Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy, #5) by Richelle Mead * * * *

A lot of things happened in this book, and I'm kind of at a loss trying to gather it all in my head. The end of the previous book made some of the events in this one obvious. What I wasn't prepared for was what happened in the middle, and towards the end. In a way, this could be called a "bridge book" in the series. It's not very focused, because it has the events that take the reader from the previous book, to what happens in the last book. I often see this in book series with 6 books. They are really two trilogies, with the first three books having one story, and the second three having the sequel story. Therefore, this book felt a bit incomplete, and I had to move onto the next one right away. Good thing they are all out.

At this point in the series, there aren't really many new characters, it's mostly the old ones doing more things. However, we do see some new minor ones that push the story along, though their appearance is in part sought out, and at other parts make sense in the world.

The main characters don't change much at this point. Okay, one does, but I'm keeping this spoiler free, so you'll just have to find out for yourself. Let me say that our two girls are still best friends, still help each other, and the revelations in the previous book still motivate their actions. In a way Lissa is even a better friend than she ever was before.

It is hard to talk about this book in detail, without giving too much away. At this point the series is kind of like a familiar chair that I can sit into, in a world that I understand, with people I know. Sure, it's not Harry Potter. I won't be seeking out fanfiction. However, I'll be sad to see it end, and will have the book hang-over, which I'm dreading already. I suppose the good thing at this point is that I'm not feeling cheated, I don't think this book is worse than the previous ones, I'm enjoying the story. I have seen people get further in a series and feel cheated that a book didn't live up to the standard they have come to expect. Maybe those were kinda force sequels, written because there was money to be made, not because the story could still go on. This book isn't like that. Every book in the series in fact has felt as a needed continuation of what the author had been building so far. I just hope that the next book will bring about a satisfying ending to the series, marking that the author knew when to stop.