Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction by Carrie Ryan (EDT) Review

Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction by Carrie Ryan (EDT):

    “Homecoming” by Richelle Mead Reviewed by Steph with Dani’s commentary in blue.

Steph’s rating: 3 stars Dani’s rating: 3 stars Overall rating: 3 stars
 

Goodreads Synopsis:

     Richelle Mead, Lisa McMann, Michael Grant, Meg Cabot, Laini Taylor, and nine more of the hottest YA authors to hit the shelves explore the concepts of prophecy and prediction in this story collection edited by NYT bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan.

     Have you ever been tempted to look into the future? To challenge predictions? To question fate? It's human nature to wonder about life's twists and turns. But is the future already written—or do you have the power to alter it?

    From fantastical prophecies to predictions of how the future will transpire, Foretold is a collection of stories about our universal fascination with life's unknowns and of what is yet to come as interpreted by 14 of young adult fiction's brightest stars.

*PLEASE NOTE: This rating is ONLY for “Homecoming” by Richelle Mead

Review: SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN’T READ THE VAMPIRE ACADEMY SERIES

    Before reading, I was SO excited for this anthology. Actually, I was just really excited for the short story “Homecoming” by Richelle Mead. As soon as I found out about it, I literally started stalking Goodreads, Richelle Mead’s blog/website, and Carrie Ryan’s blog every single day so I could get as much information about it possible. I requested my library to buy it like 10 times (and they verified it!) and I got the first spot for the hold.

    Okay...so AFTER reading it...

    I can say I was a little disappointed.

    Homecoming is about Rose and Dimitri, the couple from Richelle Mead’s Vampire Academy series. They are going back to Russia to see Dimitri’s family, something that both of them sorely need. Dimitri had finally been restored into a dhampir, after being forcibly changed into strigoi. His family needs to see him for themselves, and Rose needs to go back to Russia and face her trauma from the trip she made before.

    I ADORE the Vampire Academy series, and I ADORE EVEN MORE Rose and Dimitri. They are such an ideal couple :). This scene of Rose and Dimitri in Russia was something I’d always wanted to read, and I was exuberant when Mrs. Mead decided to give it to us.

    But this story was not at all what I expected, or wanted, it to be. If you have read the Vampire Academy series, you know that Rose went to Dimitri’s hometown in Russia at one point, and left on very bad terms with one of his sister’s, Viktoria. Most people, including me, wanted to see Rose and Dimitri’s interaction with his family. I really wanted to know how Viktoria and Rose would resolve their conflict, especially since they were practically family now. I also just wanted some good old Rose and Dimitri cuteness.

    Instead, Mead gave us a tiny 5-6 paged sliver of “family time”, maybe another 3 pages worth of Rose/Dimitri time, and the rest of the 45 or so pages were about them hunting a strigoi coined “The Blood King”. Usually, I love moments when these two are being badass, but this hunt was quite anticlimactic. It was overall just way too rushed; Richelle Mead tried to cram a book’s worth of information into a small short story. It would have been better if she’d written a slightly longer novella about this trip instead of an anthology story.

    The plot of the strigoi hunt was pretty useless as far as the original series’s storyline went. Even if you didn’t read this, you wouldn’t have lost or gained any insight to the series, or its spin-off series, “Bloodlines”. It was just a true extra, and it added nothing.

    I’m still giving this story 3 stars, because of my love for the couple and original series. I’d say I’m being pretty lenient, and that if I was being tough, it’d have gotten less than 3 stars. There were some small, sweet moments that did feed my Vampire Academy series withdrawal a little. Also, Rose’s narration of the story may have given it extra points. I never realized how much I missed her. 

Sexy quote:     “I haven’t even really tried,” he said, in a rare moment of arrogance. “When I want to, I can be very persuasive”

        “Yeah? Prove it.”

    from “Homecoming” by Richelle Mead

    pg 326, Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction

I would recommend “Homecoming” to serious, mega Vampire Academy fans only, or to the people that would automatically give 5 stars to anything Richelle Mead wrote. A warning to anyone who reads it: it does NOT quench your need for some standard VA love and adventure. It may just add fuel to the fire.

Dani’s commentary: I was also disappointed by this anthology. The battle against the Blood King was SO boring and SO short! If you’ve read the other VA books, you know that the battles are usually suspenseful and relatively long! I also wanted more family time and wanted to know how Viktoria and Rose would resolve their conflict. It was just okay...and I agree, only for mega VA fans!

Although, there was a part of the book that I LOVED. Viktoria, Dimitri’s sister, was like “Hey Rose when are you and Dimka getting married?” And Rose is like “UH-UH SISTA. I AM NOT GETTING MARRIED UNTIL THERE IS A 2 IN FRONT OF MY AGE.” Dimitri just winks and gives her his mysterious smile...saying “We’ll see about that. I bet I could convince you.”

These are not the exact quotes, but you get the point.

So if you’re anxious for more Vampire Academy, I suggest reading Richelle Mead’s spinoff series Bloodlines! Bloodlines is main about the Alchemist Sydney, but it involves one of your favorite characters...Adrian! Aka the winner of the 2012 YA sisterhood’s annual crush tourney! Dimitri even makes an appearance in the second, The Golden Lily.