Bloodlines - Richelle Mead

Dang. A blog already beat me to this title: Sydney Sage, the Hermione Granger of Alchemists. I’m going to reiterate it anyways, mostly because it is totally fitting for the protagonist of Bloodlines, the first book of a new spin-off series by the fabulous Richelle Mead. And it sounds cool. :D

I originally fell in love with Rose Hathaway in the Vampire Academy (VA) series. Her witty remarks and super badass-ness was refreshing and extremely entertaining. Unfortunately, Rose’s story came to an end with the release of Last Sacrifice in December 2010. But there were still some HUGEE loose ends that weren’t tied, for example: WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO EDDIE, ADRIAN AND JILL??? (I’ll try to keep this as spoiler-free as possible; if you’ve read Last Sacrifice already, you’ll understand ;D)

Imagine the huge torrent of relief VA fans felt when Richelle Mead announced there will be a spin-off series, starring the characters mentioned above, as well as Sydney Sage, the mysterious Alchemist. Bloodlines was released just yesterday, and I wasn’t able to put it down until 1:30 AM this morning. ‘Nuff said. ;)

Sydney is an alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of human and vampires. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the last place anyone would think to look for vampire royalty - a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. But instead of finding safety at Amberwood Prep, Sydney discovers the drama is only just beginning...

More info about Bloodlines can be found here,  and (if you’re interested), Vampire Academy here.

Since Sydney is the new narrator of this series, Bloodlines has a slight change of pace. While Rose is impulsive, outspoken and slightly crazy, Sydney is uptight, dry in her humour and, well, geeky. Being raised as an Alchemist, Sydney has very strong beliefs pounded into her DNA; vampires – Moroi AND Strigoi – are unnatural evil creatures of the night and humans must be protected from them. Because of her shenanigans with Rose in VA, Sydney doesn’t particularly want this mission. She’s not even the first choice, but when it comes down to either her little sister signing up eternal service to the Alchemists or being sent in her place, Sydney steps up and goes.

Her social skills are put to the test as she enrols in Amberwood Prep to look out for Jill, and the fact that she’s homeschooled and knows the periodic table backwards and forwards makes her very socially awkward. Still, she manages to make friends. My personal favourite part?

A guy in her class: There’s a silent film festival downtown next week. Do you think you’d want to go?

Sydney: No, I don’t think so. I respect it as an art form but really don’t get much out of watching them.

Guy smooths hair back, groping for thoughts.

Sydney thinking, Why on earth is he asking me about silent films?

Guy: What about Starship 30? It opens Friday. Do you want to see that?

Sydney: I don’t really like sci-fi either.

Guy: Is there any movie out there you want to see?

Sydney: *mentally runs through current entertainment* No. Not really.

*bell rings, Sydney turns to friend as Guy leaves*

Sydney: That was weird. He has bad tastes in movies.

Friend: *gasping in silent laughter* That was hilarious. Sydney, he was asking you out!

Sydney: *replays conversation, puzzled* No, he wasn’t. He was asking me about cinema.

I can’t tell you how hard I laughed over that. She is adorably oblivious.

She may be oblivious in her social skills, but when it comes to doing her job, being responsible and being brave, well, Sydney has it down pat. And she has a lot of baggage. She works so hard and is amazing at everything she does, but always feels like she falls short. Between her demanding and displeasing father, her butthole Alchemist “boss” Keith, Adrian’s childish wallowing, Jill’s emotional adjustment issues, Sydney’s job should be changed from “Guardian” to “The One who Deals with Crap”.

And then there’s the actual plotline. Because, aside from creating amazing characters, Richelle Mead also excels in coming up with mysterious and suspenseful events throughout her books. For one, the students at Amberwood Prep have a strange fascination with illicit tattoos that are too suspiciously like Sydney’s Alchemist tattoo. For another, there are humans and vampires alike being murdered in a distressingly similar way; bitten with slit throats. Is it the evil Strigoi vampires? Or dangerous human vampire hunters? Hmmm...

I also absolutely LOVE the fact that many of the old characters in VA make cameo appearances in Bloodlines. Nothing like a familiar character to brighten your day! Rose, mentions of Sonya Karp and Dimitri Belikov (to many fans’ delight), Lissa Dragomir, and even the cunning old zmey slithers in – Abe Mazur! Yes, a familiar cast of characters indeed... And the book was gripping enough that even the very last line had me squealing. It is an... interesting cliffhanger. Seriously, I think I fell asleep with a worried smile, if that’s possible.

Overall, AMAZING. I loved every moment in this book. It may have something to do with the fact that I already loved Vampire Academy before, so reading about the same world excites me. I highly recommend that readers check out the VA series first. It isn’t NECESSARY for Bloodlines, but it definitely adds an extra layer of depth to Adrian’s emotions in this book. It also explains a few things about Eddie and Jill’s actions. All in all, a gripping book that has me counting down the days and stalking Richelle Mead’s twitter for any news about the second book, The Golden Lily.

OUT OF 5 STARS!!

- sm:)e

Strange Angels - Lili St. Crow

Hey y’all.

Dang, haven’t done a post in a while, oOops. But my reading has definitely NOT been as unpunctual as my blog! Believe me, I have read so many books in the past couple of months, I have NO IDEA where to start. SO I’ll just start off with my most recent obsession with a certain YA paranormal series by Lili St. Crow. It’s called the Strange Angels series. And it is bomb-diggity good!!

The Strange Angels novels are composed of 5 books; Strange Angels, Betrayals, Jealousy, Defiance, and Reckoning (coming fall/winter 2011!). Here are the synopsises for the four books out so far:

Strange Angels

Dru Anderson has been “strange” for as long as she can remember. She travels from town to town with her father, hunting the things that go bump in the night and eat the unwary. It’s a weird life, but a good one–until it all explodes and a zombie busts into her new house.

Alone, terrified, and trapped in an icy town, Dru’s going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. Can she trust the boy who is just a little too adult–and just happens to get bit by a werwulf? Or the strange blue-eyed boy who tells her she’s heir to a long-forgotten power? Can she even trust her own instincts?

Because Dru is not the first in her family to be killed by the darkness of the Real World. The monsters have decided to hunt back–and now Dru has to figure out who to trust, who to fight, and when to run. And not incidentally, she has to figure out how she’s going to get out of this alive.

Betrayals

Poor Dru Anderson. Her parents are long gone, her best friend is a werewolf, and she's just learned that the blood flowing through her veins isn't entirely human. (So what else is new?)

Now Dru is stuck at a secret New England School for other teens like her, and there's a big problem—she's the only girl in the place. A school full of cute boys wouldn't be so bad, but Dru's killer instinct says that one of them wants her dead. And with all eyes on her, discovering a traitor within the Order could mean a lot more than social suicide....

When murderous vampires start showing up and the body count begins rising, Dru has to figure out who to trust and when to run. Can Dru survive long enough to find out who has betrayed her trust—and maybe even her heart?

Jealousy

Dru Anderson might finally be safe. She’s at the largest Schola on the continent, and beginning to learn what it means to be svetocha–half vampire, half human, and all deadly. If she survives her training, she will be able to take her place in the Order, holding back the vampires and protecting the oblivious normal people.

But a web of lies and betrayals is still closing around her, just when she thinks she can relax a little. Her mentor Christophe is missing, her almost-boyfriend is acting weird, and the bodyguards she’s been assigned seem to know much more than they should. And then there’s the vampire attacks, the strange nightly visits, and the looks everyone keeps giving her. As if she should know something.

Or as if she’s in danger.

Someone high up in the Order is a traitor. They want Dru dead–but first, they want to know what she remembers of the night her mother died. Dru doesn’t want to remember, but it looks like she might have to–especially since once Christophe returns, he’ll be on trial for his life. The only person who can save him is Dru.

The problem is, once she remembers everything, she may not want to…

Defiance

Dru Anderson has always been a good listener. She listened to her dad, but had to gun him down herself when he turned zombie. She listened to the Order, but got nothing but lied to in return. She listened to Christophe, and lost the only friend she had left.

Time to buckle up, boys and girls. Dru Anderson is done listening. From here on out, she’ll face the King of the Vampires on her own terms. And if the Order has a problem with it, they can kiss their sweet little svetocha goodbye…

Reckoning

Nobody expected Dru Anderson to survive this long. Not Graves. Not Christophe. Not even Dru. She's battled killer zombies, jealous djamphirs, and bloodthirsty suckers straight out of her worst nightmares. But now that Dru has bloomed into a full-fledged svetocha - rare, beautiful, and toxic to all vampires - the worst is yet to come.
Because getting out alive is going to cost more than she's ever imagined. And in the end, is survival really worth the sacrifice?

A lot more info on the Strange Angels series can be found on the Strange Angels book website or author Lilith Saint Crow’s website. 

What attracted me to this series in the first place was the fact that Richelle Mead, author of the Vampire Academy series (with the spin-off series Bloodlines coming out on the 23^rd this month), commented on the cover of the book: “Dark, dangerous, and sexy!” Now, I totally love Richelle Mead’s books, so when I Saw Strange Angels in my local library, I figured, what the heck, might as well give this series a chance.

Best. Decision. Ever.

It might have something to do with the fact that I immensely dislike female protagonists who are completely helpless and/or useless in a series and can’t get a grip on their own life. But Dru Anderson… man, she’s as tough as they come!

To be blunt, her life sucks. Her mother was murdered, her father turned into a zombie (who she had to shoot to death; traumatizing, eh?), her best and only friend got bitten by a werwulf, AND she found out she’s an extremely rare svetocha, a female half human-half vampire hybrid who is deadly to the evil nosferat vampires. A little confusing, yes, but once you read the books it’s not too hard to follow the plot. *winkwinknudgenudge*

For a girl whose life is a complete mess, Dru handles it in the best way she can. She isn’t SO tough that she doesn’t scream like a girl or puke her guts out when faced with danger; she does have her moments of weakness. And that, in my opinion, makes her totally relatable as a character, not to mention adding much-needed humour to serious situations. She has admirable strength and courage when it comes to dealing with the paranormal, and, well, she's just awesome in general. =)

And, of course, the romance in this book is ADDICTING. There’s Graves, a half-Asian boy with glowing green eyes, dyed black hair, and Dru’s best friend. He’s also, as mentioned before, a loup-garou. Then there’s Christophe, a guy with cold, winter-blue eyes, brown-blonde hair, and Dru’s “guardian angel” of sorts. He is a djamphir; half-vampire, half-human. Dru trusts and feels safe with Graves, but she also has some intense chemistry with Christophe, even though she doesn’t trust him. At all. That much is obvious, even after the 4^th book. I, personally, cannot choose between them. Graves is awesome, and Christophe is HOT. I guess we’ll just have to wait until the 5^th book comes out this fall/winter before finding out who Dru ends up with!! ;D

Overall, an amazing series. I strongly caution readers that there is a fair amount of profanity in these books. Also, some of the terms in these books are a little strange – wampyr, nosferat, djamphir – you get used to it when you read the books, though. This series is jam-packed with action, romance, suspense, and all things paranormal; I strongly suggest you get your hands on it soon!!!

OUT OF 5 STARS!!!!

- sm:)e