Shadow Kiss

I ended up finishing this before the rest of the ACOBAF group because with the Reading Rush happening this week, I didn't want to have to juggle being in the middle of too many books. This one has probably been my favorite of the series so far. All the characters really grew in this book and the story has gotten really intense in terms of the fight against the Strigoi and how Rose and Lissa are dealing with it.

CAWPILE Breakdown:
Characters: 7
Atmosphere: 5
Writing: 7
Plot: 8
Intrigue: 9
Logic: 7
Enjoyment: 8

Why, just why?! The twist to Rose and Dimitri finally admitting their love and consummating it......then the big attack was just cruel! it was just heartbreaking and I knew he'd end up dead or dying. But taken and turned?! Dude! I hope the next book proves this wrong! I was so happy Rose was going to get it all. But I knew when I read it that something was gonna happen. It wasn't going to last.

Ok now that that is out of the way.

Overall awesome book! More moody and dark, but isn't that where most vampire stories go?! I loved the changes in both Lissa and Rose, how the bond was changing and what they were discovering about it. I like Rose and Christian working together and blowing everyone's mind.

The ending is shocking, but I'm glad Rose take a stand, to do something for her for a change. I can't wait to see where the fourth book takes me!

May contain spoilers for the next books in the series.

I've had some time to collect my thoughts, and I believe my review can be summed up in one question and one answer.

The Question: Why didn't I read this sooner?

The Answer: Because I'm a fucking idiot, that's why.

Every time I take a break from this series I forget how good it is. I read Frostbite over one year after my second read of Vampire Academy, and now I've done the same thing with Shadow Kiss. I always regret the distance in time between books but now I can hopefully read them all without the long Vampire Academy-drought period.

Rose is still an amazing protagonist. I love her attitude and sass. The only problem I seem to have with her in these books is that sometimes she can be really childish and immature, and it really gets on my nerves. And while I love Rose, Dimitri is still my favorite character in the series. He was my second book boyfriend ever (the first being Four from the Divergent series) and Dimitri being turned Strigoi at the end broke my heart even though I know they end up together in the end somehow.

Adrian was a lot more likeable in this book than in Frostbite, while I found Lissa to be more annoying this time around. Adrian's flirtiness grew on me and I began to really enjoy his presence in most scenes. Lissa, on the other hand, began to really piss me off. Believe me, I still love her but after the scenes at the Moroi Royal Court she began to get really annoying. Overall, Lissa is a good character and I think she needs to grow a bit in the next books.

Christian is still... interesting. I haven't figured out what it is with him, but I'm still borderline on whether I like him or trust him.

I loved Rose's new ghost whispering abilities. The St. Vladmir and Shadow-Kissed Anna/Lissa and Shadow-Kissed Rose plot is so intruiging to me and I hope it plays a bigger part in the next books.

All in all, this is my favorite Vampire Academy novel so far and I can't wait to get into Blood Promise soon!

HOW DARE YOU TANTE RICHELLE??????
Kenapa merenggut Rose-Dimitri dari Happily Ever After island???
Ini seperti Star Wars episode II : Revenge of The Sith dimana Anakin memilih the dark side, no happy ending krn itulah awal mula kejatuhan galaksi. Buku ini juga awal kejatuhan hubungan antara Rose & DImitri. Padahal ak selalu menunggu-nunggu scene Rose & Dimitri walau itu hanya scene mereka berlatih bersama.
Kehilangan Dimitri itu benar2 rasa sakit kehilangan Mason 100 kali lipat. Padahal Dimitri udh mulai membuka kemungkinan untuk menyusun masa depan dgn Rose (spoiler : they finally did the do & talking about their possibility to be together in the future).
This hurt so much. Aku sampai melempar buku ke tembok, untungnya bkn ebook ya jd ak gk banting tablet atau smartphone...

This book is so good I said! I keep liking every book better than the last I said! Then the ending happened and I was in tears, shaking, and breathing heavily. Like this book was AMAZING don't get me wrong. I couldn't get enough, but Richelle Mead ripped out my heart and stomped it into the dirt. I never thought I'd become this invested in a series I'd never even planned to read. But I'm in love with this series and I can't stop devouring book after book.