Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1)

This series is a spin-off from the Vampire Academy series with Sydney Sage as the main character. Sydney is assigned to help keep Princess Jill Dragomir hidden to prevent her assassination and the resulting civil war of the Moroi world. Along with Jill, Sydney is assigned to a boarding school in Palm Spring with Eddie Castile and Adrian Ivashkov.

Sydney is very different from Rose Hathaway. She is has a high intellect and craves knowledge with modesty and celibacy being very important to her. Sydney is extremely excited to be going to school as she previously hasn't been allowed and takes advantage of this at every opportunity. Being an Alchemist she has deep-rooted views about Moroi and Dhampirs resulting in major trust issues and even great fear at times. Sydney gradually overcomes this as she learns to trust Jill, Eddie and Adrian and even count them as her close friends.

Sydney and Adrian develop feelings for each other more and more during the series. This is quite hard for Sydney at first as the world views a relationship between Moroi and humans to be of the utmost taboo. Over time they overcome this as their love for each other is far greater. Their relationship develops slowly at first which is great to see, they start out not trusting each other at first then slowly they become good friends.

This series is fast past with plenty of amazing twists and turns that I didn't see coming. It expands on the world more and more and even reveal some new mysteries. The series is written really well so that everything flows together naturally. It has great character development and even some reappearances of characters from Vampire Academy.

This series is a spin-off from the Vampire Academy series with Sydney Sage as the main character. Sydney is assigned to help keep Princess Jill Dragomir hidden to prevent her assassination and the resulting civil war of the Moroi world. Along with Jill, Sydney is assigned to a boarding school in Palm Spring with Eddie Castile and Adrian Ivashkov.

Sydney is very different from Rose Hathaway. She is has a high intellect and craves knowledge with modesty and celibacy being very important to her. Sydney is extremely excited to be going to school as she previously hasn't been allowed and takes advantage of this at every opportunity. Being an Alchemist she has deep-rooted views about Moroi and Dhampirs resulting in major trust issues and even great fear at times. Sydney gradually overcomes this as she learns to trust Jill, Eddie and Adrian and even count them as her close friends.

Sydney and Adrian develop feelings for each other more and more during the series. This is quite hard for Sydney at first as the world views a relationship between Moroi and humans to be of the utmost taboo. Over time they overcome this as their love for each other is far greater. Their relationship develops slowly at first which is great to see, they start out not trusting each other at first then slowly they become good friends.

This series is fast past with plenty of amazing twists and turns that I didn't see coming. It expands on the world more and more and even reveal some new mysteries. The series is written really well so that everything flows together naturally. It has great character development and even some reappearances of characters from Vampire Academy.

I loved the VA series and I love this series featuring Sydney, she's awesome. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel at first but, I grew to love her. Adrian as a lead can be iffy at times, but he's such a sweety and it was great to watch through the series the development of all the characters. This was told by Sydney's point of view, so it was interesting to watch her slowly change and become strong.

The Vampire Academy is over, Rose and all of her friends are living their lives in court with Lissa once the series comes to a close. However, there is another story tell and not everyone has had their happily ever afters, so now it is Sydney's turn. I remember her very well from the original story and I always thought she had a very original voice compared to many of the other characters in the series. Her distaste for vampires in the beginning is really what captured my interest. She grows to perhaps understand them but she still has a hard time being friendly with them because of her upbringing and the culture of the Alchemists. This book brings back characters such as Jill, Adrian, and Eddie as well. I love the growth that each character faces throughout Bloodlines, while staying true to their original nature. Richelle Mead's writing style brings to life a new world and I loved it!
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Sydney, a girl those who have read the Vampire Academy series are familiar with, has always been loyal to those she cares about and from the beginning, she displays this characteristic from the first page. Not only is she still under punishment for her actions during the original books, no one believes they can trust her because she has become essentially a vampire lover according to their beliefs. When she accepts the job to assist in the protection of Jill, I think she still struggles with the initial disgust that she feels toward vampires. It will always be somewhat ingrained in her nature no matter how much she attempts to desensitize herself to it. I loved how easily she manages to take over the role of main character and carries the weight of a complex series that had Richelle Mead not done it, I would not have believed she would be able to handle it. This character brings to life the world of Vampire Academy in a way I never would have anticipated and yet, I love it.
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Sometimes spin off series don't work but this one definitely does.
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Jill has come into her own in this book. She continues to struggle with her identity after the shock of the finale for VA and she continues to struggle with the concept that she is anything but Jill. Her life has become tied to Adrian's much like Rose was tied to Lissa, which only proves to complicate matters further for the young Dragomir. It's hard not to love and feel bad for her after the story begins. This young woman has grown up a lot since she first was introduced to the VA series. I love, however, how naive she still proves to be, especially in the boy area and she takes to the whole romance thing quite easily unlike Sydney who would rather run from attractive men.
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Poor, brooding Adrian still suffers from the emotional blow that he was handed at the end of VA and struggles to maintain his "I don't care" attitude. I think in this story, he truly comes into his own as his real aspirations come to the surface with Sydney's encouragement. He wants to be more than he is and move beyond the person who he once was - the one that apparently wasn't good enough for Rose. I've always adore Adrian with his attitude that always appears to be a facade and I love him more in this book than the original ones. And all I need to say about Eddie is that he is adorable.
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I love the writer and I love the book. It works somewhat like a stand alone and is the perfect continuation of the Vampire Academy series for those who can't seem to let it go... like, well, me.

As a huge fan of the Vampire Academy series, I had high hopes for Bloodlines. I was definitely apprehensive about the narrator switch, but I was also excited to see things from a different perspective. I shouldn't review Bloodlines by comparing it to Vampire Academy, but considering we see so many of the same characters, you'll have to excuse my use of comparisons.

Narrating Bloodlines is Sydney Sage, an alchemist, who has been educated since early childhood on how humans must be protected from vampires, and that vampires are an unnatural species. I found it hard to relate with Sydney's fears of Moroi vampires, as in the Vampire Academy series they are portrayed as normal people, who just happen to need blood to survive. It was actually a little uncomfortable to read some sections, specifically those where Keith talks about how wrong it would be for Sydney to feel compassion for any Moroi, or when Sydney reacts to Jill/Adrian's use of magic, as it felt quite racist. I kept trying to put myself in Sydney's shoes, but I just couldn't empathize with her fear or beliefs about the Moroi. I also didn't understand why Sydney kept comparing her body shape/size to Moroi, especially when she's supposed to believe they're unnatural. The references to Sydney stressing over her weight/image did nothing to forward the plot, and I found them quite annoying and unnecessary.

Putting aside my uncomfortableness with Sydney's discriminatory beliefs, I was also disappointed by the plot. It seemed promising - Jill is being attacked by rogue Moroi who would like to see her killed so Lissa is unable to keep the throne - but then, not much happens. We go through Jill's trials and tribulations of being an outcast in a new school (all from Sydney's perspective, of course), and we see Sydney investigate some suspicious talent/mind-altering tattoos reminiscent of her Alchemist lily tattoo, but its mostly just dialogue (which I have to say, is very well written) and situations being blown out of proportion to create conflict. Its not until the last 100 pages or so before we see any action, which is a huge let down after the non-stop action of the Vampire Academy series.

I also didn't understand how Sydney's actions could so completely go against her thoughts. She was constantly trying to prove that she was not a "vamp lover" in order to regain some trust from the Alchemists after her involvement in harbouring a dhampir fugitive, yet she kept going out of her way to make life easier for the Moroi around her. As someone who was supposed to believe that Moroi are an abomination, she should not have been so concerned about why there were so miserable. Her job was to ensure Jill was safe - not that she was happy. I wish there had been more internal struggle with her decisions to help make life easier for Jill (and Adrian for that matter) to correspond with her disgust we sometimes bore witness to (like during Jill's first feeding). It was hard to empathize and understand her dislike of Moroi when she was bending over backwards to make sure they weren't unhappy or uncomfortable.

Now having said all that, I want to make it clear that Bloodlines is written in true Richelle Mead fashion - its a page-turner that won't let you put it down; I flew through this book because I needed to know how it all came together. Just because it wasn't the action-packed thrill-race I was expecting does not mean that it was not well written. Once I was able to accept that Sydney was not Rose, and that I shouldn't expect a huge blow-out fight (or for her to stand up for herself) when faced with confrontation, I was able to enjoy most of what Bloodlines had to offer (although I did miss the romance that's so much a part of Vampire Academy). Unfortunately my excitement for the next instalment has nothing to do with any of the characters we saw throughout Bloodlines, but for the return of one of my favourites from Vampire Academy.

Oh! And, out of genuine curiosity, can anyone tell me how Sydney got Kelly Hayes' name? I don't remember her mentioning it before she asked what had happened to her.

All in all, Bloodlines is a good read - but Vampire Academy fans may be disappointed.

If you read the Vampire Academy series then you will love this new series because it has the same characters but also some new ones.

http://foreverlostinbooks.blogspot.com/2011/11/bloodlines-book-review.html

My first reaction after hearing about this new book written by Richelle Mead was a happy dance! I mean, who wouldn't do a happy dance after hearing that one of their favorite authors is doing a spin-off from one of your favorite series (in this case Vampire Academy!). I directly put it in my to-reads and waited patiently (or maybe not) for my library to get it. And they got it, so I ordered it for free, and I read it....


I can't say if I like the Vampire Academy series more or this one, because they both have ups and downs, and I must love both of them. We'll just have to see with the upcoming books!


I really love Sydney, and, I think I like her better than Rose, because Sydney's a bit like me, except she'S even more cold to everyone, not that I'm always cold to everyone.... but sometimes I am to people I dislike.


I really loved how the story was set (it's baseline-plot). And it kept me wanting more of the Adrian-Sydney complicated relationship between them.


The writing was as fun- fast-paced, action-packed as the Vampire Academy series, and I'd say almost even more.


Lots of people went from Team Dimitri (from VA) to Team Adrian (from VA and Bloodlines) after reading this book. Actually, I didn't.... I still love Dimitri more than Adrian :D


The cover is just..... sensational! And, you need to see the cover of the next book in the series -> The Golden Lily


5/5 stars, and worth your time to read!

I wasn't sure if this book would be as fantastic as Vampire Academy because i thought Rose was such a great character and I love the Vampire Academy world... but I love this book! The characters are amazing and the plot was really interesting. This book is just as amazing as all of Richelle Meads other books!

I really enjoyed Bloodlines and was waiting for it since I found out a spin-off of Vampire Academy was coming out. I was really excited and happy with how Bloodlines turned out and can't wait for The Golden Lily. If you read this book and are a fan of Vampire Academy, you will not be disappointed.

it is so interesting. I couldn't put it down not even for dinner. During exams my mum had to band me from reading it. I am always into the book. Can't wait till the second book of this series comes out it called: The Gold Lily!!