I'm surprised by how much I ended up liking this series by the end. Throughout there's been things in each book that have annoyed me, mainly having to do with characters' actions in situations, but by this book you could definitely feel the change and growtht that has occured. The characters have come so far from the first book. So much has happened. 
 This book picks up almost right after Spirit Bound, showing Rose being held for the murder of the queen. Everything starts off right away in this book. It's pretty fast paced, but even the slower moments do not drag down the storyline. I liked that Dimitri and Rose got to spend time together in this book after how things were left between them in the last book. Regardless of how they've ever felt about each other throughout the series, their scenes together have always been interesting to read. Their characters play off of each other well. You can see that in their interactions with one another. It was nice for them to get back to that. I admit I first thought their relationship was weird and a bit scandalous (as I guess was the point), but as things have progressed in the books I've been more inclined to them ending up together in the end. 
 I know that there are the Adrian lovers out there, and I have nothing against his character. He genuinely cares about Rose and he helps his friends out when needed. He's a good guy, but as Rose states they are not good together. However, harsh her ending words were to him, they were ultimately true. Also true is that she really could have done it in a better way. And again along those lines, they both acknowledge the fact that they knew Rose was not over Dimitri. So they should never have started dating until she came to that point completely. It would've saved heart ache in the ling run. Sometimes (as I assume with Rose) people think that jumping right away into the next relationship will help speed along those feelings. Help change course on who you love by being with someone else. Obviously this didn't work quite so well. But I can't really feel bad for Adrian because I think ultimately it wouldn't have worked out anyway so this was just the course their relationship was headed for, it just didn't end in a great way. 
 I was surprised by the actual murderer. I think Mead did a good job of planting different suspects in the roll of murderer and giving them a plausible reason. It made the actual murderer seem a bit more shocking in the end although I will admit to figuring it out before the big reveal in Court. 
 I was a little sad about Rose losing her bond to Lissa. I mean it's been so much apart of the books that it seems strange without it there. But we have to remember that the bond has only been there for maybe about 5 years (?) since the car crash. So in reality the bond hasn't even been around the majority of their friendship. I guess I just think it was a strange route to take with having the bond lost. I think it also symbolizes how truly Rose is now her own person. She's still a guardian and she's still Lissa's friend, but before it was almost as though part of Rose was living Lissa's life. We saw in Shadow Kissed how much Rose never did anything for herself at the end when she leaves on her own and Lissa is shocked at her going. Now Rose has her own thoughts in her mind. She's not taking someone else's dark side. She's living her life now. 
 While Rose's storyline was concluded, there were more storylines started, or hinted at, that will be picked up in the spin-off series Bloodlines. Adrian pretty much points them all out when he and Rose are having their "discussion" towards the end of the book, but we are sure to see what happens to Adrian in the upcoming spin-off. We don't see him at all after his fight with Rose and there will obviously be some emotional ties to fix with him. He also mentions Jill. It seemed to be a big question for everyone at the end of this book. What happens to Jill now that she and everyone else knows her true parentage? And lastly, Sydney. Or I should say Sydney and the Alchemists. There's still a lot to that world that we don't understand. I think we'll get more information with Bloodlines. Hopefully, a few of our Vampire Academy characters will show up in those books to let us know what's going on with them. 
 Overall, I really enjoyed this series. Whenever I get done with a series if I want to go back and read the books from the beginning immediately after finishing the series, I know it was good. I defintely want to go back and read the first book. I like to see where it all started. I'm sure this is a series I will read again and again. Until Then!