Review: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you? (from dust jacket)

Well, it's over. (Sort of.) Last Sacrifice is last in Richelle Mead's five book YA series about vampires. A question I kept asking myself as I was reading Last Sacrifice: Why am I reading Last Sacrifice? Did I expect an ending different from the one I got? If you are a fan of this series, what did you expect? Here's what I figured would happen (and did), in very general terms:

1. Rose would end up with Dimitri. Duh! You don't spend four angst-filled books pining for the man you can't have to give up on him by the end. Poor Adrian. He didn't have a hope in hell from the very beginning. I really liked him and hope to see more of him in Bloodlines, the Vampire Academy spin-off.
2. Rose would be exonerated. Duh! She didn't do it. And Richelle Mead would probably fill us in on who did.
3. There would lots of big reveals and surprises. Duh! There has to be SOMETHING to fill up those gaps between those adoring gazes Rose gets from Dimitri (and vice versa). 
4. Everybody (except the murdered and murderer and Adrian) would get their HEA. Duh! 

Last Sacrifice is a decent end to a decent (but not great) series. As I figure to be the case with most of the other readers, I kept reading because I wanted to see Rose and Dimitri reconcile. I wanted my payoff! It was worth it to put up with Rose for that long; I find her immature and irritating most of the time. I was actually surprised (and disappointed in) the identity of Titania's murderer; I felt betrayed too. I liked him/her! (Ha! Not telling!)

Bloodlines has a release date of August 23, 2011. Will I be reading it? Probably, yes. Mead's website claims that it will be written in third person, we will get to see what happens to Sydney, and that Rose will be making an appearance. Please, may be have some more Adrian? Please?