Warning! There will be spoilers!
Bloodlines
Published: August 25th, 2011
Page Count: 421
"Sydney belongs to a secret group who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the world of humans and vampires.
But when Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, she fears she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. What unfolds is far worse. The sister of Moroi queen Lissa Dragomir is in mortal danger, and goes into hiding. Now Sydney must act as her protector.
The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one..."
~
Bloodlines isn't the most exciting first book in a series, especially when compared to Vampire Academy, but I think it perfectly sets up the world and characters needed for the rest of the series. I also think that Bloodlines will generally only be as interesting as it can get for people who have already read the Vampire Academy series, since it features a lot of characters of which didn't get closure in their storyline such as Sydney, Eddie, Jill and - above all - Adrian.
The first thing that instantly becomes clear is that Sydney Sage is not and will never be a Rose Hathaway replacement. She might be just as creative and witty, but does all of her things in much subtler and less aggressive ways than Rose ever did. She is timid and is an easy pushover and she lets herself get controlled by the Alchemists, and the entire system on which her life has been dependent on. However, I think throughout this book you can already see small cracks appear in her perfectly created shield that she has been brought up to make to protect herself from the vampire world's influence as well as other magic. She isn't usually someone who will stand up for herself, but by standing up to Keith, she lets out a strength in her that she is only just discovering within herself and will only grow stronger.
"You've done your worst - but you haven't seen what I can do yet."
Other than that, the storyline progresses pretty slowly. Yet again, this never truly bothered me, because I just loved to hear more about Sydney, Adrian, Eddie and Jill.
The revelation of Lee's true identity came as a pretty hard shock to me when I read the book for the first time, and it truly broke my heart to see such a sweet and innocent guy who Jill was crushing on try and kill Sydney and Adrian. I think Richelle did yet another fabulous job foreshadowing the big reveal in the climax of the story and has already foreshadowed a lot more which you can pick up on if you pay attention to some subtle details. (*cough cough* Trey's tattoo *cough cough*)
The reveal of Adrian and Jill's bond was quite surprising for me and honestly, it's really refreshing to see a different bond in action besides Rose and Lissa's. And also, it's interesting to see a bond between two Moroi, since the relationship between the two of them is so very different than the Moroi/dhampir one that we saw in Vampire Academy.
Something else that will just never grow old for me is Adrian's perfectly timed lines that he brings the perfect light balance to the story and make me laugh out loud every time.
Then, to my horror, he leaned over me and said to the older woman. "He was a fool, clearly. You're a stunning, classy woman. Just wait. He'll be sorry."
"Takes a lot of tried before you hit perfection." He paused to reconsider that. "Well, except for my parents. They got it on the first try."
I absolutely adore Adrian and Sydney's dynamic in the book. The banter between the two of them just lightens everything up and creates such a sweet friendship between the two of them - with the small spark already set that might grow into something bigger later.
It's also so heartbreaking to see Adrian still pining over Rose and also because of that, I just love how you can already see the small changes that Sydney brings into Adrian's life, making him happier each day and getting him to fight for things that he wants in life instead of just feeling sorry for himself.
"Brilliant? You think I'm brilliant?" He threw his hands skyward. "You hear that, world? Sage says I'm brilliant."
"As I drove away, I decided the Alchemists needed an entire department devoted to handling Adrian Ivashkov."
"I think I'm just overthinking things."
He nodded solemnly. "That's why I try to never do it.'
"My God, Sage. Your eyes. How have I never noticed them? ... When you stand in the light. They're amazing...like molten gold. I could paint those...They're beautiful. You're beautiful."
~
Other Favorite Quotes:
"Also, I didn't trust any guy who used more styling products than I did."
"The greatest changes in history have come because people were able to shake off what others told them to do."
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