Fictional Crush of the Week-Adrian Ivashkov from the Bloodlines Series

July 27, 2014July 26, 20142 Comments

In just a few days, dosage the fifth book of the Bloodlines series, physician Silver Shadows, will be hitting bookstores. I’ve been rereading the series and remembering just how much that I love Adrian Ivashkov. I can’t wait to read more of him when the book releases on Tuesday.

Character Name:

Adrian Ivashkov

Book or Series They Appear In:

The Vampire Academy Series (Secondary Main Character)

Frostbite, Shadow Kiss, Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice

The Bloodlines Series (Main Character)

Bloodlines, The Golden Lily, The Indigo Spell, The Fiery Heart, Silver Shadows (out July 2014), The Ruby Circle (out 2015)

Author/Creator:

Richelle Mead

Played By:

No One (RIP Frostbite)

Who They Are:

Adrian Ivashkov is a secondary character in the Vampire Academy series and a main character in the Bloodlines series. He is a Moroi, a so-called good vampire who has mortality, and is sensitive to sunlight but won’t burst into flames because of it. He is the nephew of the late queen Tatiana, and has the rare elemental power of spirit which includes things like compulsion, dream walking and healing. He is volatile, using alcohol as a solution to the “crazy” that comes with spirit. He has a sarcastic sense of humor, always looking to crack a joke, or have a one-liner. He briefly dates Rose, and she tries to make him a better person but he doesn’t quite succeed. When he brings Jill Dragomir back from the dead using spirit, he’s sent to help keep her safe in Palm Springs and falls in love with Jill’s human protector, Sydney Sage. Sydney is the one who gets him to change and he quits smoking, cuts back on drinking, starts going to college and stops sleeping with random girls.

Why I Am Crushing On Them:

Oh Adrian Ivashkov. I was in love with Dimitri Belikov in the VA series because I was in Rose’s head and I wanted her with Dimitri so badly but I always had a soft spot for Adrian. As soon I started reading Bloodlines and I realized that he was going to fall massively in love with Sydney and vice versa, I knew that I was done. I love his sarcasm and his darkness. You know that I love those bad boys who are really good deep down. In real life, its so annoying but in books, they’re just so irresistible. That snark just gets me every single time. And I love that we see this beautiful slow change in Adrian in the Bloodlines series. I love that, while his personality remains the same, he becomes a better person around Sydney. That’s how you know that’s real. With Rose, he had to force himself but with Sydney, he genuinely wanted to be a better person and I just love it. Every thing that comes out of his mouth is a total win.

Notable Quotes:

“You, know I’m the Queen’s favorite great nephew, Well, yeah I’m her only great nephew, but that’s not important, I’d still be her favorite…”

“Takes a lot of tries before you hit perfection.” He paused to reconsider that. “Well, except for my parents. They got it on the first try.”

“I tried to be a better person for her– but it was to impress her, to get her to want me. But when I’m around you, I want to be better because… well, because it feels right. Because I want to. You make me want to become something greater than myself. I want to excel. You inspire me in every act, every word, every glance. I look at you, and you’re like… like light made into flesh. […] You have no clue how beautiful you are or how brightly you shine.”

“Yeah? Can you draw a skeleton riding a motorcycle with flames coming out of it? And I want a pirate hat on the skeleton. And a parrot on his shoulder. A skeleton parrot. Or maybe a ninja skeleton parrot? No, that would be overkill. But it’d be cool if the biker skeleton could be shooting some ninja throwing stars. That are on fire.”

Adrian returned to his crossword puzzle. “Well, you can think what you want, so long as you remember-no matter how ordinary things seem between us-I’m still here, still in love with you, and care about you more than any other guy, evil or otherwise, ever will.”

“I don’t care if you say we can’t be together. I don’t care if you think I’m the most evil, unnatural creature walking on earth. You can think whatever you want, go whatever you want. I’m going to just go on loving you, even if it’s hopeless.”

“But when I touch you, your aura … it smolders. The colors deepen, it burns more intensely, the purple increases. Why? Why, Sydney?” He used that hand to pull me closer. “Why do you react that way if I don’t mean anything to you?” There was a desperation in his voice, and it was legitimate.”

“I know I’m not supposed to say this, but I love you.”

I totally support Chase Crawford as Adrian ;) I just want Frostbite made so we can cast Adrian…

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Fictional Crush of the Week-Rose Hathaway from the Vampire Academy Series

February 10, 2014February 10, 20141 Comment

Character Name:

Rose Hathaway

Book or Series They Appear In:

The Vampire Academy Series

Vampire Academy, cheapest Frostbite, dosage Shadow Kiss, viagra approved Blood Promise, Spirit Bound, Last Sacrifice

She also makes appearances in the spin off series, Bloodlines.

Author/Creator:

Richelle Mead

Played By:

Zoey Deutch

Who They Are:

Rose Hathaway is the main character of the Vampire Academy series. She is what is known as a dhampir, a half human and half vampire, sworn to train to protect the Moroi, the peaceful vampires who drink blood but don’t kill, and age just as we do. She protects them from the Strigoi, the immortal, evil, killing vampires. Her main task is to protect her best friend, Lissa, who is the Dragomir princess. When her and Lissa are in a bad car crash, Lissa heals Rose from death and they are bonded. Rose works hard to protect her, and keeps her distance from Dimitri Belikov, her mentor and love of her life, in order to put Lissa first. She’s witty and sarcastic and a total flirt.

Why I Am Crushing On Them:

Okay, I had a crush on Rose Hathaway just reading the book but seriously I’m massively in love with Zoey Deutch. Meeting her this past week made me so happy, I can barely handle it. I would totally date her. She’s absolutely beautiful and I have this weird thing with her voice. Like, she has this normal voice. So many girls have this weird, sexy low voice thing going on but her voice is all high pitched and girlie and then she punches you. Okay, let’s move on to actual Rose Hathaway and not just Zoey Deutch…

Rose Hathaway is like everything I like in a boy character, but in a girl. She’s sarcastic and confident and a total flirt and she knows exactly what she wants. But she’s also real and constantly trying to figure things out. She’s such a real person and she’s kind of what I’d imagined I was before I had a boyfriend. Except for the whole badass fighter thing.

Because Rose is a badass guardian. She learns fast, and she’s determined about it, and she’s willing to do whatever she can to protect those she loves. She’s fiercely loyal to Lissa and Dimitri and Adrian and Mason and the rest of them. She never really works to make friends but people love her anyway, and I think people love her because she’s so…confident and she doesn’t back down. She’s constantly breaking the rules but she’s so brave and stupid and awesome.

But I think I also love her because she makes me laugh. Even when the world is going to shit, even when her heart is broken or she’s on the run, and she’s fighting the world, she always finds a way to be sarcastic and hilarious. She always a one-liner to make everyone laugh and I swear that’s part of why Dimitri loves her so much. She’s brave and an incredible fighter but she never loses herself and I love that. Rose is always going to be herself, no matter what happens to her. She’s resilient and awesome.

Notable Quotes:

I was trying to find, like, a serious GIF of Zoey as Rose in Vampire Academy but this one is SUCH a win haha.

December Book Wrap Up!

January 1, 2014December 31, 20131 Comment

Books Pledged to Read in 2013: 200 Books

Did I Reach My Goal: Yes!

How Many Total Books Read: 203

Total Books For December: 20

Remember to click on the book title for the review. If there is no link, buy information pills there is no review. I got really lazy in reviewing toward the end of the month haha.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Teen Idol by Meg Cabot (Re-Read)

Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot (Re-Read)

Something Blue by Emily Giffin (Re-Read)

Blood Promise by Richelle Mead

Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead

Fan Art by Sarah Tregay

My Life Next Door by Huntley FItzpatrick

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Penguin in Love by Salina Yoon

This totally counts. My boyfriend got this for me for Christmas, pills because I’m obsessed with penguins and we’re in love, pharm duh! And he also got me this behind-the-scenes experience with penguins, so it all makes sense. And it counts

What to Buy the Shadowhunter Who Has Everything by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan

The Last Stand of the New York Institute by Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson

Unbreakable by Kami Garcia

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So that was 2013 folks! Stick with me in the new year, as I delve into even more books!

How did you do on your own GoodReads challenge? Share in the comments!

Thursday Quotables

December 19, 20132 Comments

Thursday Quotables is a weekly feature on the blog, this Bookshelf Fantasies. You share your favorite quotes from a book(s) you’ve read this week.

I’ve read a lot this week, sildenafil so here it goes.

Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

“He has no right to threaten my boyfriends. I’m eighteen. An adult. I don’t need his help. I can threaten my boyfriends myself.”

Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

“She was right about something else too,” Dimitri said after a long pause. My back was to him, but there was a strange quality to his voice that made me turn around.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“That I do still love you.”
With that one sentence, everything in the universe changed.”

The Murder Complex by Lindsay Cummings

I didn’t have a particular quote from this book that stood out to me. But maybe a re-read of it will generate one. I did so love this book.

Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

“The color,” he breathed. “When you stand in the light. They’re amazing… like molten gold. I could paint those…” He reached toward me but then pulled back. “They’re beautiful. You’re beautiful.”

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

“Because I can’t help doing it,” he said with a shrug. “And hey, if I keep loving you, maybe you’ll eventually crack and love me too. Hell, I’m pretty sure you’re already half in love with me.”

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I hope you enjoyed this new edition to the blog. Thanks Bookshelf Fantasies for hosting this, and That One Geek Girl for sharing it so I could steal it ;)

Happy Reading!

Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice Book Reviews

December 18, 2013December 18, 2013Leave a comment

I don’t normally do dual book reviews but I read this so quickly, case and they sort of blended together, so its easier for me to do that. Also, since then, I’ve read three more books and I need to review those as well, so it would just be easier for me to review them together.

Spirit Bound and Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

You Can Find the Books At:

GoodReads-SB/LS

Amazon-SB/LS

Barnes and Noble-SB/LS

Book Depository-SB/LS

Author Website

GoodReads Summary:

Please keep in mind that while there will be NO spoilers for these two books, there will be spoilers for the previous four books. You can read the reviews for Vampire Academy, Frostbite, Shadow Kiss and Blood Promise by clicking their titles.

For Spirit Bound:

After a long and heartbreaking journey to Dimitri’s birthplace in Siberia, Rose Hathaway has finally returned to St. Vladimir’s-and to her best friend, Lissa. It is nearly graduation, and the girls can’t wait for their real lives beyond the Academy’s iron gates to begin. But Rose’s heart still aches for Dimitri, and she knows he’s out there, somewhere.
She failed to kill him when she had the chance. And now her worst fears are about to come true. Dimitri has tasted her blood, and now he is hunting her. And this time he won’t rest until Rose joins him… forever.

For Last Sacrifice:

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir’s Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.
Now the law has finally caught up with Rose – for a crime she didn’t even commit. She’s in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She’ll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose’s life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back…and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

My Review:

I am incredibly impressed with how much better each of these books get as the story goes along. I’ve made it clear before: series that go longer than a few books don’t usually hold up. At least I don’t tend to think so. Its hard to continually keep a story going. But Richelle Mead does it, and does it very well. After the complete heartbreak that was Blood Promise, I was immediately hooked back into the story, and finished these two books quickly.

The characters become so much better than what they were in the first four books. They become more complex, they are more than just teenagers. Rose and Lissa and Adrian and Dimitri and Christian, and all of them, its more than just the typical teen problems. They are now so much involved in their world, in the politics and the sort of dramatics that are going on that they just didn’t see when they were in school. I also think this is the novel where they begin to grow up. They are starting to experience things that make them older, wiser, smarter. Rose went through the entire experience in Russia with Strigoi Dimitri, and that has changed her. The journeys that the characters take as Dimitri returns, as a murder occurs and Rose is framed for it, as Lissa embarks on a challenge that will change her life…they all change. I think Richelle Mead really realizes that her characters are not children anymore and she reflects that so much in these last two books.

I also really enjoyed how she wrapped up these novels. I didn’t expect the things that happened to happen. I know that’s very vague but I don’t want to ruin the story in the slightest for those of you who have never read it. I think she creates all this drama, in the unexpected plot turns, like Rose being framed, and Lissa’s…challenge and I didn’t expect the outcome for any of it. I was gripping my Nook in excitement, staying up until all hours to finish the books. There was so much tension, so much mystery to the end, and it keeps you wondering how on earth it was going to end. I honestly didn’t see it coming at all. I also love all the feelings the books gave me. There was so much heartbreak but also romance, and happy endings too. I had these times of emotions that I could barely handle. There is a part with Dimitri, Rose and a little boy….and that part drove me to tears.

I think that Richelle Mead creates an incredible world, with really well developed characters. Her books have it all: action, romance, politics, coming-of-age-ness (yeah, I just made that up), humor, and so much more. It took me years to read these books because I don’t read vampire novels, but these are so much more than vampire novels. In fact, it wasn’t hard for me to forget that these characters were vampires. Her world is wonderful, and I love Rose and the rest of the characters. Its no wonder that she returned to that world for the Bloodlines series. Its addicting and fun, and I am truly in love with these books.

My Rating:

Spirit Bound: 5 out of 5 Stars

Last Sacrifice: 5 out of 5 Stars

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WWW Wednesday

December 18, 2013Leave a comment

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme, visit this hosted by Should Be Reading.

The three W’s are:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading? (Reviews to Come. I am SO behind!)

What do you think you’ll be reading next?

What are you currently reading?

Technically this is what I’m reading right now. I’m 90% of the way through it, so I’m going to be reading something different in…an hour or so haha.

What did you recently finish reading?

I finally feel like I’m back on a roll with reading. I have finished SO many books since last week.

Once I finished Blood Promise, after it being months since I read Shadow Kiss, I started BUSTING through the rest of the VA books. I think this one is my favorite of all six.

SUCH a great ending to the VA series. So many unexpected twists and turns, so much action and romance and politics and magic and fighting. I loved the end of this.

I took a break from the VA world to read the e-ARC of Lindsay Cumming’s debut novel, The Murder Complex. I’ve been following her on instagram and twitter for ages now, and was SO excited to dive into this book. I’m excited to help her promote it in the future.

I am LOVING this series. I’m reading it so fast. I call this: the series where I find myself ANOTHER fictional boyfriend. Sigh. Adrian Ivashkov. I love Dimitri from the VA series but Adrian is a whole ‘nother level.

I honestly think this series keeps getting better and better. I love Rose of the VA series more than I like Sydney BUT I like Adrian more than Dimitri so it balances out. And I will say, I love that Sydney is incredibly intelligent, and she is so different than Rose in their approach to conflicts. I am seriously loving this series.

What do you think you’ll be reading next?

I can’t imagine that I am going to finish Indigo Spell and not want to immediately read this book, so I’m 100% sure this is the next book I’ll be reading. I’m a little sad about reading it because then there will be no more to read. And I’m not good with patience.

I keep hearing really good things about this book. I was not a fan of Beautiful Creatures but I keep hearing good things about this, and I bought this a few days ago with my nifty bookstore employee discount so I’m going to read it and give it a shot.

This book caught my eye and after a bunch of VA and Bloodlines, I’m looking forward to reading more contemporary YA. I haven’t been writing much, because when I read paranormal, sci-fi, and dystopian, etc., it starts to bleed into my own story. So I’m looking forward to some good ‘ol contemporary YA.

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What are you reading this week? Share in the comments!