Phew, that was an emotional one to get through. All of Rose's angst, guilt, sorrow, and fire saturated the novel, which was thankfully broken up every now and again by Lissa's escapades back at the academy. I never thought I'd be thankful for the chance to read about some more petty vampire royalty drama. 
 The way everything played out . . . I feel like this series really did have to play out this way. Rose and Lissa needed time away from each other in order for each to come into her own a bit more--though this was probably more important for Lissa than Rose. Lissa could never have hoped to remain on equal footing with Rose otherwise. And Rose's adventure gave us a whole lot more of the vampire world and gave the series more to work with. I think "Vampire Academy" is kind of a misnomer. Sure, the academy's always there, and the girls can't help but return to it after each adventure, but it's such a small part of the vampire world. 
 I don't know. I'm pretty sure I'm still feeling the aftereffects of the book's compulsion. 
 Anyway, all and all, I'm glad the book went the way it did. Hell, I'm glad 
 Shadow Kiss 
 went the way it did, suckerpunch and all. The series needed this. (view spoiler)[And with talks of spirit magic returning life to the Strigoi, along with Dimitri's continued un-life (First day of Fiction 101: If you don't see a body, the character's not dead--where was that class at St. Vladimir's?), it's clear a happy ending with bae Dimitri is still possible (though I'll take Adrian). (hide spoiler)]