Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Title: Bloodlines	Loved it	Graded
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
Elements: Boarding school, alchemy, vampires
Series: Book 1 of the Bloodlines series, part of the Vampire Academy universe

     I wasn’t free of my past, not yet.

Sydney’s blood is special. That’s because she’s 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. But the last encounter Sydney had with vampires got her in deep trouble with the other alchemists. And now with her allegiances in question, her future is on the line.

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 RoseHathaway. 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 unlikeliest of places—a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one.

The Moroi court believe Jill and Sydney will be safe at Amberwood Prep, but threats, distractions, and forbidden romance lurk both outside—and within—the school grounds. Now that they’re in hiding, the drama is only just beginning.

Bloodlines was awesooommmmeeee.

I haven't read the VA books in a while, and I didn't read the synopsis of Bloodlines before starting (You know, "Hey, new VA book!" *grab and read*) so I wasn't sure if Adrian was the hero. I liked that Mead built a friendship between Sydney and Adrian, and showed that Sydney had to work against her tenuous suspicion to gradually trust and befriend Adrian--and the other vampires. No Instalove = major plus points!

The mythology. How much do I love an author who is not scared to create an opposition to her previous series, and have them be the good guys as well, rather than the bad guys? Sydney's background as an Alchemist made the VA universe well-rounded and very believable, with the different beliefs and way of life.

Some series have an offshoot book from another point of view that tends to highlight the qualities, whether positive or negative, of that of the original series. I appreciated that Mead did not just use the Alchemists as a way to beef up the Moroi and dhampir beliefs, but used it to further explain the Alchemists and their role in the VA universe to readers.

Sydney is perfect, from a character development standpoint, in the sense that while she respects the Morois and the dhampirs way of life, she did not neccessarily think they were right. While she also didn't like some aspects of the Alchemists' life, her background was fully Alchemic, and every decision she made from then on was in regards to her background, and what she learnt after interacting with the vampires.

Something I loved and fully respected: Sydney did NOT want to cast out her past and her calling as an Alchemist to hang out with the vampires, and they all got along extremely well despite their differences.

All in all, great introduction to a new series. I'm waiting for the next book.