Bloodlines [Paperback]

This review will contain spoilers.

I want to start by saying, you simply must read the original Vampire Academy series before reading this one. Many of the major plots and outcomes of the original series are revealed here in this book.

OK I am a major Rose Hathaway fan, of the hundreds upon hundred of books I have read she is by far my favourite character of all time, so needless to say I was a little dubious approaching the VA universe without her.
Our narrator Sydney Sage is the polar opposite of Rose and to be honest I am glad, she see's and reacts to situations differently (as she should) and it's refreshing, I am truly looking forward to see how her character will develop over the course of the series.

I'm not going to rehash the synopsis of the book, that can be found at the top of the page in the book description. I'm just going to go over some of the best points of the book.

Adrian, Adrian, Adrian. You can place me firmly in team Belikov so it is a testament to Richelle that I love Adrian so much, fans will be pleased to know that he features heavily in this book with all his witty adorable banter in tow.
Sydney is good for him and I think in turn he will be good for her.

Poor Eddie after everything he has been through, boy does he deserve to get a break.

Although Jill remained a somewhat minor character throughout the book I can see a storm brewing for her.

All in all Richelle did a fantastic job establishing old and new characters in a new setting, the only thing that I couldn't get my head around was Sydney's unrelenting fear of magic, unease and discomfort yeah sure but out and out panic inducing terror just didn't sit right with me when I was reading it. I really hope something happens to change that type of reaction early on in the next books, I was irritated beyond belief when she panicked and refused Adrians spirit healing after the Strigoi attack.

Just one last thing.
That last sentence in the book.
Those four beautiful words.
I was screaming like a teenage fan girl.
Poor Adrian but OMG.

Loved this book.

My Name is Laura and I am a Vampire Academy addict. So it will be no surprise that I was on tender hooks waiting for the postman to deliver me my copy of Bloodlines; the sequel series to the Vampire Academy books. I even had it delivered to work so I knew I wouldn't miss the delivery and even my bosses were on the lookout for it in the mail for me. They felt great empathy for a book worm in pain. Once it arrived (not soon enough *shakes fists at Royal Mail*) I dove in headfirst. This new series continues on in the VA world-scape but from the point of view of another character, Sydney Sage the Alchemist who takes on the undercover role at an elite high school to watch over Jill, a Moroi vampire, her guardian and her guardian of sorts/companion Adrian Ivashkov. HELL YES ARIAN IS BACK IN TOWN BABY! I loved Adrian and was tickled pink that he was being brought back for these books because there are few characters that can balance his charm, bad boy brooding skills and snark level without coming off like a jerk. I'm a snark junkie and Adrian is my fix of choice.

As ever, things are not as straight forward for Sydney as `watch out for the vampire and protect from bad guys' because of her history with the vampires and her ingrained anti vampire beliefs she has to fight her background and the powers that be in the Alchemist's system for her place and not to be cast out of her society completely. Sydney is much like Rose in the Vampire Academy books and is strong willed and smart but unlike Rose she finds it hard to show this side of her for fear of the repercussions. Rose is fearless where as Sydney has too much of a logical brain to live without fear. Fear is forced upon her.

The danger of the spin off series is not having enough of the original books to keep the original audience and in turn not have enough `new' ideas and material to warrant this fresh look at the fandom-verse but Richelle Mead is a master and doesn't disappoint. Bloodlines takes us on a new pathway into a world we already know and love and lets us see the world of Moroi, Dhamphirs and Stirgori threw new eyes and dangers to overcome as well as getting a huge look into the secret world of the Alchemists.

I was pleased to see more human interaction in the book because it made it more interesting for the characters to try and deal with each other but having to hide at the same time for fear of exposure to the wider world. Jill's character was explored nicely to let us get to know a character that was only touched upon in the VA books but became more developed in the last book so we got to really meet some characters that we already knew but didn't get a real feel for previously. The main story and the sub plots were well balanced and I'm really intrigued to see where they all go in the future books and if events in Bloodlines come back in bigger and badder ways.

The main thing I probably should address is a question I was asked by a non - VA reader: Can you read Bloodlines without having read the Vampire Academy books? I'd say that you can but I'd recommend that you read the VA's first mainly because if you decide to read them after Bloodlines then there are some big spoilers as to certain deaths and twists in Bloodlines that are revealed in the VA books and plus it's makes more logical sense to start from the beginning. However there isn't anything in Bloodlines that isn't explained so it does makes sense as a standalone; I'm just fussy about order.

Loved Bloodlines but I never had any doubt that I wouldn't!

I have been waiting for Bloodlines since the moment I finished reading the last Vampire Academy book I am so pleased to say that it totally lived up to all my expectations.

Slipping back into the world of Moroi and Dhampri was fantastic. This book has all of the qualities that I loved about the first series, Well written characters and pacey and intriguing storyline which keeps you on the edge of your seat with all of the twists and turns it makes.

Bloodlines picks up directly after the end of Last sacrifice and follows the story of Sydney the Alchemist we met in the VA series as she is sent on a mission to live under cover with a vampire and help to protect and hide her from the various people who want to kill her to get at the new Queen.

As Sydney and Jill settled into their new lives as a boarding school in Palm Springs passing themselves off as ordinary humans several storylines are established. The first and most pressing is the issue around the brutal deaths of several teenage girls in the vicinity in recent years. One of Sydney's tasks to to uncover more about who is involved and why in her role of ensuring Jill is safe. Another very interesting storyline is one that comes to Sydney's attention almost by accident involving strange tatoos that other students seem to be desperate to get and she only become aware of when one of them assumes hers is from the same place.

My absolute favourite thing about this book is that it had so many of the characters we met and loved in previous series. I loved seeing Adrian again in particular who was his usual gorgeous self throughout.

another thing that I loved about this book was that, in true Richelle Mead style, when the action kicked off it really kicked off. The last section of the book was at break neck pace with loads of twists and turns thrown in all over the place I was kept on the edge of my seat right through the last sentence. Speaking of the last sentence I did actually whoop with joy and excitment at the last two words (and that's all I'm saying).

If you are a fan of Vampire Academy you will love this series as it has all the same awesome qualities of the original series whilst adding even more to the world in an engaging and exciting new story.