Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Blood doesn't lie...

Sydney is 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. 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 last place anyone would think to look for vampire royalty - a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. But instead of finding safety at Amberwood Prep, Sydney discovers the drama is only just beginning...

My thoughts

After reading Last Sacrifice I was eager to begin Bloodlines, as there was a lot of loose threads left. And I really liked Sydney, Jill, Eddie and of course Adrian in VA, though I must say I was a little disappointed by Adrian in Last Sacrifice. But don't worry, he totally made up for it in Bloodlines. 

Bloodlines is a spin-off on Vampire Academy, but I have to say that I was honestly amazed by how well connected the two series was. Everything just fit together, making it much more believable - if you can ever use that word in a story about vampires. 

I think the story was very good, and I liked the setting in Palm Springs, and how the vampires - or rather Jill - had to handle being away from St. Vladimirs. It was interesting to learn more about the Alchemists, and I understand Sydney's reaction to Rose in Blood Promise a lot better now. There's many prejudices between the races, though mostly from the Alchemists. I liked how Sydney slowly worked through these ingrained prejudices and started seeing the vampires and dhampirs as persons, and not some evil creatures of darkness. They were actually a lot nicer to her than the Alchemists!

While the story flew well, I think there was a great deal of time spent on unnececcesary matters, like who Jill could date. On the other hand I think this exact matter illustrated very much how worried Sydney always seem to be about humans and vampires/dhampirs interacting. But also about how she generally just worries too much. 

There wasn't really any romance in this book, which was a little disappointing, but with Sydney's character I understand that things has to build of for her. But I think that the rest of the series will fully compensate for the lack of romance in this, as I think there's a lot in store for Sydney. And Jill too.

I loved Sydney, much more than I ever did Rose, mostly because I understood Sydney's character better. She was very much always in control of herself, was very organized and very responsible. She definitely thought a lot before she acted on anything. I had a lot of fun seeing her learn about social interaction, which she knew absolutely nothing about. It resulted in some pretty hilarious situations, before she slowly learnt to understand things. 

I liked Jill a lot, though she was a bit annoying at times. I think she whinned too much about her situation, and how she couldn't live a normal life. I mean, someone tried to kill her, and she is still in mortal danger, who cares if you can date and that you have it tough right now. It's not that it's for the rest of her life, it might not be longer than six months. Grr. But despite this she was very nice and I think she's quite cute with all that rambling of hers. And I have to say I felt sorry for her, both for how she was almost rejected by Lissa, the constant danger she is in and the circumstances surrounding her assault.

I'll have to mention Eddie, too, because I really like him, and I was very happy to get to see more of him in Bloodlines. He's an amazing character and he is fiercely protective of Jill, and was very much a mini-Dimitri - but without the duster. 

As I mentioned before, I think Adrian had approved from Last Sacrifice where he regarded himself as a victim. He still suffered from this and Rose's choice, and he was rather sorry for himself. But then Sydney came along, and she told him to take responsibility for himself and gave him something unique: trust. And without spoiling too much, I can say I loved to see him react to this. 

Overall, I liked this book a lot. I can't wait to read the rest of the series, and find out what's going to happen to Sydney, Jill, Eddie and Adrian. If you've read Vampire Academy series, I'll definitely recommend you pick this up. If you haven't yet read VA I suggest you read this before you read Bloodlines.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆