Author: Richelle MeadSeries: Vampire Academy #3
Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: November 13th 2008
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: My copy
Blurb (from Goodreads):
WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS ROSE COULD LOSE HER BEST FRIEND FOREVER?My buddy reread of the Vampire Academy series with Jamsu @ Jamsudreams continues this month with Shadow Kiss. So far I've been enjoying this time of revisiting this world, but I have to say...something's changed. Big time. Let me tell you all about it!
Lissa Dragomir is a Moroi princess: a mortal vampire with a rare gift for harnessing the earth's magic. She must be protected at all times from Strigoi; the fiercest vampires - the ones who never die. The powerful blend of human and vampire blood that flows through Rose Hathaway, Lissa's best friend, makes her a Dhampir. Rose is dedicated to a dangerous life of protecting Lissa from the Strigoi, who are hell-bent on making Lissa one of them.
Rose knows it is forbidden to love another guardian. Her best friend, Lissa - the last Dragomir princess - must always come first. Unfortunately, when it comes to gorgeous Dimitri Belikov, some rules are meant to be broken...
Then a strange darkness begins to grow in Rose's mind, and ghostly shadows warn of a terrible evil drawing nearer to the Academy's iron gates. The immortal undead are closing in, and they want vengeance for the lives Rose has stolen. In a heart-stopping battle to rival her worst nightmares, Rose will have to choose between life, love, and the two people who matter most... but will her choice mean that only one can survive?
As with the previous books, if you want to check out my first review of this book you can go here.
As with my first read of this book, this reread managed to hurt my soul once again. I knew what was going to happen, but I was still sad over what happens to Dimitri. The storyteller in me however loved it.
What changed in my second read of this book now was how I viewed the mental health aspects of the book. As with Lissa's depression and self harm tendencies, Rose's episodes of anger, her mood swings, even her "taking" Lissa's anger upon herself were treated lightly. I wanted to see that aspect of Rose's character and her relationship with Lissa explored more. It was only once that PTSD was mentioned, but it didn't feel like something to be considered, which let me down a little bit. I do however have to say that I appreciated the scenes with Rose and the therapist. I didn't notice how good they were the first time around, and I wish I did. The entire interaction was so good and it perfectly showed a type of client-therapist interaction.
I still loved the fact that we see Christian help Rose fight off Strigoi, and in fact more Moroi join in later on. I just wish there was a mention of the Moroi getting some form of marks, like Rose and the other guardians did. I also liked how Christian defended Rose and didn't doubt her abilities, or her dedication to protect him in the beginning of the story.
We see a shift in Lissa and Rose's friendship, and not for the better. While before it was Lissa and Rose against the world, it seems that now it's Lissa and Adrian against the world, and Rose is just there because...it's expected. Rose knows everything about Lissa, but the same cannot be said of Lissa. She can't even tell when her best friend is hiding something, or suffering, which annoyed me.
I know it may not sound like it, but I did quite enjoy the book. Especially since it was such a game changer, due to that ending. I'm very excited to read Blood Promise, meed Dimitri's family. SYDNEY!!! And Ibrahim if I'm not mistaken. Basically it will be amazing.
Head over here to read Jamsu's review of Shadow Kiss