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Bloody Bookaholic's Commandment:

Thou Shall Read Till Thy Eyes Bleed

Monday 20 June 2011

Review: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead


Title: Bloodlines
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines
Book #: 1
Pages: 421
Reading Level: YA
Book Rating: .8
T.B.Published: August 23rd, 2011
by Penguin Young Readers Group

The first book in Richelle Mead's brand-new teen fiction series - set in the same world as Vampire Academy.

When alchemist Sydney is ordered into hiding to protect the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the last place she expects to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California. But at their new school, the drama is only just beginning.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Bloodlines explores all the friendship, romance, battles and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive - this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone's out for blood.

Taschima's POV:

I was so scared when I first started reading this book. I mean, City of Fallen Angels turned out to be a huge downer, what if one of my favorite authors ever (Richelle Mead) let me down? What is Sydney isn't as entertaining as Rose? What is the plot sucks? What if there is no Dimitri?!

My fears have been beaten down and vanished out of Taschima land. This book was awesome! No really, it was so good! The book picks up about a month after Last Sacrifice. In the last book Lissa was made queen and well not everybody is liking this too much. And so the unhappy few who dislike Lissa are going to do whatever it is they can to get her off the throne, even if it means killing a little innocent girl. If they kill Jill then Lissa will have to give up her throne since there is no other Dragomir alive. While they try to overturn the law that says Lissa can't be queen unless she has a living family member, Jill must go into hiding. That is where Sydney, the alchemist, comes in. With the help of Eddie and Adrian she must keep Jill safe at all costs, and believe me that this is more easily said than done. Along with this problem is another more mysterious issue at hand. All over the new campus they keep talking about these unnatural tattoos who seem to give the bearer abilities of some sort. Also, girls keep coming up dead with their blood partly drained and a slash on their throats, could it be some crazy Strogoi, or does the rumor of Vampire Hunters hold any truth to it?

Sydney is a wonderful character. Soooo complicated. Because we have this girl who ever since she met Rose she started to understand that the world isn't black and white, vampires are not all evil. They can be good as a matter of fact, or slightly better than some humans. So in one hand she has this knowledge, but in the other hand she has all of her people's believes that clearly state that vampires are the offsprings of the devil. They are evil, inhuman. They are to be tolerated but never liked. Getting to witness how Sydney deals with this conflict is fascinating because she isn't this perfect character who suddenly drops her long term beliefs for new ones, she is in a constant inner battle with herself. Like for example, she sees magic and she tries to run for the hills. Although I am a Rose lover, I really am, I can honestly say that Sydney is a terrific character and I am not sad in the slightest to have her guide me through this new world.

Bloodlines will definitely tie up some loose ends. Adrian is still pretty hung up on Rose, which is very realistic. I mean he isn't gonna get over her that easily. I am so glad Adrian is in this book! Every time he comes up it's like the sun shines on the pages of the book. Adrian is a hoot (I'm still team Dimitri but whatever). He's funny and charming, and obnoxious... There is a lot of Adrian in Bloodlines to go around. Along with the old comes the new too because we are introduce to some new characters. To be totally honest the new characters are okay, but I prefer the old gang. Call me old fashion.

Sadly there is no Christian or Lissa to see in this book, but there is some Rose and Abe. Eeeeks!

The only bad thing about the novel is that most of the mysteries I had them figured out pretty quickly. The minute something strange happened I pretty much figured out why this was happening. I believe there was one mystery that I didn't figure out, one of the biggies too. I loved that Richelle could catch me that off guard! I wasn't expecting the "final battle". That I could figure out most of the mysteries though doesn't detract from the enjoyment of the novel, I read those 400 pages like there was no tomorrow. Sad part is that now I'll have to wait a whole year for a sequel T_T

Also romance wise? Not much to talk about! The series is much more plot driven and there is little to no romance. Though you can see the roots of some other romance that has the possibility of blooming in the future. Also the ending had me screeching!!!! When a certain character appeared I went nuts and started jumping up and down. A few people that were around me started giving me funny looks, but I didn't care!

I don't want to give too much away, last thing I'm going to add is Vampire Academy fans don't be scared!!! Richelle delivered!!! Bloodlines passed all fire tests with flying colors. You will all enjoy it! So when August comes around run to your nearest Borders and even if you have to stay in the store all day and read the book, do it. It's worth it.

14 comments:

  1. OMG! I'm so jealous! I can't wait to read this now! Thanks so much for the review!

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  2. ZOMG!! I am so jealous you got to read this already! I'm a huge VA fan so I certainly have high expectations for this book. I'm glad to know it'll live up to them!

    Thanks for the review!
    ♥Isalys

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  3. I'm aching to read this book! Ugh, the characters are wonderful, the world is wonderful and I miss it so much! The wait is killing me. You made me want to read it so much more than before.

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  4. OMG! So jealous that you got to read this early! I love VA and everything Richelle Mead. Great review, can't wait until I finally get a copy allll to myself!
    Jess

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  5. can you tell me any more about eddies storylines also how much was zoe sydneys sister in bloodlines and did mia appear

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  6. @David Glad you asked! Eddie is basically Jill's bodyguard, and although he does have a space in the book and his own thing going on telling you about it would just spoil some of the plot of the book. He is in too deep for me to really discuss it without ruining it for a lot of people. Zoe, Sydney's sister, was in the book far too little time. Mia never made an appearance. But at the end of the novel some new/old characters were indtroduced so who knows, she might be in the next book ^^

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  7. I've never read the Vampire Academy series (don't yell at me, I will...someday) but I think I'll have to give it a shot at some point. Can I read Bloodlines without having read the VA books? Or should I start from the beginning and work my way through that series first?

    I'm happy to hear that you weren't disappointed with Bloodlines! Good luck with the long wait for the next one :)

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  8. @Nikki Nikki!!!! Hi! ^^

    You can read Bloodlines without reading VA, but then again you are going to miss a lot of subtext and gushy feelings. It reads like a new series sure, but you won't have that special relationship established with the characters if you know what I mean, which Im sure you do xD I would recommend reading VA first because it's amazing (Ive read it 2 times and am now reading it again) and then you will know the past of the characters way better. But yes it could be read as a stand alone series.

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  9. hey i cant help myself from asking if there was any rose dimitri scene or if dimitri was there at all even for a scene

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  10. Pretty much like everyone else, I am insanely jealous that you got to read this one so soon. I adore VA.
    I knew I was going to read this one no matter what, but I was a bit nervous that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. Your review definitely made it sound like it will.
    Thanks for the great review!

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  11. Does dimitri appear in the book?
    I'm so happy to know that I'll see some rose and her father in the book.
    Abe is so amazing
    Is Adrian still upset for knowing that rose cheating on him?
    I can't wait to read it

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  12. I loved Bloodlines!

    Check out my review of it here:
    http://readingwhiledreaming.blogspot.com/

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  13. @ Nikki

    I would have to say that you would be entirely at sea without reading Vampire Academy. There is too much background information that you would be missing out.

    To Taschima I agree with you that all the mysteries except that last one we won't mention for spoilers, were solved by me as soon as they came up in the story. That was a little disappointing as was the ending and that thing that happened.

    I still totally loved the book and can't wait for the next.

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  14. I have three words for this new series: Pretty Freaking Awesome! I counted down the days till I could get my hands on it and was not disappointed. It brought me back to the VA world I missed so much after Last Sacrifice. And, Yes, I was screeching at the end too!!! Can't wait for the next installment!

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