4 1/2 stars - Bloodlines is a companion book to Mead's Vampire Academy series in which Alchemist Sydney is the main character. Sydney, who is not in very good standing with the Alchemists after helping Rose and Dmitiri in the Last Sacrifice. Because of that, her father wants to send her younger sister, Zoe, on the next mission, which is to keep Lissa's half-sister, Jill, safe as she hides out (undercover), at a boarding school in Palm Springs, CA following an attack on her life. Because no one is to know she's there, she travels with only her guardian and Vampire Academy partier Adrian Ivashkov, who is as mopey and drunk as ever since Rose broke his heart. He's also less than happy that Abe Mazur is having him stay with an old vampire who has distanced himself from vampire society in general following the death of his niece.
Despite being in hiding, there are plenty of things to make Sydney's job harder, from keeping who and what they are hidden from the humans in Palm Springs, an Alchemist partner who she doesn't get along with and trying to keep Adrian in line to something Sydney's never had to deal with...high school and making friends. I liked Sydney right from the get go, so I was happy to hear that Bloodlines was going to be told from her point of view. I also thought it'd be interesting since she's a human who thinks the Moroi and dhampirs are unnatural and only a few steps down from Strigoi on the monster scale.
There was a lot going on in this book, but it didn't have the, I guess urgency or angst might fit, that the Vampire Academy books, especially the later ones, had; not that this was a fluffy or funny book. I'm not really sure if that makes sense, but there was just something that I thought was subtly different, which was a really good thing. It may be that it didn't revolve around the St. Vladimir's Academy and all of the training and fighting as well as that it was set in the human world; whatever it was, I liked it.
I also liked that Mead didn't suddenly make Sydney totally warm up to the vampires and dhampirs, that, while you could see a change in attitude, some things still totally freaked her out, like vampire magic. Sydney is a really likeable character who's down to earth, snarky and smart (except for worrying about wearing a size 4 instead of a size 2, ugh.). She definitely grows in this book and we find out more about her past, as well. Adrian, who I liked, but also annoyed me with his lazy, partying attitude and lifestyle that only got worse after Rose dumped him, is also a central character and, though I can't say that he totally grows up, there's some definite differences in certain aspects of his character as the book progresses. As with Sydney, though, I guess it would be unrealistic for him to suddenly do an about face. Having said that, I do hope he continues to mature. At first I was kind of like, blech, boring, knowing that Jill was also going to be a main character and, while she didn't wow me, I ended up liking her. Jill's guardian is Eddie, also from the VA series, which was kind of cool. He's obviously been through a lot and I look forward to seeing more of both him and Jill in future books.
Romance-wise ***skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to know anything***, while I was kind of hoping one of a couple guys would noticeably be a possible romantic interest for Sydney (and yeah, I think someone was, though things might change in book two), I liked that there wasn't much going on. Again, it would've seemed rushed and forced given Sydney's nature and beliefs.
I really enjoyed Bloodlines and would recommend it to anyone, though I think fans of the VA series will especially enjoy it. There was no cliffhanger at the end of the book, but there are a few things that will definitely have to be addressed at some point in the series. While what happens to help set up The Golden Lily (literally in the last sentence) isn't a shocker, it totally helps whet your appetite for it.
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Popular Highlights in this book
“The greatest changes in history have come because people were able to shake off what others told them to do.”Highlighted by 674 Kindle readers- As I drove away, I decided the Alchemists needed an entire department devoted to handling Adrian Ivashkov.Highlighted by 481 Kindle readers
- Also, I didn’t trust any guy who used more styling products than I did.Highlighted by 216 Kindle readers
From the Publisher
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| Bloodlines | The Golden Lily | The Indigo Spell | The Fiery Heart | Silver Shadows | |
| Customer Reviews |
4,284
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3,824
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3,866
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4,219
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4,787
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| Price | $11.87 | $8.64 | $11.99 | $10.82 | $10.42 |
| The first book in Richelle Mead's New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series | The thrilling second installment in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy spinoff series--and a #1 New York Times Bestseller! | The third installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series! | The fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series! | The fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series! |
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| The Ruby Circle | Vampire Academy | |
| Customer Reviews |
5,591
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8,098
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| Price | $11.28 | $10.31 |
| The epic conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series! | Love and loyalty run deeper than blood in this international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series! |
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Five stars for the book two for Amazon
The book came scratched up dirty chipped and wrinkled. I'm very unimpressed with Amazon but the book is really good
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Enamorada de él.
Reviewed in Mexico on August 4, 2020
Cliente de Amazon
Reviewed in Mexico on August 4, 2020
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