Rose is the number one reason that this series has lost its appeal to me. Granted, I am not the target audience for this series. I read this book because I liked the first four books and I needed some sort of closure to the series.Now I know that some of you just love Rose. I found her to be selfish, egotistical, impulsive, and insensitive. I found some of her actions reprehensible. I did not care about her predicaments; I felt that she deserved exactly what she was getting. What floored me at times was her attitude and her need to run away, even from the people who were trying to help her. Rose is a loose canon, often doing things that are just downright stupid.The plot was a little repetitive. How many prison breaks can you have in one series? This seems to be a regular occurrence with Rose and her pals. Why are Moroi prisons so easy to break out of that a bunch of teenagers can engineer an escape? I did find the driving around from place to place rather tedious. It felt like they were constantly in a car driving somewhere. The Keepers were an interesting lot. I enjoyed that pit stop, but it didn’t really fit in the book other than a place to stay for the night, a warm meal, and a heart or two to break. I am sure that this is part of the set up for the next series, but it would have been nice to have had more on those characters. The dreaded love triangle, full of angst seems to be a trademark of this author. The heroine always seems to make stupid decisions based on her moods. Whether you are Team Adrian or Team Dimitri, you know someone is going to come out of this unhappy. I just wish that Rose made a clean break before announcing which Team she was on. I did like a few things about this book. Rose’s father Abe was a great character. Proud, sneaky, and powerful, he had one of the best lines in the book: ”Ah, my daughter,” he said. Eighteen, and already you’ve been accused of murder, aided felons, and acquired a death count higher than most guardians will ever see.” He paused. “I couldn’t be prouder.” Abe as Rose’s attorney was an inspired choice. Lissa also surprised me. I often thought of her as a spoiled princess. She really does shine in this book and I enjoyed seeing her complete her tasks. I loved how she matured into her new role, with diplomacy and grace.Sydney from the Alchemists proved to be an interesting addition. It was interesting watching her change her attitude about Dhampirs and Moroi. I understand that she will be in the new series. I might just have to look into it, or not.
