Note: These reviews may contain inadvertent spoilers about the book. Read at your own risk.
Dimitri gave Rose the ultimate choice. But she chose wrong…
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. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and he’s out there, somewhere.
Ahead of us, the roar of a crowd grew loud. One of the school’s many sports fields had been transformed into an arena on par with something from Roman gladiatorial days. The bleachers had been built up, expanded from simple wooden seats to luxuriously cushioned benches with awnings to shade the Moroi from the sun. Banners surrounded the field, their bright colors visible from here as they whipped in the wind. I couldn’t see them yet, but I knew there would be some type of barracks built near the stadium’s entrance where novices waited, nerves on edge. The field itself would have turned into an obstacle course of dangerous tests. And from the sound of those deafening cheers, plenty were already there to witness this event.
“I’m not giving up hope,” Lissa said. Through the bond, I knew she meant it. It was one of the wonderful things about her–a steadfast faith and optimism that weathered the most terrible ordeals. It was a sharp contrast to my recent cynicism.
“And I’ve got something that might help you out today.”
She came to a stop and reached into her jeans pocket, producing a small silver ring scattered with tiny stones that looked like peridots. I didn’t need any bond to understand what she was offering.
“Oh, Liss…I don’t know. I don’t want any, um, unfair advantage.”
Lissa rolled her eyes. “That’s not the problem, and you know it. This one’s fine, I swear.”
The ring she offered me was a charm, infused with the rare type of magic she wielded. All Moroi had control of one of five elements: earth, air, water, fire, or spirit. Spirit was the rarest– so rare, it had been forgotten over the centuries. Then Lissa and a few others had recently surfaced with it. Unlike the other elements, which were more physical in nature, spirit was tied into the mind and all sorts of psychic phenomena. No one fully understood it.
Making charms with spirit was something Lissa had only recently begun to experiment with–and she wasn’t very good at it. Her best spirit ability was healing, so she kept trying to make healing charms. The last one had been a bracelet that singed my arm.
“This one works. Only a little, but it’ll help keep the darkness away during the trial.”
She spoke lightly, but we both knew the seriousness of her words. With all of spirit’s gifts came a cost: a darkness that showed itself now as anger and confusion, and eventually led to insanity. Darkness that sometimes bled over into me through our bond. Lissa and I had been told that with charms and her healing, we could fight it off. That was also something we had yet to master.
I gave her a faint smile, moved by her concern, and accepted the ring. It didn’t scald my hand, which I took as a promising sign. It was tiny and only fit on my pinky. I felt nothing whatsoever as it slid on. Sometimes that happened with healing charms. Or it could mean the ring was completely ineffectual. Either way, no harm done.
“Thanks,” I said. I felt delight sweep through her, and we continued walking.
I held my hand out before me, admiring the way the green stones glittered. Jewelry wasn’t a great idea in the kind of physical ordeals I’d be facing, but I would have gloves on to cover it.
“Hard to believe that after this, we’ll be done here and out in the real world,” I mused aloud, not really considering my words.
Read chapter 1 in full.
As expected, this book is on par with the rest of the series and brings closure to certain things while opening new problems for Rose and Lissa to face together.
Due to the series’ complexity, I thought I’d take a moment and list a few negatives I have discovered after reading 2/3 of the series.
Repetitive – I lost count at how many times I’ve read descriptions and differences between Moroi, Strigoi, and Dhampirs. And how spirit is a recent discovery with little understanding. And rehashes of things that happened in previous books. The upside to the repetitive nature is that you could read the first book and then many months later pick up the second book without having to recall minor details of who’s who and whether they are Moroi, Strigoi, or dhampir.
This is the fifth book in the Vampire Academy series which we’ll be reviewing this month. Read all of the reviews here.
Pick up your copy of Spirit Bound from your local library, request it on Paperback Swap, or buy a copy on Amazon
