending. Because that’s pretty much all that happened – Rose got her perfect ending…and it makes for the most predictable story ever. It’s incredibly unsatisfying and frustrating to see Rose get absolutely everything she wanted with no great consequences; I’m not against a happier ending, but a good final novel still needs to pack a punch and throw in a few twists. “The Last Sacrifice” is just too predictably blah to contain the necessary gravity of a finale.
This makes me wonder why the book is titled “The Last Sacrifice” when no one – especially not Rose – sacrifices anything. Everything works out perfectly for the protagonists with little suffered in the long term. I wish Mead had taken a risk and done something a little weightier to throw a greater shadow of consequence over the characters’ actions…but at the end of the day, she wasn’t willing to risk Rose’s perfect outcome to end her series with a bang. It’s a shame really – there was a lot of potential for big things to happen in this series.
And if the key events weren’t predictable, it’s because they fell into the WTF? category. Who the Hell are the Keepers and why have they never been so much as mentioned until now? Why do I feel like this was just Mead’s way of introducing something that’s going to feature in her spinoff series to whet our appetites? I’ve always hated it when authors use their last book in a series to start trotting out things that will feature in their next set of books and this was no exception since the Keepers have practically no part in “The Last Sacrifice.” Just leave them out next time and focus on the story that’s currently being told, okay Mead?
I can’t move on without addressing Tatiana’s murderer since it’s the motivation behind much of the book. It’s Tasha Ozera (though Mead tries to…ah…cleverly deceive us with a red herring pointing to Daniella Ivashkov). I know, I know, sorry for the spoiler and whatnot, but there’s no way that anyone could have guessed that. Why? Because it makes no bloody sense. Even when Tasha’s motives are revealed, it still falls under the WTF? tag. Until now, Tasha has been portrayed as being on the more radical end of Moroi politics, but she’s always seemed reasonable and sane enough to not go around assassinating queens, but that flew out the window as soon as Mead decided that Tasha needed to commit regicide. It’s not the clever “gotcha!” moment that Mead likely intended - it’s a “huh?” moment because there’s no logic to it.
Let’s shift to the romance, because “The Last Sacrifice” is chock full of it. When it comes to romance in this series, I keep eating my hat: in my review for “Blood Promise,” I declared that it had the worst relationship drama; then when I reviewed “Spirit Bound,” I said that it had bested its predecessor as being unbearable in the amount of time it spends on its love melodrama; now, I think I have to revise my opinion again and say that “The Last Sacrifice” takes the cake and wins the sad award for having the most painful, selfish romance of any book in this damn series. And it’s all because of how Adrian is treated. I’ve always liked Adrian, both as a character and as a partner to Rose. He and Rose positively sizzle together and have chemistry that I rarely see in Young Adult novels. Yet, that being said, I wouldn’t say that I’m “Team Adrian” largely because I don’t really care who Rose ends up with, I just want to see that Adrian – and all characters, really – are treated fairly…but that’s not the case here at all.
See, Rose must end up with Dimitri. It doesn’t matter if Rose is exclusively dating someone else; she and Dimitry are the one true pairing of this series come Hell or high water. So what is she to do when she has a committed boyfriend back at the court while being on the run and in close quarters with Dimitry, the destined love of her life? Why, cheat on Adrian, of course! Good God, I wish I was having a laugh with that. I wish I could say that Rose displayed some maturity, ended things with Adrian, and then crawled into bed with Dimitry, but that would be too good to be true. Worst of all, this isn’t even portrayed as a fault on Rose’s part! That’s what irritates me about this the most: Mead justifies Rose’s actions by yammering on about how Rose and Dimitry are soulmates (which makes cheating ok if it’s with your soulmate, I guess) and really focusing on how angry Rose is that Adrian smokes or drinks when he’s stressed. The latter have always been tendencies that Adrian has exhibited due to spirit wearing on him; he succeeded in cutting back on them when with Rose; and then relapsed after his aunt was murdered, his girlfriend was put in prison as the prime suspect and then broken out to go on the run with her ex-flame, and he began investigating the murder, the result of which started pointing pretty heavily at his mother. I’m not saying that drinking heavily and smoking like a chimney are desirable habits or even ones that Rose should accept in the long term, but would it have killed her to give him a chance to recover and move on from his family tragedy before deciding that it simply wasn’t meant to be because he did something she didn’t like? Who am I kidding? This is Rose – she’s the epitome of selfishness, so of course it’s out of the question. She babbles something at Adrian at the end about how she doesn’t inspire him to make changes and how he’ll know when he’s met his other half (all while thinking of Dimitry), and he delightfully calls her out on this nonsense. So thank you, Adrian, for voicing my thoughts on this, but it still sucks that Mead decided to treat you like a second class citizen just so Rose could get exactly what she wanted.
Which Rose does, in that she gets to be with godlike Dimitry, her “other half.” You know, after six books, I still don’t get the attraction between them. I like Dimitry well enough, but I’ve never seen this burning chemistry that Mead wants to insist that they have…and I continue to maintain that Mead must have realized this since she’s made a point to tell us how much this pair is simply meant to be together. It started with weird flashbacks in “Blood Promise,” but in “The Last Sacrifice,” Mead just outright says that Dimitry is Rose’s one and only. I’m not kidding: recently-turned Sonya has a pointed conversation with Rose during which she observes that Rose’s aura is brightest when she’s around Dimitry (there’s also the added jab that Rose doesn’t seem nearly as happy when she’s around Adrian). Rose of course clings to this and references it again and again and insists that Dimitry is the only person who can complete her, as their complimentary auras prove. A good, intriguing relationship needs to be based on a strong connection; we need to desperately feel that these characters absolutely must tackle life together because they bring out the best in one another and hold each other up and the only way that can be accomplished is by showing us through character growth and interactions that they are a great pair. As it stands, Rose needs to be with Dimitry because…well…because she just does. And that should be good enough for us, apparently. After six books, they still feel like a mentor and student who awkwardly crawl into bed together sometimes – very little chemistry, just two congenial (though not at the same level) people who occasionally bump uglies…not soulmates or impassioned lovers or whatever else they’re supposed to be.
Speaking of getting down and dirty, I’m mildly bothered by the fact that Rose and Dimitry only seem to do the deed when Rose is emotionally compromised. I don’t subscribe to the “Dimitry is grooming her” blather, but even I have to wonder why they only have sex when Rose isn’t in her right mind. And as an aside to that, I also feel the need to point out that had the characters’ positions been reversed, Rose continuing to touch and seduce Dimitry while he’s telling her no (because he tries to be honourable and doesn’t want to sleep with another man’s girlfriend…not that Rose gives a damn about honour) would have been unacceptable to many. As it stands, it’s still highly disturbing (no means no, Rose). This whole relationship sometimes has an off vibe.
I’ve made it no secret that I rather despise Rose at this point. It’s a shame, too, since I loved her at the start of the “Vampire Academy” series. Then she was a competent young woman who was still very much a hard-headed teenager but seemed willing to learn from her mistakes to better herself. Now, she’s a selfish brat who does whatever she wants without any thought for anyone else or the consequences of her actions. It’s unbelievable how many steps back she’s taken as a character; in my review for “Frost Bite,” I praised her for using her head and not being so impulsive (a huge improvement for her even at that time!), yet in “The Last Sacrifice,” after having just been broken out of prison and fleeing to a remote part of the East Coast, she decides after a couple of hours that she just doesn’t want to be in such a boring place and takes off into the woods alone. Great bloody idea, Rose! The Guardians are hot on your trail with orders to shoot you on sight, your father has called on every connection he can think of to get you somewhere safe, many of your friends are putting their jobs and lives on the line for your sake, and there’s a carefully plotted plan to keep you hidden while your friends try to clear your name…and you run away because you hate the small town that’s been deemed a secure place to stash you for now. This is how she makes most of her decisions in this book: she either suddenly does or doesn’t want to do something and just flies into action on that first impulse.
I end up saying this in a lot of reviews (and possibly have for almost every novel in this series), but a trait like this isn’t always character-breaking if it’s portrayed as a genuine flaw that the character must either overcome or otherwise grow from. That’s not the case here (and, indeed, it almost never is when I bring this up) since Rose’s stubbornness, refusal to listen to logic, and impulsivity are always given some attempt at justification that everyone else accepts with little questioning. In the above example, she insists that she wants to find the missing Dragomir, which almost everyone immediately agrees is a good idea. She’s either right and gets to rub it in everyone’s faces or others end up paying the price for her actions and she doesn’t really care. Either outcome, the only reason that she ever succeeds in doing anything that’s not just running off and beating things senseless is because she (somehow) has a great, supportive group of friends that (for whatever stupid reason) believe unquestioningly in her. She’s a terrible main character because she hasn’t grown at all, relies on everyone else to carry her through her bad decisions with no acknowledgement that this is what she’s doing, and is ultimately frustrating to read about. I don’t understand how a character improves for three books and then regresses for three more, but this was somehow accomplished with Rose, one of the worst protagonists that I’ve encountered.
Honestly, I think Lissa would have been a better main character. I know a lot of people seem to dislike her because of how perfectly she’s portrayed (which is a fair criticism), but hear me out for a moment. Throughout the course of the series, she grows from a passive, unsure girl with a frightening, rare element as her specialty to a confident young woman willing to put herself in the spotlight for the sake of her friends and people while bravely facing an uncertain future due to her use of spirit. Unlike Rose, Lissa is willing to own up to her mistakes and atone for them (even when she actually has the reasonable excuse of having been controlled by spirit’s effects). She puts her mind to learning what she needs to achieve her goals, even if they’re outside of her normal abilities (like staking a Strigoi), and is in a relationship with someone who, despite their ups and downs, ultimately brings out the best in her and supports her through her trials. I’ve very much enjoyed watching Lissa develop as a person and was even happy to forgive the bond-as-a-plot-device issue simply because I found Lissa undergoing the monarchy trials and dealing with her side of the investigation so much more interesting that whatever Rose was doing.
Actually, almost every character is better than Rose. Even Dimitry, who I don’t mind when he’s not waxing idiotic about Rose’s beauty, is compelling in his own right. I find it somewhat astounding that Mead can craft such interesting characters while completely failing with her protagonist. I’ve already touched on Lissa, but Christian, Adrian, Janine, Abe, Ambrose, Sydney, Victor, Sonya, and even Jill are well fleshed out and play their roles and often then some. I especially enjoyed Adrian and Christian’s bromance – I wish Mead would let characters interact in these casual ways with people other than their romantic partners more often. The cast that inhabits this Moroi are all fairly intriguing, almost surprisingly so at times, and I’d have loved to see more of them.
On a random character-related note, I was surprised to find myself warming to Sydney. When she made her appearance in “Blood Promise,” I was rather indifferent toward her, but she really grew on me here. Perhaps I just felt bad for her and her situation, perhaps she had more of an opportunity to show her personality, perhaps I sympathized with some of her quirks and reasoning…whatever the reason, I liked her a lot more in “The Last Sacrifice,” than I did when she first popped up.
When I closed “The Last Sacrifice,” the one thought running through my mind was “thank God that’s over!” I’m not sure what it is about final novels, especially ones I’ve experienced in the Young Adult genre, but this can be added to the pile of underwhelming, predictable conclusions that are bogged down by a vomit-inducing romance. There’s a lot that happens and it’s certainly not a boring book, but many of the novel’s events are easily predictable as the necessary pieces to Rose’s perfect ending. The romance is still underdeveloped and sometimes disturbing in its portrayal and Rose has fallen into the ranks of whiny, selfish protagonists, a mighty tumble from the favourable position she used to hold in my eye. So, why have I given this two stars instead of one since it seems like I have very few nice things to say about the novel? Well, at the end of the day, I still enjoy Mead’s world and find her worldbuilding to be pretty satisfying and interesting to the point that I’ll give the book a star for that alone; the other star comes from the characters that aren’t Rose…especially Christian and Adrian’s snarky interactions. The “Vampire Academy” series had so much promise when it started, but somehow we ended up with this lackluster offering as the series’ grand finale; it always hurts to see such potential squandered.
Last Sacrifice: A Vampire Academy Novel
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Finally! Resolution to the Rose-Dimitri Dilemma!!
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018
I have to be honest, I didn’t think that I would be able to get into this series because it’s in the young adult category, and I’m an adult but not young. From the first book, Vampire Academy, to The Last Sacrifice, I couldn’t put the books down. There was never a dull moment. I know there are some reviews here that aren’t as enthusiastic. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but I thought it was brilliant how Mead worked in characters that spin out into a completely different series. And she keeps Adrian going, which made me feel elated that he’s being given the opportunity to heal his broken heart and really start living. If you love reading, vampires and a solid story line, the Vampire Academy series is for you.
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2018
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