Well, I felt that the beginning was a little slow. Book 3 ended with a TOTAL surprise so I was dying to get answers about Dimitri right off the bat and I felt like I had to wait a long time for it. 
 Finally after 250 pages or so, I GOT THE ANSWERS. And holy cow, Richelle Mead does a crazy-good job of writing these story lines. Of course I'm not spoiling anything, but like always, there were a few crazy twists and I really had no idea how all of that was going to go. 
 I didn't feel like we had a SUPER shocking moment at the end like the previous books, but I was definitely left with a few surprises and lots of questions! I was wondering how the series would continue once (spoiler for people who haven't read book 3 yet)(view spoiler)[Dimitri was turned Strigoi (hide spoiler)] so now we're starting to get that answer....... and then even MORE questions haha. But yes, can't wait to start book 5 now! 
 Full Review originally posted on The Book Addict's Guide: I was slightly disappointed in the beginning, I must say. I felt like it was pretty slow to start. Yes, there was a lot of necessary set up, but after the way book three ended I was DYING to know what happened to Dimitri. Weren't we all!? So we know that Rose is wandering about in Russia, but I was just like, "Come on, already! I'm dying here!" 
 Finally it start to get REALLY good. We finally get to know what happened to Dimitri, where he went, what his life has become now that he's a Strigoi. And agh, it's just so hard to review this book without saying anything about when Rose and Dimitri finally encounter each other since that would be like spoiler after spoiler. I guess the best thing I can say is that even as that part of the story was progressing, I still really didn't know how it was going to end up. All the while I kept hoping for redemption for Dimitri, but we know there's not way to "turn a Strigoi back". So how could it end any other way except Rose killing him? It was quite the interesting situation to say the least! 
 In true Mead fashion, there were a few nice twists at the end!! Nothing quite as shocking as previous books, but still left me with a lot of questions that I NEED answered. Needless to say, I'm definitely going to pick up book 5 soon!!