SPIRIT BOUND by Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy, #5
Publication Date: May 18th 2010 by Razorbill
Rating: 
Summary: After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s—and to her best friend, Lissa Dragomir. It’s graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives outside of the Academy’s cold iron gates to finally begin. But even with the intrigue and excitement of court life looming, Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri. 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 she knows in her heart that he is hunting her. And if Rose won’t join him, he won’t rest until he’s silenced her…forever.
But Rose can’t forget what she learned on her journey—whispers of a magic too impossible and terrifying to comprehend. A magic inextricably tied to Lissa that could hold the answer to all of Rose’s prayers, but not without devastating consequences. Now Rose will have to decide what—and who—matters most to her. In the end, is true love really worth the price?
Fall in love with Rose and Dimitri all over again in Spirit Bound, the eagerly awaited fifth novel in Richelle Mead’s enthralling Vampire Academy series.
Review Overview:
- Slow start but picks up the action toward the middle
- Lots of unresolved sexual tension; Adrian, I love you but I’m Team Dimitri
- SPIRIT BOUND is an emotional roller coaster – I laughed, gasped, cried, etc.
As a warning, if you haven’t read the previous four books, you may spoil it for yourself if you read this review!
Establishing a pattern that I was probably slow to pick up on, Richelle Mead starts SPIRIT BOUND at a slow pace that eventually picks up and ends with a bang. I did start to get impatient at around 200 pages in. I knew that Mead would pick up the speed pretty soon but getting there was tough. Up to that part, the story line was very interesting, but it lacked the jaw-dropping, fast-paced scenes that I really enjoy about her writing.
There was a lot of unresolved sexual tension in SPIRIT BOUND! I was most intrigued by the possible reconciliation between Lissa and Christian. After their relationship fell apart in book four, I just had to make sure that they were going to salvage their relationship. Everyone knew that they were supposed to be together and it was very frustrating to see them so blind. Throughout this book, I struggled immensely between Dimitri and Adrian. I absolutely adore Adrian’s character. He’s sweet and charming and as much as I would hate to see him with a broken heart, I’m still Team Dimitri all the way.
SPIRIT BOUND was such an emotional roller coaster for me. I laughed, gasped in shock, and even shed a few tears. But as always, I was caught off-guard for most of the jaw-dropping scenes in the book. It made reading all the more fun. Mead definitely does not disappoint with the fifth installment of the Vampire Academy series! I can’t wait to start reading the next book.
TOLD. YOU.
WIN.
YES! Tears!! I knew you’d crack, haha! I cried more in Shadow Kiss, but this one was intense, too. Great review.
LOL.
… sigh. I couldn’t help it.
Great review! The cover is so seductive.
Don’t be a stranger!
Looking forward to hearing back from you soon,
Cory @ Anti-Drug Reads
Hehe, it’s Adrian for me all the way! Even though I knew it wasn’t his fault, and that he was still awesome underneath the creepiness, the Strigoi stuff with Dimitri really turned me off his character and I never fully recovered. These books are so fun. I’m glad you’re enjoying them. Happy reading Last Sacrifice!