Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead

Title: Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)
Author:  Richelle Mead
Genre:  Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher:  Razorbill (4th February 2010)
Blurb:

WHAT IF FOLLOWING HER HEART MEANS LOSING HER BEST FRIEND – FOREVER?

ROSE HATHAWAY KNOWS IT IS FORBIDDEN TO LOVE ANOTHER GUARDIAN. HER BEST FRIEND, LISSA, MUST ALWAYS COME FIRST. UNFORTUNATELY, THEN IT COMES TO THE GORGEOUS DIMITRI BELIKOV, SOME RULES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN.

Lying to Lissa about Dimitri is one thing, but suddenly there’s way more than friendship at stake. The immortal dead are on the prowl and in a heart-stopping battle, Rose will have to choose between life, love and the two people who matter most.

But will her choice mean that only one survives?

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

Shadow Kiss is the third book in Richelle Mead’s brilliant Vampire Academy series. In this book Rose Hathaway is faced with some difficult choices. Still recovering from the aftermath of Frostbite Rose needs her friends, but life has never been that simple.

Shadow Kiss was an emotional rollercoaster. Like Frostbite I initially had some trouble falling back into the world, but it didn’t last long and I was soon tearing through the pages. This book was one heck of a ride! More than the previous two books this book focuses on Rose and the troubles she faces. Lissa is still an important character and catalyst to the plot, but this book does not revolve around her in the way that Vampire Academy and Frostbite do. This means that we are introduced to some new characters, and we get a little closer to some old ones who Rose hasn’t necessarily paid much attention to before. Rose and Lissa are, of course, still best friends in this book. It was brilliant to see more of Lissa, Eddie, Christian, Dimitri and Adrian. I really enjoy it when Mead writes about these characters, as they all are close to Rose and seem like good friends. It was nice to read about them hanging out.

This book is a lot darker in my opinion than the previous two books. It’s not darker in the sense that there’s more violence, but in the sense that a lot of things come to a head in this book – or at least start to. Consequences are big in this book. The plot itself is fairly complicated; all twisty and turny. Moroi politics plays a reasonable part in this book, though it is mostly on the sidelines. There is a definite sense to this book that a change is coming, but what and when it will be I wouldn’t like to guess at this point.

Shadow Kiss is an excellent addition to the Vampire Academy series, which is a brilliant read for those who are into paranormal romance fiction and the vampire genre in particular. If you’re a fan of either and you’ve not picked up this series yet, then you definitely should give it a go.