Review: The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead

Ahhhh. Those who know me in person know I am obsessed with Richelle Mead. I once drove an hour in the pouring rain to hear her do a reading from Spirit Bound. It was me and a bunch of 15 yr olds and it was amazing. Major girl crush on that woman. The event of a new Richelle Mead book is ALMOST as exciting for me as those days of yore when new Harry Potter books were coming out. Seriously, if they held midnight parties for new Richelle Mead releases, I would be there. I'd prob dress up as a strigoi.

ANYWAYYYY, getting to the point here, THE FIERY HEART. My heart sunk when I opened to the first page of the book and saw it was from Adrian's perspective. I sighed with every fiber of my being. nooo. Don't do it, Richelle! These dual POV YA books are so overdone and so rarely well done. I can think of like one example of a dual POV YA book that I enjoyed, and it's Perfect Chemistry. So I felt a major sense of foreboding plunging into this. And yet plunge I did, steeling myself with the thought that if anyone can pull off a dual POV, it's got to be Richelle!

Happily, I do think she pulled it off. It wasn't perfect, but it was a hell of a lot better than most of the dual POV books out there, and I can understand why she decided to tell the story this way. In Vampire Academy, she was able to use Rose & Lyssa's bond to show scenes that weren't happening in Rose's immediate presence, but with Sydney and Adrian that's not really possible. I also think the romance aspect of Bloodlines is more crucial to the story here than it was with Rose and Dimitri (even though I still swooned way harder over Rose/Dimitri than I do for Sydney/Adrian), so it was a nice surprise to be able to watch the story play out through Adrian's eyes as well as Sydney's.

 I could definitely tell the difference between Adrian and Sydney's voices most of the time, though I still like Adrian's speaking voice more than his narrating voice. There were a few times when he began waxing poetic over Sydney's glorious amber eyes for the eleventh time in a chapter and I started to feel nauseated, but in general it was mostly sweet. I like that the boy in this story is the whacked out emotional one, whereas Sydney is pragmatic, level headed, and always strong (and obsessed with cars).

I thought the ending was pretty predictable, although that might be because I read an interview with Richelle where she said a lot of readers were going to be worked up over this book. And I know how she likes to torture us midway through her series! So I was ready for it...

In sum, a lovely addition to the Bloodlines series. Adrian continued to be a highlight. The scene where he's having a manic meltdown and decides to attempt baking creme brulee had me spitting out my water. Makes me yearn for a retelling of Vampire Academy through Dimitri's eyes! Ahemm.

4.5 stars! HURRY UP WITH THE NEXT ONE! Also, can't wait for the VA movie in February!!!

Review: Richelle Mead, Bloodlines

aaaaand SHE'S STILL GOT IT. Phew. I was really nervous about Richelle Mead's new book series. To be honest with you, I haven't been reading much YA lately, but I have been counting down to this book's release since Last Sacrifice came out in December.

Ok ok ok ok ok ok. I haven't reviewed anything in awhile, deep breaths. Well. I'll start with the negative, which is worth mentioning, though in the end, upon reflection, did not really impact my over all opinion that much. Richelle I love you but some aspects of this plot were pretty predictable. I knew from the start that Lee was shady. And that obvz the alchemists were involved with the magic tatz. And the fact that this picks up so soon after Last Sacrifice was a bit weird. I'm glad Richelle was sensitive to this and didn't have Adrian and Sydney jump each others' bones immediately. Any of her colleagues would have. But she has patience. And skill! So much skill.

The truth is empirically this: no one else writing in this genre (YA paranormal) understands HOW TO BUILD A FREAKING CHARACTER. Richelle gets it. Sydney has a completely different voice than Rose. She is calm, focused, organized, diligent, thoughtful, where Rose is a maniacal force of death. Both are wonderful characters, but they are so different and so realistic in their separate ways.

Adrian is a vivid, incorrigible, infuriating, yet ultimately smoky hot character. Dimitri is another level altogether: solemn, passionate, and so deadly serious about the things that matter to him.

Point out one character in the Morganville Vampire series or House of Night, or even TWILIGHT, that has half so many traits, that comes to life even remotely as much as any of Richelle's secondary characters, let alone her leads.

Mmmm. So yes I was annoyed with a few plot things but in the end I loved the book. I love Sydney, Jill, Eddie, and the whole crew. I love Adrian more now than I ever did in Vampire Academy. I'm serious: no other writer in this genre has the ability to make me care even 10% as much about the characters. It is inspiring!

Now we have to wait for May though....blegh.