Review {2} Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Bloodlines

Author: Richelle Mead

Series: Bloodlines #1

Other Books In The Series: The Golden Lily #2; Vampire Academy Series #1-6

Published: August 23rd 2011 by Razorbill

Edition: Hardcover, 421 pages

Obtained: Library
Categories: Young Adult, Vampires, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy,  Suspense, Action
Rating: 4 Stars

When Alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the last place she expects to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California. But at their new school, the drama is only just beginning.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive - this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood.

*****

My Thoughts: I read all six books in the Vampire Academy series back-to-back and continued the trend with Bloodlines. I was happy to see Sydney Sage as the main character in the spin-off series, as well as familiar faces like Jill Dragomir, Adrian Ivashkov, and Eddie Castile. All secondary characters in Vampire Academy, they all get their own tiny spotlights in Bloodlines.

Sydney has quickly become one of my favorite characters of all time. Smart and sassy, Sydney craves knowledge and is loyal, devoted, and dedicated. She often puts herself last, and everyone else ahead of her own needs. She questions the ethics of the Alchemists, and wars within herself over her pledge to the Alchemists, and the vampires she's quickly forming friendships with.

The storyline works well for what is needed to build the basis for the series. Sometimes I found things to be a tiny bit predictable, but for the most part the story was fresh, and entertaining which is good. A spin-off series can easily fall flat, but Mead's easy-to-read writing style and engaging characters and plot keeps things moving and doesn't allow room for it to become stagnant.


One of the best story lines is that of Adrian and Jill. In Vampire Academy we saw Adrian as an immature, substance-abusing spirit user who had a whirlwind romance with Rose Hathaway that ended less than amicably when Dimitri Belikov was restored from Strigoi back to Dhampir and the two picked up where they'd left off... leaving Adrian heartbroken and reeling. For someone who easily slipped into old habits, what happened between himself and Jill now forces him to straighten up his act; no more drinking, no more random hookups with girls he barely knows. Adrian is probably one of my favorite characters and easily crush-worthy. I definitely feel the chemistry between Adrian and Sydney so I'm not going to lie - very curious to see if anything there pans out!


Another character I was glad to see more of, is Eddie Castile. Eddie's career has been downgraded because of his assisting Rose with releasing Victor Dashkov from prison. With no real guardian post, Eddie's sent to Palm Springs along with Sydney and Jill in order to pose as their "brother" and to be a guardian to Jill. Eddie is given a dorm room with a guy named Micah, who eerily resembles his dead best friend, Mason. Eddie also reveals to Sydney that he's crushing hardcore on Jill, but feels as a lowly dhampir with a tarnished record, he could never be a good match for a princess like Jill.


Jill is still dealing with the blow she was dealt in Last Sacrifice, the final installment in the Vampire Academy series. Jill is still trying to emotionally and internally deal with the fact that her mother had an affair with Eric Dragomir, Vasilisa Dragomir's father. Jill is still feeling like Lissa hates her, or only needed her to gain her position on the throne as the next Queen, and doesn't truly want anything to do with her. Jill also has her first taste at love with Lee Donahue, the son of Clarence Donahue - the only Moroi in Palm Springs who has seceded himself from the Court and lives a quiet life with his son. He is suffering from the loss of his niece, whom he is convinced was killed by vampire hunters - which I am curious to see if Mead will ever introduce vampire hunters into the series - would be kind of neat as long as it's kept unique! Lee ends up being someone that nobody expected, which leaves Jill brokenhearted.


Sydney is also dealing with the fact that she's currently not in favor with the alchemists, and nearly loses the assignment to her younger sister, Zoe, who she is determined to protect from the alchemist career. This drives a wedge between Sydney and Zoe, one that affects her greatly. Sydney feels like her relationship with Jill is similar to that of her relationship with her sister. Both are strained, and she desperately wants to correct them. Sydney is also to report to Keith, another alchemist whom she has a rocky past with. Keith and Sydney's older sister, Carly, had a relationship in the past, which ended when Keith raped Carly. Sydney makes a deal with Abe Mazur, which is hinted at in Vampire Academy, but is finally revealed in Bloodlines. Luckily at the end of the book, Keith gets what is due to him and I feel it was justified.

I also love how Sydney was able to create magic, which scares her to no end. Helping out Ms. Terwilliger, her history teacher who had a sneaking suspicion about Sydney, leads to this revelation. I can't wait to see how this progresses in the future. Sydney has a lot of internal struggles to muddle through.


The story line involving the students getting tattoos eerily resembling the golden lily tattoo emblazoned on Sydney's cheek raising many questions - especially when she finds out that the tattoos can make athletes faster and stronger, and even give you stamina and a huge high. Sydney begins to investigate this, which leads her back to Keith. When first reading this, I kind of didn't care for this whole idea. However; after digesting the book and letting it sink in, I actually think it's pretty cool! It'll be interesting to see where this story line leads us down the road in the future installments in the series.


My final words for Bloodlines: Incredible start to what I'm sure will be an action-packed, suspicion-raising, betrayal-filled wild ride!!


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Happy Reading,
Laura