4 Stars!
YAY! Bloodlines! Getting back into the Vampire Academy world is AWESOME!
I was a little late jumping on the VA train, I only finished the series last month and it is one of my favorite YA series! So, getting more of this world is so much fun since I am already so invested. I would definitely recommend reading the VA series before Bloodlines. I don’t think you’ll be able to fully understand/appreciate the characters and what is going on without reading it beforehand. Beware! There are massive spoilers if you haven’t read Vampire Academy…
Bloodlines is told in Sydney Sage’s POV. She is an Alchemist, which is someone who pretty much cleans up and tries to prevent vampire-related incidents in the human world. It is a job passed down throughout her family and one they take very seriously. Her whole life she has been taught that vampires are evil creatures. Because of the actions Sydney took during VA to help Rose, she is on thin ice with her father and the Alchemists. Even to the extent that she has been called a “vamp lover” which is a very derogatory term in their eyes.
This book picks up shortly after where the final VA left off, with Lissa beginning her reign as Queen. Due to the crazy vampire laws, this has put Lissa and her half-sister, Jill in great danger. To eliminate possible threats against Jill, it is decided that it would be best for her to be moved and hide out in Palm Springs for a while. This is what brings Sydney, Adrian, Eddie, and Jill all together (they have to pretend to be siblings. LOL!)
The relationships between all the characters were so drastically different. There is history between some and not much between others, but lots of FEELINGS, whether good or bad. It was really interesting trying to guess how all the characters feel about one another and who may develop deeper connections throughout the series.
Sydney and Adrian’s umm… friendship? was one of my favorite parts of the whole book. They don’t quite know what to make of each other, but there is curiosity there and I loved the banter! And Adrian calls Sydney “Sage” swoooon! <3 He is just so much freaking awesome! He is such a brat, but in a completely charming way and his humor is perfection! I want more of them. I really, really, really hope their developing friendship turns into much more as the series progresses!
“Sage, aren’t you guys supposed to have uniforms? This looks like what you usually wear.” “Cute.” I said, suppressing an eye roll. Adrian gave me a mock bow. “Careful. You almost smiled.”
Sydney is a great heroine for this series. She is such a drastic change from Rose’s badass self in VA. Sydney is so smart and she has such a passion for learning and excelling. She is a complex character, although she is much stricter in her beliefs about rules, she still has a compassionate side that takes over when someone needs her help. I love how she thinks, she is so in her head all the time, analyzing things rather than just feeling.
“I’d never been in love and had no point of reference to really judge. Base on what I’d observed in others, I assumed it was an amazing thing… but for now, I was too busy with my job to notice its absence. I wondered if I should be disappointed by that.”
Throughout the book we meet quite a few new characters as well. I was constantly trying to determine who was going to be important to the story, who may not be what they seem, who was lying, who was be honest. I was always questioning EVERYTHING in this book. I was a suspicious, conspiracy theorist the whole time! There are a few pretty big twists and possibly shockers throughout that definitely kept things interesting.
I felt like this book was a good introduction to this spin-off series. There were parts where it dragged a bit, but I was still interested the whole time. The last 20 pages or so really start to set up the second book and I am really excited to see what is going to come! And the last line! OMG, so excited and nervous!
A solid 4 stars for a promising start to the Bloodlines series!
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