Crosspost: Bloodlines #6 - The Ruby Circle

Crossposted from Feminist Quill: June 4, 2017

Title: The Ruby Circle
Author: Richelle Mead
Year of Publication: 2015
Series: Bloodlines
#: 6
Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.22
Goodreads Rating (Mine): 5

Business As Usual for Spoilers

I really dislike this cover art version of Sydney. Neither this Sydney, nor this Adrian match how I imagine they look.

Plot Description: A ten book saga winds to a close. Nearly all the pieces are in place, and this thing only needs a bit of basic ass-kicking to seal the deal. Simply put, Sydney, Ms. Terwilliger, Eddie Castile and Adrian go off on a magical scavenger hunt in an attempt to find Jill. And there's a magical baby hogging plot space.

I began this blog with Mead's VA universe. And now it's finally coming to a conclusion. All of our favourite heroes have been in on the action for a while now, even though I haven't been giving them any mention in the reviews. Now it's time.

Lissa and Christian have appeared the least in Bloodlines, the latter even less than the former. And while they've given way to characters who are as engaging and amusing, it feels wrong to view Lissa through perspectives other than that of Rose's. She behaves like one would expect a sweet monarch to - proud, regal, makes the right decisions, has to take tough calls... But there's barely any sign of the Lissa we've come to know and love. Or perhaps Lissa was always this privileged (remember all those times Rose's needs were ignored and Lissa barely noticed?) and we no longer have Rose's POV to soften the blow.

Of the other old characters, Dimitri Belikov is perhaps the most hilarious, especially as seen from Adrian's perspective. It is revealed in this book that Dimitri and Adrian are, in fact, cousins - their fathers are full brothers. I would honestly have loved to see this explored more, simply because of the enormity of this revelation, but it's brushed aside in light of the more urgent plot developments.

The first bit of The Ruby Circle is basically a magical scavenger hunt. One that is almost laughable - it does nothing more than bring them full circle, back to Palm Springs. They do find out who's responsible for Jill's disappearance in the process, but Alicia's re-emergence, her lame attacks, and Ms. Terwilliger's explanation for the scavenger hunt (Alicia wanted Sydney to be suffering from magical fatigue before she fought her directly) are all pretty ham handed. Which is why it's a good thing that the plot is still fast paced. Even the climactic showdown had involved battling Alicia, pretty much everyone would have fallen asleep reading.

Fortunately for us readers, we discover that Alicia doesn't have Jill - she passed her over to another old enemy for imprisonment. Cue more infiltration of The Warriors of Light, who epitomize comically exaggerated villainy. Sydney pulls a gimmicky win during the trials of endurance set for new Warrior wannabes - one which, in my opinion, was wholly unnecessary. Rather than fight the other women in the field, Sydney attacks a male victor who was already done fighting, and therefore off his guard. It's cheating, and that scene could have been written any number of ways to show that Sydney was strong and smart, and able to best any of them without resorting to roundabout ways.

Adrian's use of spirit - and accompanying mental illness - continues unabated. As a result, the reader is treated to constant commentary from his pet hallucination, the deceased Queen Tatiana Ivashkov. The thing about writing mental illness is that such scenes are often a drag. But this is also because, newsflash, mental illness is a drag. It sucks to write about, but an honest and sincere portrayal cannot stay true to character if it chooses to skip such an aspect of a character just to make for easier reading.

Then there's the magical baby. The discovery of the Strigoi vaccine two books ago also provided the foundation for a romance between the British dhampir, Neil, and Olive, the fifth known person to have been restored after having turned Strigoi. The presence of Spirit in Olive's body appears to have somehow changed the fact that dhampirs cannot reproduce amongst themselves. The cynical part of me wonders whether this was a development engineered solely so the world could benefit from Romitri babies. It's not such a stretch, but honestly, I would much prefer that child producing wasn't made such a central part of every bloody relationship. The cis-het element is already so strong in the VA universe. It might have been better not to force us to swallow even more heteronormativity.

In the last chapter, Sydrian have adopted Neil and Olive's baby, claiming he is biologically theirs. This is done to prevent baby Declan from having to live a life of scientific experimentation, as he was born with spirit infusing his blood - therefore granting him Strigoi immunity from birth. His mother, Olive, died to protect him from such a fate, and his father, Neil, decided to run away to prevent any connection being drawn between himself and the baby. "The risk is too great," is a common refrain, but it honestly seems rather contrived to me. (Again.) The final chapter also reveals that Romitri are now engaged to be married, and that they have so far taken no decision on the whole having children question.

The Ruby Circle might not have stood the test of criticism on its own if it weren't for the nostalgic value it carries as the final book set in this universe. In truth, I believe that Silver Shadows and The Ruby Circle could probably have been combined, with some of the more unnecessary plot elements cut out to make it less bloated.

Next Review: Discworld #3 - Equal Rites