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 human 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 allegiances 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.
My Take: Yay! I cannot believe that this day has finally come! I feel like I have been forever waiting for the release of Bloodlines! And once again Richelle Mead has proved to me why I am a majorly obsessive fan of her Vampire Academy series and NOW her Bloodlines series! And when I say obsessive, I truly mean it! If you haven’t read Vampire Academy, I’m a pusher!!! I will keep pushing you until you read it! So if you haven’t read it, READ IT NOW! There was a discussion on twitter last night with a couple of my fave blogger friends about the popular thing going around, people getting VA tattoos of the molnija or the zvezda. While I have said that I would never get a tattoo, I would love to rock one of these markings, using henna!
Getting back to Bloodlines, this book had a completely different feel than VA and I think that is what made it even more intriguing!! We are now seeing the fabulous Vampire Academy world that I love and wish I was a part of, through the eyes of someone who feels the complete opposite of every obsessive VA fan (including myself). Sydney is a human who was raised her entire life to think of Moroi (pure blood-born vampires) and Dhampir (part Moroi and part human) as evil and unnatural beings who shouldn’t exist.
Sydney is on thin ice with the alchemists because they are looking at her like she is a “vampire lover.” Throughout the book she has to prove to herself and her people that she doesn’t have positive feelings for any of them (Moroi or Dhampir) or look at them as if they were just like humans. Before reading Bloodlines, I thought that Sydney’s opinion of the Moroi and Dhampir had changed because of her feelings about Rose. Rose may have lightened her up a little bit, but we now get to see in Sydney’s own mind how she really feels. Just when I thought she was warming up to them a little bit (the vampires in this book), she shows her ill feelings again. In the very beginning she and her colleague, Rick, are surrounded by Moroi and Dhampir in one house and Rick seems terrified. But while Syndey is extremely uncomfortable and counting how many of them she is surrounded by in that house, she seems to handle herself pretty well; however, she still doesn’t like the thought of having to share a room with a Moroi, even if it is sweet Jill. She thinks that Jill is a blood-crazed vampire who might attack her in her sleep. I’m lovin’ it!
As you probably know, there were several characters whose lives were dramatically turned for the worst at the end of Vampire Academy’s Last Sacrifice, so this was the perfect opportunity to put these characters in a new setting and give us the opportunity to learn more about them and I couldn’t have been more thrilled.
The majority of this book is kind of like a mystery. It’s Sydney’s job to make sure that the vampire world is kept a secret and anything that could tip humans off to their existence needs to be stopped or destroyed. So when she runs into a couple things that she thinks she needs to be suspicious of, she is determined to get to the bottom of it.
This is a book that I will be pushing…so you might as well start reading now before I become a stalker!
Purchased with my own money.
★