Publisher: Razor Bill
Release Date: 25th August 2011
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance, Vampires
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Source: Received from the publisher for review
Amazon Summary:
"Sydney protects vampire secrets - and human lives.
Sydney belongs to a secret group who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the world of humans and vampires.
But when Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, she fears she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. What unfolds is far worse. The sister of Moroi queen Lissa Dragomir is in mortal danger, and goes into hiding. Now Sydney must act as her protector.
The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one . . ."
Review
Bloodlines is the first book in a new spin off series to Vampire Academy. Bloodlines follows on one month after the events in Last Sacrifice and mixes the old with the new making it readable whether you’ve read Vampire Academy or not. This book follows Sydney an alchemist whose job it is to protect humans from the secret vampire world. Sydney is still in trouble with her people after her part in helping Rose Hathaway and is sent on a new mission to redeem herself by keeping vampire Princess Jill hidden in the human world. Sydney, Jill and two familiar faces to Vampire Academy fans Adrian and Eddie must protect Jill at all costs but with humans sporting magical tattoos similar to those of the alchemists and Moroi (the good vampires) murdered in unusual circumstances the stakes are higher than ever.
I’m a HUGE fan of the Vampire Academy series and couldn’t wait for this spin off. I was a little worried that this book wouldn’t live up to my love for VA but I’m happy to say that it did! Richelle Mead’s writing is as fast paced and snappy as ever and Bloodlines has a good mix of the old to keep fans satisfied and the new to make it fresh and exciting so that it’s not just a copycat of its predecessor. Events from Last Sacrifice follow on in a natural, smooth way but Sydney and Co also unearth a lot of new problems and a whole new exciting plot Richelle Mead evolving this amazing world even further, delving more into the alchemist side of things but still keeping the plot intermingled with the Moroi (good vampires), Strigoi (bad vampires) and Dhampirs (half human, half vampire).
Fans of Vampire Academy are probably eager to know if there will be any appearances or talk of our old favourite characters, Rose, Dimitri, and Lissa and I’m happy to report that there is plenty of mention of them and even a special appearance from Rose early on in the book. It was really interesting to see Rose from Sydney’s point of view as Rose was our protagonist in Vampire Academy and I have to say that the last sentence of Bloodlines had me wiggling in my seat with excitement for book two- I won’t say anymore than that but if you’ve read the book you’ll know what I mean ;-)
That being said however nice that it was to catch up with old friends Bloodlines is very much about Sydney, Jill, Adrian and Eddie and I found myself not missing the old cast as much as I thought I would because I was so wrapped up in their story. Richelle Mead has also hinted at some potentially very interesting and exciting future love interests and I’m very excited to see where she goes with that.
Overall Bloodlines was a fantastic first novel to a brand new series that will enthral Vampire Academy fans and entice new readers. Richelle has set up an absorbing new plot that runs smoothly alongside past events, and characters old and new who are as strong and hugely likeable as the first cast. Bloodlines is a must read for anyone and I can’t wait to see where Richelle Mead takes us next.
I think I'm one of the only people not to have read this yet - so glad you enjoyed it, it's good to hear that you liked it as much as VA! Can't wait to read it - great review :).
ReplyDeleteI just got this in the mail and I am so excited about it!!! Yay. Great review by the way, i'm glad that it lived up to your expectations.
ReplyDeleteI thought this was OK but nothing amazing. I really question Sydney's ability to carry the new series. For me, she is a dull character! I hope she becomes more fun as the series goes on. Jill was pretty blah for me too, but then Lissa was always blah for me, so I guess I'm difficult to please.
ReplyDeleteI loved Adrian, though! :)
Leanna- I didn't really care for Sydney in VA and was worried about her carrying this series but I think I liked her because I had such low expectations for her that she surprised me! Granted she's no Rose but I think she has the potential to grow and I loved her alchemist take on things! Sorry the book was just okay for you :| Adrian is ace though! and I love Eddie too ^_^
ReplyDeleteLiz & Katie- I hope you girls enjoy it when you get round to reading it :)