Monday, September 26, 2011

Book Review: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Pages: 421
Genre: YA Fantasy
Pub. Date: August 23, 2011
Source: Personal Copy
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Goodreads says, "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."






Fans of Vampire Academy will remember alchemist, Sydney, especially her interactions with Rose in Last Sacrifice.  This spin-off series focuses on Sydney and in turn, readers will learn more about the alchemy side of things.  Sydney is put on a new assignment protecting Jill Dragomir and keeping her hidden at a private school in California.  After what happened with Rose, Sydney is desperate to redeem herself and to keep Jill safe. Bloodlines, the first book in Richelle Mead's new spin-off series, is a captivating edge-of-your-seat tale that will leave readers in awe of Mead's legendary plot twists.  


Simply put, Sydney is a boring protagonist, especially if, like me, you were a huge fan of Rose. I found her hard to deal with as she bored me with her insecurities and all-around nerdy behavior.  Although I appreciated her intelligence and dedication, I otherwise found her to be dull.  On top of all of that, there wasn't much romance in Bloodlines until the end of the book, but I'm sure things will pick up as the series progresses. 


The other characters really helped me get into Bloodlines, namely Adrian. I was a huge fan of him in the Vampire Academy series, so I was happy to see him return to this spin-off.  He's just as swoon-worthy as before and the quintessential bad boy. Adrian definitely spices up the plot, although I did find myself feeling sorry for him Bloodlines. He's in the middle of a tough situation.  Another aspect of Bloodlines that I enjoyed was the various cameos from Vampire Academy favorites.  I LOVED that aspect of the book; however, after their departure, I ended up missing them even more than before.


One thing that readers can count on is Mead's compelling writing style. There's no doubt that she can write a story and if you've read my reviews of her books before, you know how much I love her plot twists and epic cliffhangers.  Even though the first half of Bloodlines was a tad tedious for me (too much Sydney!), I stuck with it, because I trust Mead and that's a good thing, as the ending was awesome.


I'm not going to lie that I am a bit disappointed as I don't feel Sydney is a compelling main character, however, due to the ending of Bloodlines, I will most definitely be picking up Golden Lily, which comes out this June.  Lets just say that the ending left me with my mouth hanging wide open and screaming with anticipation, but I wouldn't expect anything less from Richelle Mead.



*Read the first four chapters
*Pre-order Golden Lily

7 comments:

  1. Fantastic review! I did end up liking Sydney but she is definitely not as interesting to read about as Rose. I would say she is more like Lissa at the moment. With some of the discoveries towards the end of the book though I am betting there is more to her than what is on the surface.

    I am glad you enjoyed the book in the end. I picked up a copy of Blood Promise recently. I've only read it once and I want to reread it. I thought Sydney was more forward in that book but maybe I am wrong. I will be reading The Golden Lily too because I think the series will get better and hope that Sydney will improve as a main character.

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  2. I totally agree. I love Rose in the other series, and Sydney was dull. I hope it picks up as the series progresses. I did think towards the end, the book picked up. Adrian did help me through.
    Great review.

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  3. I haven't read any of her books. Yes, none... I'm really curious about them. I have the Vampire Academy books waiting for me to read.

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  4. I've seen a pretty even split on people's reactions to Sydney so I'm curious to see what I'll think of her. I wasn't overly impressed with her in VA, so I was hoping she would be more entertaining in this series, but it doesn't seem like she quite cut it for you:) Thanks for the review Christina!

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  5. What a bummer that Sydney wasn't an interesting narrator. There's no one quite like Rose ;)

    Great honest review,

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  6. Sydney didn't really work for me in this one either - I found her to be so boring, but hopefully Adrian will take her partying in the next book. She needs to loosen up!

    I was a little disappointed with this one too, but I wasn't blown away by the first VA book either, and then I found the books got better and better as the series went on. I'm hoping that will happen here too.

    Great honest review - we had a pretty similar reaction to this one.

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  7. Thanks for checking out my review everyone! I will definitely stick with it and we can only hope that Sydney loosens up a bit!

    Christine- You are right- Adrian did help!

    Mrs. Q- I hope you get to read Vampire Academy soon- it's soo good and addicting.

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