Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) By Richelle Mead

Format: Hardcover 
Pages: 489 
Publisher: Penguin's Young Readers Group

From the inside cover:
Salvation has its price.
The words stunned Adrian for a moment, but he kept going. "You're lying. What you're describing is impossible. There's no way to save a Strigoi. When they're gone, they're gone. They're dead. Undead. Forever."
Robert's next words weren't directed at Adrian. They were spoken to me. "That which is dead doesn't always stay dead...."

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.

Why I Read This: I read this because after the first 5 books in the series were glamorous, I didn't think Richelle would drag us along this far just to beat us and leave us. And I was correct in my assumptions.

Plot: Since Vampire Academy is already 5 books in, the plot is well established. Rose Hathaway, guardian extraordinaire, tries to be her best friend's guardian while fighting insanity. She does all of this while trying to love her beautiful Russian instructor, turned Strigoi. Knowing Rose Hathaway, the plot won't stay the same and the only thing we can wonder is what kind of trouble will she get into next? Rose is in the royal court with Lissa. She is dating Adrian and yet she can't get the possibility of saving Dimitri off her mind. She embarks on a trip to break out, dare I say it..... Victor Dashkov. Running into Dimitri, Rose is almost on her last limb until Lissa comes to the unexpected rescue.... And that's it, anything else, you will have to read the book!

Characters: Rose is, of course, my favorite character. She is the same person every time. She's powerful, confident, and reckless, and I love her for it. She never changes and will do anything for the people she loves. She won't mince her words with you and she doesn't always think before she acts, but you can never accuse her of being anybody but herself.
     Dimitri, hmm, I don't think I can tell you anything about him without spoiling it. He is still the same beautiful, gorgeous Russian we all know and love. All I can say is, the missing him? Stop it. He's back.

Reliability: I think all of us girls, or maybe just me, finds Rose to be an inspiration. I wish I had her confidence. I think the reason we love Rose, even though she's the one we love to hate, is because we know that there is more to her. She has flaws and problems and she's in love with an older man, but she goes on and she never takes no for an answer.