Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Title: Last Sacrifice

Author: Richelle Mead

Genre: Young Adult/ Fantasy

Publisher:  Penguin Australia (Imprint: Razorbill)

Publication Date: December 2010

ISBN: 9781921518904

Stand alone or series: Last book in Vampire Academy Series!

Pages: 608 pages

Book Received from: The Penguin Group (Aus)

First Lines: I don't like cages. I don't even like going to the zoo.

Possible Spoilers if you haven't read the other five books!

Synopsis:

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 guardian 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 life is about saving others, who will save you?

My Thoughts:
I've followed Rose and Lissa's adventure right from the beginning and while the other five books were really good, I have to say Last Sacrifice was the best book by far!  It's just a shame that it is the last book in the Vampire Academy series, but then every good series must end. 

As most of you who have read these books, Spirit Bound left us all there hanging as Rose is arrested for the murder of Queen Tatiana.  Shocking I know, but what was worse was we had to wait so long to find out how it all turned out. 

This book is definitely action packed although Rose is a little more passive in this one than the previous five.  Not that she had much of a choice though.  The tables had actually turned for once, where Rose needed help and the others were there to support her. 

The love triangle continues between Rose, Adrian and Dimitri and to be quite honest I wasn't sure whether I was Team Adrian or Team Dimitri after the end of Spirit Bound.  I also had my nose out of joint at the way Dimitri went after he was transformed back to Dhampir and swearing to serve and help Lissa.  It was a slap in the face to Rose, since she was the one pushing to make it happen.  But Last Sacrifice, I must admit, he redeemed himself somewhat by helping Rose out when she really needed it.

Last Sacrifice was a brilliantly written book, neatly tying up all ends to the questions from the first five books.  Amazing ending too, had me just about crying!  Well worth the read!

While this is the end of Vampire Academy and the adventures of Rose, Richelle Mead has mentioned on her site there will be a spin-off series set in the Vampire Academy World.  No mention yet of who these characters will be apart from the mention of them being secondary characters from the Vampire Academy series but we won't have to wait too long since it's expected some time this year.

Also, while I'm at it, Richelle Mead has sold movie rights to Preger Entertainment but it is still early days yet.  To show your support and hopefully help in getting things moving, sign up to the Official Vampire Academy Movie Fan Page!

Spellbound Noticeboard (1)

Hi all,

Welcome to the very first post of Spellbound Noticeboard.  Here is where Authors, Bloggers and others can send in anything that you'd like promoted.  Competitions, book releases, blog events etc.  This is your spot!  So feel free to send me a line if you have anything book related (Including books made into movies) and I'll be sure to post these up!  Just email me at melissa@spellboundbybooks.com

To celebrate the new book trailer and the release of 'AWAKENED', P.C and Kristin Cast's latest novel in the House of Night series, St. Martin's Press is offering a fantastic once in a lifetime chance for a fan and their guest to fly to Tulsa to tour the sites from the books and have lunch with the authors!

The lucky winner will receive a 3-day, 2-night trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma for two people which includes airfare, hotel accommodations, a tour of Tulsa and lunch on Saturday, April 30th, 2011 at the Chalkboard Restaurant with the authors. In order to enter the promo, they must answer three questions about the series.

More about the contest

Contest rules

Also, St. Martin's is also holding a contest via the House of Night Facebook fan page. Fans can enter for a chance to win 1 of 30 complete sets of House of Night books.

 

 

The New York Times-bestselling mother-daughter writing team of P.C. and Kristin Cast again prove why they have become a major force in teen fiction. With over 3 million copies of their books in print, a well-publicized film option, an updated interactive website and a daily-growing fan base, the Cast duo will command your attention with every page turn.

Waiting on Wednesday (44)

Waiting on Wednesday was brought to you by Jill over at Breaking The Spine. It's a weekly post for you to share what upcoming books you can't wait for!


I come across Sister Mischief by Laura Goode while looking at La Femme Readers blog.  The synopsis sounds really interesting and the cover looks awesome.  Not out until the 12 of July this year.

Synopsis
A gay suburban hip-hopper freaks out her Christian high school - and falls in love - in this righteously funny and totally tender YA debut, for real.
Listen up: You’re about to get rocked by the fiercest, baddest all-girl hip-hop crew in the Twin Cities - or at least in the wealthy, white, Bible-thumping suburb of Holyhill, Minnesota. Our heroine, Esme Rockett (aka MC Ferocious) is a Jewish lesbian lyricist. In her crew, Esme’s got her BFFs Marcy (aka DJ SheStorm, the butchest straight girl in town) and Tess (aka The ConTessa, the pretty, popular powerhouse of a vocalist). But Esme’s feelings for her co-MC, Rowie (MC Rohini), a beautiful, brilliant, beguiling desi chick, are bound to get complicated. And before they know it, the queer hip-hop revolution Esme and her girls have exploded in Holyhill is on the line. Exciting new talent Laura Goode lays down a snappy, provocative, and heartfelt novel about discovering the rhythm of your own truth.

The End of Marking Time by C.J. West

Title: The End of Marking Time

Author: C.J West

Genre: Suspense, Dystopian
Publisher:  22 West Books

Publication Date: 22 May 2010

ISBN: 9780976778844

Stand alone or series: Stand Alone

Pages: 284 pages

Book Received from: Author

First Lines: I wasn't surprised when the Plexiglas partitions shot up out of the floor and locked me in front of this window.

Synopsis:

I'm Michael O'Connor.  You know that.  You know I started stealing cars when I was fifteen.  And you know I've been burgling houses since I was twenty.  But did you know my mother threatened to kill me?  She put a gun to my head when I was thirteen because I stole a lousy can of peaches.  She tried to shoot me when I was fifteen, so I ran and never went back.  Wendell didn't tell you that, did he?

He's giving me this chance to talk to you, but he's doing everything he can to set you against me.  He brought you here at 3:00 A.M so you'd be exhausted and impatient.  He's hiding you behind the window so I can't tell if I'm getting through.  He probably even blamed me for the Supreme Court ruling that let all the convicts out of prison.  Believe me, I'd gladly go back to a cell if it meant freedom from the lying counselors and that evil black box.

I'm going to tell you my story.  Please listen.  Please press the green button.  I deserve another chance!

My Thoughts:
Michael has made his living stealing cars and breaking and entering houses.  He's done it eversince his mother held a gun to his head and he took off.  In all that time he's only ever been caught a couple of times, until he picks the wrong house and is caught again after he'd been set up.  On his way to prison, the bus is highjacked, and Michael wakes up from a coma four years later to find that prison is no longer exists, and in place criminals go into re-education.

Right from the beginning I warmed up to Michael.  The writing is told from first person and I think that played a big part in why I liked him.  I could almost understand his reasoning for doing the things he did (Not that I agree with it) and the way Michael tells the reader his story, I felt included.

I was amazed at how much thought went into the program that Michael get's put on.  He has to watch so many hours of interactive dvds as well as numerous visits from counsellors etc, and right at the start he does try to cheat the system.  It's funny because you can almost see where this is going to go, and because Michael is going back over the story he's told, he also includes things like, 'I didn't understand what he meant then.  Now I do of course.'  You can almost hear the regret in his tone for the choices he's made throughout.

The End of Marking Time is a brilliantly written novel about what life could be like with a new system for criminals and how others react.  Just watch out for the twist in the end :) 

Fave Line:  'He said I was unable to contribute to society without making major changes in my life.  The first change he made sure of - a change of address.  He sentenced me to five years.'

Spellbound Bookshelves (1)

Welcome to my new feature Spellbound Bookshelves!  Each week I'll be posting up pictures of Readers Bookshelves.  As this is just starting out, I'll need to ask you help in spreading the word and hopefully sending in pictures of your bookshelves.  I'll also be including awesome bookshelves to store your books in for a bit of variety. 

To kick start this week, I've taken some photos of my bookshelves.  I've done my best to hide the mess in my computer room since I moved it all around a few weeks ago but haven't found places for everything.

This is where majority of my fiction books go (with the exception of the bottom row which are non-fiction books)  I normally have these all organized by Author but since the move around I haven't gotten back to it yet. 

I've got a separate bookshelf for all my Writing/reference books as well as a few books like 501 Books You Must Read Before You Die.

It's funny, when I'm in one of those moods I'll buy a book for the sake of buying them.  :)

My absolutely enormous To Be Read Lot.  And yes there are two rows.  I try to keep my Review books of to the left but it's a bit hard to keep track of how many Review ones I have to read since I have alot on my Kobo e-Reader!

I do have two more bookshelves, one in the computer room where I haven't shown you and one in my bedroom (Yes I convinced my other half we needed this bookshelf in there) but those two haven't been filled yet.  It won't be long though :)

So these are my bookshelves.  If you'd like to send in pictures of your bookshelves the email address is melissa@spellboundbybooks.com and I'll post them up on here.

Thanks

In My Mailbox (43)

In My Mailbox is a weekly post created by The Story Siren and inspired by Alea of Pop Culture.

Bought:

 

Immortal Beloved by Cate Tiernan

 

The Last Thing I remember by Andrew Klavan

The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove by Lauren Kate

 

That's all I got from this week?  What did you get?

 

Also, new feature starting tomorrow, Spellbound Bookshelves!!  If you would like your bookshelves featured on this please send them to melissa@spellboundbybooks.com  I'd love to see what yours look like :)

 

Thanks

Three Personalized e-Books to Giveaway by David H. Burton

Hi all,

Happy New Year.

I would just like to kick off the year of 2011 with a giveaway thank you to David H. Burton.  Up for grabs are 3 "personalized" versions of the ebook Scourge where David will substitute the name of the winners with one of the minor characters in the novel as well as include an autographed dedication page.

Synopsis

Two dads, five siblings, and goggles!

Grim Doyle has always known his life was not exactly "normal", and things gets even more curious when he discovers a set of stones that sweep him and his family to the fantasy, steampunk world of Verne - a place they had escaped from years ago. Now that they've returned, Grim and his siblings hide from the evil Lord Victor and his minions. And while learning about Jinns, Mystics, and the power of absinth they try to discover who is trying to kill them with the deadly Scourge.



All you have to do is comment below and leave an email address to be entered!  This Giveaway closes on the 8th January 2011 so don't miss out!