Navigating Solutions and Darkness

Crossposted from Feminist Quill , dated June 4, 2017. Title: Silver Shadows Author:  Richelle Mead Year of Publication:  2014 Series: Bloodlines #: 5 Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.37 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  4 I Don't Do Spoiler Free Reviews Plot Description: Sydney has been kidnapped by the Alchemists, the human organization she works for. Their methods for dealing with rogue Alchemists involve imprisonment, torture and brainwashing designed to make their victims more pliable towards their objectives and methods. While she attempts to navigate the various pitfalls of "re-education," Adrian, Jill, Eddie and the rest desperately search for her. Silver Shadows is all action. The only scenes that seem to slow the pace down are - predictably - the ones that involve Adrian's depression following Sydney's kidnapping. Even as she spends months in the dark, resisting torture, Adrian falls off the wagon, spending his days depressed and disoriented. In ord...

Written June 4, 2017, at Feminist Quill Title: The Fiery Heart Author:  Richelle Mead Year of Publication:  2013 Series: Bloodlines #: 4 Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.41 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  4 Spoiler Alert Plot Description:  As Sydney's sister Zoe is assigned as her partner on the Palm Springs assignment, Sydney finds her instinct to bond with her sister warring with her need to keep her new relationship with Adrian a secret. She continues to work towards finding a magical means of breaking the bond of compulsion used by the Alchemists on all their agents, and must keep from making any mistakes that might end with her sent back to Alchemist 're-education'. Although Mead meant for this series to have two narrators from the start, The Fiery Heart  is the first book to actually implement that plan. The first chapter takes place from Adrian's POV, and the POVs alternate between the two protagonists after that. For someone who'...

Written January 13, 2016, posted on Feminist Quill Title: The Indigo Spell Author:  Richelle Mead Year of Publication:  2013 Series: Bloodlines #: 3 Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.43 Goodreads Rating (Mine): 4 Spoiler Warning Plot Description:  Having kissed Adrian once, Sydney is now struggling with the realization that she might perhaps return his feelings, even as she continues to follow up on leads that hint towards corruption within her organization, the Alchemists. She also finds herself in danger thanks to a mysterious serial killer witch who is tracking down young magic users and draining them of life and power. The Indigo Spell  begins on a hilarious note: This wasn't the first time I'd been pulled out of bed for a crucial mission. It was, however, the first time I'd been subjected to such a personal line of questioning. "Are you a virgin?" "Huh?" I rubbed my sleepy eyes, just in case this was all some sort of bizarre dream t...

Crossposted from  Feminist Quill , written January 8, 2016. Title: The Golden Lily Author:  Richelle Mead Year of Publication:  2012 Series: Bloodlines ( Series sequel to the  Vampire Academy series) #: 2 Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.37 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  3.5 Spoilers... and all that. Plot Description:  In the course of her new assignment protecting Jill Mastrano at Palm Springs, Sydney Sage gains new insight into the working of her organization - the Alchemists, about rogue vampire hunters who call themselves grandiose and cultish names, and even goes on a couple dates. Oh, and there's like, fighting and stuff at the end. Anyway, the progress of Sydney and Adrian's relationship in  Golden Lily  is wonderful to watch. They start looking out for each other, thinking about each other's mood, doing little things to cheer the other person up. They went from strangers to friends in  Bloodlines,  and  Golden L...

Posted on Feminist Quill , on December 19, 2015 Title: Bloodlines Author:  Richelle Mead Year of Publication:  2011 Series: Bloodlines ( Series sequel to the  Vampire Academy series) #:  1 Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.22 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  3 Insert the Usual and Mandatory Spoiler Warning Here Plot Description:  In this series sequel to Mead's  Vampire Academy  series, we revisit the world of dhampirs and Moroi - and the much overlooked human component of this world, the Alchemists. We're following the continued story of Sydney Sage, a minor but favourite VA  character who made her first appearance in  Blood Promise , the fourth book of that series. We're also following complete fan favourite Adrian Ivashkov, who, broken hearted and looking for meaning in life, is drawn to Sydney as the two of them work on a new assignment together. I have to admit, when I first heard of the idea of Adrian and Sydney gettin...

Crossposting from Feminist Quill, written on August 16, 2015 Title:  Last Sacrifice Author:  Richelle Mead Year of Publication:  2010 Series:  Vampire  Academy #:  6 Goodreads Rating (Avg.):  4.46 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  5 Beware: The Inevitable... SPOILERS! Last Sacrifice  is the  Fast and the Furious  and  Die Hard   2: Die Harder  all rolled into one of the  VA  series. And I'm not just saying that because of the inordinate amounts of C4 explosive in this book. In  Last Sacrifice , the gang goes from under-the-radar hijinks to an IN-YOUR-FACE, GOVERNMENT level of hijinks. The Moroi government should really have known better than to put Abe Mazur's daughter in jail and try her for a capital crime. Just saying. Just as in  Blood Promise , the books splits itself to follow two storylines, once again through that unique narrative device of having Rose see through Lissa's eyes. I...

Crossposted from Feminist Quill , written on August 16, 2015 Title:  Spirit Bound Author:  Richelle Mead Year of Publication:  2010 Series:  Vampire  Academy #:  5 Goodreads Rating (Avg.):  4.38 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  5 Considering how long the previous post ended up being, I should make this one short and sweet : Hijinks! (And some regrettable death). Spoilers! After the darkness that was  Blood Promise ,  Spirit Bound  is back to the basics. And if there's some residual darkness tingeing the book, I'm sure we can forgive and forget, all things considered. And by 'all things' I mean there's a raging strigoi on the loose. Despite having graduated near the top of her class, Rose's future is lacking in real job prospects due to her reputation as an unreliable vigilante with little respect for the rules. So she's largely left to her own devices, and shenanigans are on her mind. First stop, Vegas! (Well, no...

Crossposting from Feminist Quill , written on August 1, 2015 Title:  Blood Promise Author:  Richelle Mead Year of Publication:  2009 Series:  Vampire   Academy #:   4 Goodreads Rating (Avg.):  4.37 Goodreads Rating (Mine):  5 WARNING: SPOILERS FOR BOOKS 3 AND 4 VA  deals with the issue of faith through the perspective of several characters. Moroi society, having as it does its roots in Eastern Europe, is largely Orthodox Christian in their beliefs, and take their religious ceremonies very seriously. And they have good reason for doing so, seeing as they have proof of holiness and lack thereof in the Strigoi, who cannot enter holy ground. Personal faith, however, varies from individual to individual as it is wont to do in any society. There are the religiously devout, like Lissa (don't you just  know  she's going to be religiously devout, goody two-shoes that she is?). There are the agnostic, like Rose, who...