Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead is the fifth and penultimate book in the Vampire Academy series. It concludes the story arc of Rose in Siberia and what she is trying to do for Dimitri and sets up the final arc of the series. For me this was the weakest of the Vampire Academy novels. My biggest issue was that the pacing was off. It seemed there was a large gap between the climax of the Rose/Dimitri/Siberia storyline and the kickoff of the final vampire politics act. Clearly, this section is intended to explore Dimitri’s emotional state after all that’s happened to him, but as we don’t really get his point of view, only Rose’s and through the bond, Lissa’s, the whole impact of that is drastically lessened and loses immediacy. It becomes about how his attitude affects Rose, not what Dimitri himself is going through. What I liked Moroi finally getting off their arses and taking action. I really loved Lissa’s and Christian’s part in the resolution of the Dimitri storyline. It was great to see that some Moroi at least are not willing to allow dhampirs to take the full brunt of protection from Strigoi. I would have liked…