Author: Richelle Mead
Date of Publication: July 29, 2014
Formats Available: Hardcover, Paperback, E-book
Buy This Book: Amazon
Synopsis: Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.
In The Fiery Heart, Sydney risked everything to follow her gut, walking a dangerous line to keep her feelings hidden from the Alchemists.
Now in the aftermath of an event that ripped their world apart, Sydney and Adrian struggle to pick up the pieces and find their way back to each other. But first, they have to survive.
For Sydney, trapped and surrounded by adversaries, life becomes a daily struggle to hold on to her identity and the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to hope in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle proves daunting as old demons and new temptations begin to seize hold of him. . . .
Their worst fears now a chilling reality, Sydney and Adrian face their darkest hour in this heart-pounding fifth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where all bets are off.
My Review:
After following this series for as long as I have, and loving every single book, I knew I had high expectations of Silver Shadows. Though I would definitely say that Mead delivered I felt like this novel fell just a little short of my expectations. However, despite it's faults I still really enjoyed it and I loved getting the chance to read about Sydney and Adrian again.
By far the most interesting part of this novel was the inner workings of the re-education facility that Sydney had been sent to. From book one I had been interested in what exactly happens in these places and Mead finally revealed exactly what happens behind closed doors. The facility was nothing like I had imagined and it was fascinating to see how deeply the Alchemists brain wash their members. Despite everything that Sydney went through she held true to her beliefs, even when it would have been easier to quit, and I really admire her a lot for that.
Romance wise the novel was a little slow in the beginning but the adorable ending definitely made up for it. Adrian has always been on of my absolute favorite love interests and his distress over the loss of Sydney was sad but a little heart warming to read about. I also adored how Mead continued with Adrian's POV, I just love getting inside his head and really getting to know him. Even though Adrian made me a little mad - scratch that, a lot mad- in this novel I still absolutely adore him despite his faults. Adrian is far from perfect, and maybe thats why I love him so much. Even though he could have it all, through his looks and money, he still has problems and Sydney loves him for it anyway.
Even though there were a lot of things I enjoyed about the latest book in the Bloodlines series there were a few things that were missing. The number one being character development; even though both Sydney and Adrian went through a lot I felt like neither of them really developed as a character. That being said, the lack of development didn't really negatively impact the novel but it did make it feel like something was just a little off. Sydney especially went through a lot while she was at re-education and I felt that should have made more of an impact on her character. The lack of development made this book in the series feel just a little bit unneeded, not because it was a bad story, just because the characters didn't learn anything from it.
Overall fans of the Bloodlines series will be satisfied with Silver Shadows and although there could have been a little bit more character development Mead definitely delivered. I know that after following this series religiously for 3 years I'm absolutely dying to get my hands on the final novel and I have no doubt that other fans are as well; February 10th won't come fast enough!
5/5
Love your review! I loved this book and I feel like it wasn't as I was expecting it to be, like you felt, but it's still a good series. I think sometimes the magic and some of the hunter stuff seemed kind of dull for me, but it did pick up in this book. I'm super excited to read the next book and I sort of hope it's the last, but you never know.
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