By: Richelle Mead
Published: August 23, 2011
Publisher: Razorbill
Series: Bloodlines, #1
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Dark fantasy
Spinning out from the pages of the Vampire Academy Series, is Bloodlines. Alchemist Sydney Sage, who is on thin ice for helping rogue Dhampir Rose Hathaway evade justice. Her career is in jeopardy, with the fear that she may have to undergo re-education. Woken late one night by her father, Sydney is given the task or protecting the life of Moroi princess Jill Dragomir. The last place she expects them to be sent is a human private school in Palm Springs, California. For Sydney this is her last chance to prove herself to her father and the Alchemist society. But when markings begin appearing around her peers, Sydney realizes that maybe the Vampires are not the only creatures of the dark.
An imaginative and compelling as any Vampire tale out there with a sultry plot line to captivate anyone who loves Vampires and more. The structure and lore behind this book is amazing. What Mead has done to recreate and at the same time not tarnish the mythology of Vampire’s is creatively ingenius. It is both unique in the way Mead created the three circles of Vampires, the all too familiar ones that cannot enter daylight being the Strigoi, the half-blooded Dhampirs and the pure bloods that have some measure of morals, the Moroi. What’s more is that this story expands that mythology and adds the Alchemists and gives one her own story line that build off the story before but also adds to it.
Bloodlines steps out of the realm of vampires while still keeping it attach to lay more ground for the story of the Alchemists. It allows psychological tensions to rise within the novel as their belief system goes against what Sydney has learned in her encounters with Rose. Those tensions and her narrative are structured so well, creating believable characters connecting the characters incredibly well.
Structurally this book had limited. Other than a few typos here and there, it was easy to read. The POV was consistent throughout and both the inside of the plot (the inner turmoil with Sydney and her beliefs) and the outside plot paralleled one another very well, building up character dynamics and the and the tension between the character and her kind and her family is very well done. The dialogue is fresh and provides a lot of depth to the characters to build them up. The ending was also incredibly spellbinding and unexpected! It was amazing!
One of the best characters is Adrian, the childish yet charismatic Moroi Vampire. Mead has a great way of making him leap off the pages and become so real that the reader is left breathless with his charm and beauty.
As a spin off it works as it’s own novel because Sydney’s narrative is so different as is her character, further differentiating the story from Vampire Academy. It’s not a rehash, it’s something entirely new. ★★★★ (A)