Book Review: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead (Spoiler Free)

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Note: There will be a spoiler filled review uploaded on YouTube within the next couple days.

Genre: 

Young Adult, medical  Fantasy

Pages: 

380

Part of a Series?:

This is the 5th novel in the Bloodlines Series

Release Date: 

July 29th, diagnosis 2014

You Can Find the Book At:

GoodReads

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Book Depository

Author Website

GoodReads Summary: 

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:

Please note that while this review will have no spoilers for Silver Shadows, there will be spoilers for the rest of the Bloodlines series. 

When I first picked up the Vampire Academy series just about a year ago, I didn’t know that it would lead to me to two incredible series that would literally change my life. The characters, the stories, all of it, means so incredibly much to me and in such a short period of time. I already have a VA tattoo because of it. After the end of VA, I felt empty, until I picked up a copy of Bloodlines, and literally sped through that series. To say that I was dying to read Silver Shadows at the end of the Fiery Heart would be a vast understatement.

I woke up on Tuesday, on release date, and immediately got ready and went out to buy my copy. I found it, clutched it to my chest and didn’t let it out of my sight until I got home. I then warned everyone that I would be disappearing for awhile while I read the book. I read it in less than four hours, which already goes to show you how much I enjoyed this book.

When I read Fiery Heart, I wasn’t a huge fan of the split point of view. I understand why she did it but it helped me keep my resolve as Indigo Spell as my favorite. Now in Silver Shadows, the split point of view was definitely necessary to the point of the story. Adrian and Sydney are separated, Adrian remaining in Palm Springs and Sydney in some unknown location as the Alchemists attempt to “re-educate” her. In this novel, I found myself eager for each of their points of view, hoping, with each turn of the page, that their stories would finally intersect and they would be back together. I really enjoyed the split POV and I hope she continues this in The Ruby Circle.

One thing that I really enjoyed about this novel, something that just kept me pushing page after page, until the end was Sydney Sage. I know that sounds weird because she’s the main character of the series but I’ve mostly read for Adrian more than Sydney. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Sydney but I think she really became one of my favorite characters, period, in this book. The strength that she shows, the resolve, the fact that she is determined and doesn’t stop trying. She is absolutely incredible in this novel. She blows me away, and I always kind of held her second best to Rose Hathaway but I think she’s her equal, just in a different way. I really began to truly appreciate Sydney in this novel.

I also liked the story of it. There was a lot more built into it than just the recovery of Sydney. It was a struggle for Adrian, handling his spirit and his vices and that sort of thing. He is miserable and he literally sends himself into a spiral. Its about his relationship to other people besides Sydney (and Jill and Eddie and Angeline), and his family, and even his friends back at Court, like Lissa, Rose and Dimitri. I love that Sydney’s story is more than just her own in the re-education center. We really get to see the person she’s become and what she’s willing to do to help not only herself but others as well.

And I mean, keeping this as spoiler free as possible, but there are some truly excellent Sydrian moments in this novel. Truly. There’s an entire segment with the two of them that I honestly thought I would be horrified by but instead, I was so full of joy and happiness, I could barely handle it. It made sense to the storyline, which is why I liked it. I don’t like things like this happening just for the sake of it. I know this is so vague and you can check out my spoiler filled review for more on that.

Loving all the appearances that Lissa, Rose and Dimitri make. My loves!

And OHMYGOD that cliffhanger. I can’t handle that cliffhanger. Just when you think …okay, everything is going to be okay, I can handle this, Richelle leaves us literally panicking on the last page, wondering what on earth could possibly happen next. Literally, I would sell my kidney to find out what happens next, maybe even a lung or two. I mean, those aren’t important right? I’m just saying. With a cliffhanger like that, anyone would want to read the next book!

Stay tuned for my spoiler filled vlog coming soon!

Rating:

4.5 out of 5 Stars

 

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