Review: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead


Series: Bloodlines (#1)
Pages: 432
Publisher: Razorbill
Published: August 23rd, 2011
IBSN:9781595143174

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.

Bloodlines is the first in the spin-off series to the much-loved Vampire Academy. This series is centered around Sydney, part of the Alchemist world not touched on in much depth in the original series, and combines new plots and the denouement of old ones.

We, of course, have Sydney coming across from the old series, along with Adrian. Also joining the cast are secondary characters Jill, Eddie, and Abe in person, as well as many others mentioned in brief. I can't say any of these guys were my favourites, but I was interested enough initially in finding out more about them.

Sydney, however, disappointed me. Mead is known for her kick-ass heroins, and Sydney is many things, but kick-ass is not one of them. I like plenty of female characters who aren't, but Sydney didn't have noticeable strength in any other manifestations. She allowed herself to be walked all over, and in action sequences, where she sat and watched, I wanted to push her into the fight. On top of that, Sydney had a mumsy sort of feel that had me surprised when I found she was just 18 and made her difficult to relate with.

Beyond Sydney, the background characters were frustrating. Jill didn't appreciate the lengths everyone was going to to protect her and acted like a bratty child. She's new to being royal, I was constantly reminding myself, trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, but once everyone started falling for her despite her behaviour, I was through trying to like her. The characters just lacked the likable and relatable quality that made the Vampire Academy books so enjoyable.

Richelle Mead's classic style of writing was familiar and present again in Bloodlines. The tone was light, the descriptions sometimes in excess, but the events were clearly told and simply put. Smooth and easy to read.

The plot was uncharacteristic of Mead in that it was almost predictable. The mysteries that Sydney puzzled over had obvious answers, and the realisation and consequent denouement felt anti-climactic.

Overall, Bloodlines was still an entertaining read, but an outlier to Mead's usual edge-of-your-seat stories with characters unlike the compelling and sympathetic people we're accustomed to. I hope the series picks up in The Golden Lily -- Richelle Mead has always been one of my favourite authors, and I hope that this was just a rocky start to another great series.

I give Bloodlines a 3 out of 5.

Review of Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice came out 12 hours ago, for me. Considering time zones, in some parts of the world, it isn't even out yet.
Last Sacrifice is the final book in the Vampire Academy series - the series that got me into reading in the first place. So it kind of means a lot to me.


(Also, this will contain a heap of VA, FB, SK, BP and SB spoilers. Continue at your own peril.)


So Last Sacrifice starts immediately after Spirit Bound ends, with Rose in jail for the murder of Queen Tatiana, which she didn't commit. At her hearing she was slipped a note by the Queen's lover from the Queen before her murder saying that Lissa did, in fact, have a half brother or sister, and if found, they could allow Lissa to gain her rightful Council seat.

Last Sacrifice definitely stands out from the other books in this series. In the earlier books, Rose had to save others. In Vampire Academy, she was saving Lissa from Victor. In Frostbite, she was saving Christian, Mia and Mason from Spokane Strigois. In Shadow Kiss, she was saving her entire school from Strigoi ambush. In Blood Promise and Spirit Bound, she was saving Dimitri from himself. Now, she has to save herself.

I have a friend who also reads this series, and we spent a significant amount of physics classes this year ignoring Kepler's laws of planetary motion and instead discussing what could possibly happen in this book. So I thought I had a fair idea of what was going to happen. I can usually pick an ending. But Last Sacrifice totally defied my expectations. Nothing went how I thought it would.

Richelle Mead's writing style remains beautiful - light-hearted and funny at times, and at others, intense and heart-wrenching. Rose's strong voice really shows through the narration.

I was pleased to see all of the characters develop. Rose definitely changed a lot. I also loved to see Lissa change and become stronger and more independent. I began to look forward to the instances where Rose is in Lissa's head - something that I didn't really care for in previous books.

Though romance in this book didn't play as large a role in this book as the others - considering Rose's shift in priorities - it was still great. I was never really sure what 'team' I was on (at least, after Mason died), and I'm still unsure, but as you'd expect from a series ending, the protagonist has to make a choice between the guys. I felt for both Dimitri and Adrian, and the decision was heartbreaking.

The ending didn't tie up all of the loose ends, and leaves plenty of room for future conflict, which I hope will make the spin-off series just as excited as this one. The first book of the spin-off series is titled Bloodlines and will be released in August of next year.

I rate Last Sacrifice 5 out of 5.

Teaser Tuesday (2)

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Should Be Reading, wherein we share teasers (not spoilers) from the book we're currently reading.

Literally one minute after my local bookstore opened this morning, I'd arrived and bought Last Sacrifice. I feel lucky to be Australian right now, and have time zones on my side, so I can get this *sort-of* early.

So, without further adieu, my teaser:
"'I have to know. If there is another Dragomir, I'll find them. But you have to tell me. Did you write this letter? Is it true?'"

Leave a comment linking to your own Teaser Tuesday post and I'll have a look-see.