Book Review: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Book: Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6) by Richelle Mead, 2010 by Razorbill, 594 pages.

Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads:
They come first.

My vision was growing dimmer, the blackness and ghosts closing in. I swore it was like I could hear Robert whispering in my ear: The world of the dead won't give you up a second time. Just before the light completely vanished, I saw Dimitri's face join Lissa's. I wanted to smile. I decided then that if the two people I loved most were safe, I could leave this world.

The dead could finally have me.

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

Join Rose, Dimitri, Adrian, and Lissa in Last Sacrifice, the epic, unforgettable finale to Richelle Mead's international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series.

My Thoughts:
This was a great ending to the Vampire Academy series. It was full of action, tension, and twists. 

Rose is charged with killing Queen Tatiana is about to stand trial for treason, an offense punishable by death. While she is locked up, the tables turn as it is her friends who have concocted the crazy plan to help her escape.

The story has two aspects: Rose and Dimitri and their life on the run, following leads and getting into their own trouble when they are supposed to be laying low; and Lissa and their friends trying to find the real murderer back at the royal court. Again, the connection between Lissa and Rose proves to be invaluable so that we can see what is going on in both places.

Then there is the development of the relationship between Rose and Dimitri - and how Adrian fits into what is going on between them. I did feel sorry for Adrian, but I thought it was interesting how Mead dealt with the whole thing. There certainly was no nicely wrapped up solution and I liked how Mead didn't pretend there was. She left some things messy.

There are also some great twists in the plot that keep the reader turning the pages. I love how so many threads throughout the whole series come together to make sense in this book. However, there are also some tangles, and though things all make sense in the end, there are still questions about what will happen next.

Overall, I think anyone who has read the Vampire Academy series will really love this book and will completely devour it, eating up every word and savoring the tension between Rose and Dimitri.