Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Rating: 4/5
As the Bloodlines series continues, more and more magic becomes involved with Sydney Sage and her history teacher, Mrs. Terwiliger.
This is the third book in the series, and it opens up with Mrs. Terwiliger asking Sidney to help her out with the spell, a spell that only a virgin can do. This spell is a type of scrying spell that allows the caster to see another person wherever they are. It turns out that Mrs. Terwiliger’s sister might be sucking magic away from other young which is and killing them to stay youthful, and she wants Sydney’s help with this problem. Of course Sydney complies, but she has a number of other things that she’s dealing with the same time, between her unspoken affections for Adrian Ivashkov and her duty to the Alchemists.
Sydney is invited to Sonya and Mikhail’s wedding, a vampire wedding in which a few Alchemists are invited to keep the peace and develop a relationship between the two groups. To aid in keeping the peace, Sidney is asked to dance with Adrian when he approaches her with an open hand. With a look of fame discussed, Sydney complies, showing both the Alchemists and the vampires that they can work together under various circumstances.
At the same time, Sidney questions the goals of the alchemists, as evidenced in the events of The Golden Lily, in which Sydney was captured by a group of vampire hunters, and the name Marcus enters her thoughts. From the vampire hunters, Sydney previously found out that a man named Marcus left the Alchemists, but the problem is, nobody leaves the Alchemists-they are not permitted to do so. With this name of her lips, Sydney aims to find Marcus between trips with Adrian to attempt to save young witched from Mrs. Terwiliger’s sister.
Eventually, Sydney does find Marcus, but they start off on awkward terms with a fight insuring, Marcus thinking that the Alchemists have found him. When Sydney shares her hope of leaving the Alchemists, Marcus explains that a special ink is used to break the vampire compulsion used in the golden lily tattoos that keep the Alchemists from saying things they shouldn’t or from stepping out of line.
When Sydney’s life is threatened by the opposing witch, she learns that it was not her teacher’s sister at all, but someone else who had been seeking power, and Sydney must practice her magic to face this powerful witch.
Safe and sound, Sydney is becoming more comfortable with using magic, but she is also learning that her feelings for Adrian might be effecting her life choices as well. When asked to go to Mexico with Marcus to get her tattoo broken, Sydney at first complies, but later chooses to stay with Adrian and admit her feelings for him, even though they come to the conclusion that they would have to hide their relationship, especially when Sydney’s sister is added to the on-duty Alchemists in Palm Springs.
I really enjoyed this book and as the series progresses, the stakes get higher and higher, and the intensity is escalated. Now that Adrian and Sydney choose to be together, they must hide from the vampires and the Alchemists, otherwise Sydney might get caught and taken to the Reeducation that seems so torturous by the alchemists. This was a fantastic read and I am looking forward to the next installment to see how Sydney balances her relationships between her sister and Adrian, as well as with Mrs. Terwiliger. It will be interesting to see how the Alchemists handle the situation. Overall a great series that I would continue to recommend to readers in their later teens, especially females because the romance in the story heightens the anxiety of separation and the eagerness to find out what will happen next!
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