“The greatest changes in history have come when people were able to shake off what others told them to do.”

Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, a member of a group of people who act as the barrier between vampires and humans. Since she was a child she has been raised to fear the Strigoi, the evil vampires who want nothing more than to kill humans and drink their blood, and to not trust the Moroi, the other kind of vampires who coexist with humans. She has been bred to keep vampire secrets from the rest of humanity, and when the life of the Moroi Queen’s sister is threatened, Sydney is called upon to act as her protector and keep her in hiding. Sydney and the Moroi princess, Jill, pose as students in a private school along with Jill’s guardian Eddie. Sydney has to adjust to living surrounded by vampires, creatures she has been fearful of her entire life.

I was a bit confused at first with the whole Strigoi/Moroi thing and I’m wondering if part of this is because I haven’t read any of the Vampire Academy books. I didn’t realize that Bloodlines was the start of a spinoff series–I had thought it was an independent series, so I felt like I was missing out a bit because there were a lot of references to Rose Hathaway and events that took place before this book. Once I got a better grasp of the different vampires and dhampirs and Alchemists I definitely thought it was an interesting take on vampires.

Sydney was kind of an annoying character. She is way too uptight and has a seriously unhealthy body image. She got a bit more confident towards the end of the book and I gradually started to like her better. She is super smart and dedicated to her job but her best quality is that she really tries her best to take care of everyone, vampire or not. I really liked Adrian and his interactions with Sydney were some of the best parts of the book. To me this book seemed like a set up for the rest of the series because it really didn’t pick up until about two-thirds through. I feel like the next book will have a much more interesting story.

Overall, Bloodlines was an interesting story with a slightly more original take on vampires, and while it had a slow start, it was a promising beginning to the series. I am looking forward to reading the next book!

Bloodlines was released on August 23, 2011 and is the first book in the Bloodlines series, a spinoff of the Vampire Academy series. The next two books, The Golden Lily and The Indigo Spell, have also been released and the fourth book, The Fiery Heart will be released in November.