5 Stars

It’s hard to believe it was only this time last year that I was first introduced to Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy. After reading and re-reading the ten, and then eleven, released books in both the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series several times over the past twelve months, I feel as though I’ve been reading them forever.

And despite the fact this wait for the final installment The Ruby Circle has been relatively short (about six months since the previous book was released), it feels like I’ve been waiting forever. After all the chaos and drama of book five, Silver Shadows, and that cliffhanger ending, who wouldn’t be in agony?

I’ll try to avoid giving away series spoilers as best as I can, but if you haven’t read any of the Vampire Academy or Bloodlines books I strongly suggest you go out, get the books and start reading. You will most likely need a week or so off work as these books are un-put-downable.

The Ruby Circle picks up about a month after the dramatic ending of Silver Shadows; Sydney and Adrian feel useless as time drags on and they’re still not able to help the situation. They’re also feeling caged in at Court and feel the need to get out of there in spite of the risks – which, of course, they do.

They embark on an enthralling adventure involving the hunt for an old enemy, human and vampire magic, a revelation that could change the Vampiric world and the infiltration of an enemy stronghold. They also catch up with all of our favourite characters from the previous books, except one – I was a little disappointed that Angeline, a great source of comic relief in the second, third and fourth Bloodlines books and the final Vampire Academy book, didn’t make an appearance.

Ms. Mead has done an excellent job of tying up all of the loose ends in this book, and I can only imagine how much work must have gone into bringing together all of those plot points. We get answers and resolutions for situations created much earlier in the Bloodlines series – things that even I had forgotten about, in spite of my multiple re-reads. There is even some backtracking to the original Vampire Academy series, particularly with the Rose and Dimitri storyline, which is tied up even more nicely than at the end of that series.

Ms. Mead has left her options open, though. There’s no doubt that this particular story arc – the one involving our favourite characters such as Rose, Dimitri, Lissa, Adrian, Sydney, Jill, Eddie etc. – has come to a bittersweet end, however, I felt that Ms. Mead may have been laying the groundwork for a future story – perhaps set about sixteen years after the end of The Ruby Circle?

For the time being, however, Ms. Mead is busy working on several best-selling Adult series, as well as a new Young Adult series due to be launched in November this year. Plenty of great books to get us by until – if/when – Ms. Mead decides to pay another visit to her world of vampires.

I own this book.

Reviewed by Ash Bye