Sydney's blood is special. That's because she's an alchemist - one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. But the last encounter Sydney had with vampires got her in deep trouble with the other alchemists. And now with her allegiences in question, her future is on the line.
When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the unlikeliest of places: a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one.The Moroi court believe Jill and Sydney will be safe at Amberwood Prep, but threats, distractions, and forbidden romance lurk both outside - and within - the school grounds. Now that they're in hiding, the drama is only just beginning.
I should start with this: Vampire Academy is currently my favorite series of books I've EVER read and that's why it took me so long to actually read the Bloodlines series. Nothing against the author (obviously I love her work) but it came out too soon after VA ended and I was still mourning the fact that the series finally came to a close. But I guess 5+ years is enough time to wait and I'm actually glad I ended up re-immersing myself in the world of Moroi and Alchemists.
It also took me a while to pick these books up because Sydney never struck me as a character who could lead an entire series, but she has a lot of help from the side characters to distract from her initial dullness...which turned out to be the first half of book 1. I didn't agree with her views on life/vampires/magic so it was difficult for me to read most of the time. It was hard to even sympathize with her point of view because we don't know that much about Alchemist culture and how they work. Maybe if that was explained better I would have at least tolerated the early chapters and had a more enjoyable reading experience. Once the action got going and she became a real person however, the book picked up the pace and held that pace for the next 2 books.
Once I hit book 4 though, that was when I ran into a speed bump: double POV. Once you see the story from 2 angles that raises some red flags (a death, a lull or a fight). And on top of that it usually means that we get the plot twice which takes double the time to read and you get half as far along *cue reader frustration*
Did I mention this continues through the rest of the series as well?
But after the snooze-fest that was book 4 (The Fiery Heart, aptly named because all we did was delve into the steamy love lives of Sydney and Adrian) the action/adventure picks right back up again because yet another problem arises for our teenage heroes! Who saw that coming??...yeah we all did. And on that note, why does no one of real caliber come to help them? They keep sending kid guardians and baby Alchemists instead of someone who has been in the field for years. I understand the high school cover for immediate protection but what about an aunt or uncle who happens to live nearby? When Dimitri and Sonya were around things just seemed to get resolved so much faster.
The action continues through the end of book 5 and once again there's a small lull in the story. As a reader who is completing the series one after the other I don't need a refresher of what just happened. I literally read it the day before so the first few chapters of each installment are always lack luster for me personally.
Then finally the series wraps up with book 6. And the one thing that really annoyed me was that the plot was so forced. We were constantly being told what was happening instead of it ACTUALLY happening. There was a lot of 'we have to find Jill, she's the priority' and then we would mope about Adrian missing Sydney for a while. Then again, 'we should really find a lead on where Jill's at, it's super important' but we get side-tracked looking for Nina's sister. [insert subplot here about strange pregnancy and how it could change the world as we know it] - 'oh wait!! we found a lead on Jill! let's go everybody' - [completely ignore life-altering subplot for the rest of the book].
And it went on and on like that through the whole book. I guess Richelle realized halfway through writing the last installment that it was in fact the last time these characters would be interacting. I appreciate that she tried to bring everything together in the end and put a nice big bow on it, but there were so many side plots that I kept getting lost in everything except the main story line. Every time someone would bring up Jill I was like, 'oh yeah...I forgot she was missing' which was probably not the intention of the author.
Lastly I just want to add that for all its faults, this series was still pretty darn good. It kept me entertained and looking forward to reading the next chapter (except book 4...that one you should really skip). Sydney and Adrian are a cute couple so I'm glad things ended the way they did, albeit not creatively but it was still cute!
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