Bloodlines by Richelle Mead [Review]

If you're a fan of VA then barrel on ahead. Chances are you'll devour and enjoy every single page. It is a page-turner. The mystery here is how is it a page-turner? That I cannot answer, because Bloodlines is a book devoted to tying up loose ends and building new foundations. You won't find a strong plot in these here pages.

See, Bloodlines dumps the reader into the middle of messy Moroi politics, unfinished love affairs and a few frayed plot threads that were left over from Last Sacrifice. The reason for its existence is to bridge the gap between the old VA series and the shiny new one we, the reader, will be treated to in the future. Tell a story it does not do. At least, not effectively. Bloodlines very much exists in two halves:-

Part I: The (necessary) cleaning up of selected loose ends left at the end of Last Sacrifice.

Part II: The construction of the foundation that the rest of the series will be built upon.

So, definitely do not read this book uninformed. Also, have the patience of a saint when you begin Bloodlines, because boy does it take ages to get going. The first three-four chapters focus entirely on recapping, re-greeting and reacquainting ourselves with the world/characters/mission/story arc. It makes for dull early reading and takes the love of an old fan to persevere through. I can see newbies dropping out as a direct result of this overwhelming tedium.

When we eventually get to the old faces we receive an interesting shock, because wow, is everything so different and novel from Sydney Sage's POV. This is both a strength and weakness of Bloodlines. Seeing vampires from a human perspective gets a tick. Enduring her racism/prejudism (call it what you will) is tricky at times. I understand her disdain of vampires and appreciate it, but her reaction to magic. Nu-uh. Overkill.

Sydney shines most when she's interacting with Adrian Ivashkov, the only VA vamp to actually retain all of his personality. They have a way of bringing out the best in each other. In Sydney's case a more passionate side comes out, whereas Adrian stops hiding behind a mask and shows his true feelings. You don't need a degree to see where this is going, but it is very welcome.

The rest of the characters pale in comparison to Adrian. Jill stops being Jill (or the Jill from VA) and becomes Lissa Mark II. It doesn't matter if this is a conscious or accidental intention, it is one I don't approve of and it makes Bloodlines seem oh-so-familiar at times (Jill/Laurel versus Lissa/Mia anyone?).

We get a lot of deadwood thrown at us too. Zoe and Sydney's parents are introduced and then never seen of again. I would have liked the Zoe-thread to have been reconciled, but alas, loose ends are the theme here. It's also strange that Sydney would phone her mother to stop her worrying at the start, but never again email or contact her. The whole thing feels sloppy and not at all thought out.

Self-plagiarism and lazy writing are also flaws. We get whole plot devices from VA shoved in every now and again, but we're not supposed to notice since the narrator is so different from Rose. An old character gets a face-lift and placed in Bloodlines to cause some of the most confusing conflict I've ever come across. I have no problem with some new faces, but going to such lengths to make him a clone of an old VA character is baffling. Unless there will be a revelation somewhere down the line where it turns out Micah is a reincarnation or something of Mason and has been put on earth for the sole purpose of helping Eddie out.

Despite its flaws, I enjoyed Bloodlines. I've always enjoyed Richelle Mead's writing and I love the characters dearly. However, the lack of clear plot gives Bloodlines a low score. There is a lot of promise though. If the Bloodlines series breaks away from VA and carves out its own identity, it can become something fantastic.

3/5 stars