Title: The Fiery Heart
Author: Richelle Mead
Narrator: Emily Shaffer, Alden Ford
Series: Bloodlines, book #4
Length: 12 hrs 4 mins
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: November 19, 2013
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon |
Barnes & Noble |
Audible
In The Indigo Spell, Sydney was torn between the Alchemist way of life and what her heart and gut were telling her to do. And in one breathtaking moment that Richelle Mead fans will never forget, she made a decision that shocked even her. . . .
But the struggle isn't over for Sydney. As she navigates the aftermath of her life-changing decision, she still finds herself pulled in too many directions at once. Her sister Zoe has arrived, and while Sydney longs to grow closer to her, there's still so much she must keep secret. Working with Marcus has changed the way she views the Alchemists, and Sydney must tread a careful path as she harnesses her profound magical ability to undermine the way of life she was raised to defend. Consumed by passion and vengeance, Sydney struggles to keep her secret life under wraps as the threat of exposure—and re-education—looms larger than ever.
Pulses will race throughout this thrilling fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where no secret is safe.
Man, knowing how Richelle Mead likes to leave a reader hanging, I really should have opted to read this series when it was complete, like I did with
Vampire Academy. Honestly, though, with that series, I waited because I wasn't sure it was for me, and then I think Audible offered it up in one of their $4.95 sales, and well, I can't pass up a deal like that. But now I love those characters and
Bloodlines was just coming out and I couldn't help but start the spin-off series. And look where it's gotten me: agonizing over yet another gut-punch of a cliffhanger, fearing the worst and knowing Mead still has two books with which to torture me.
I know a lot of readers haven't connected with Sydney like they did Rose, but I don't have that problem. Sydney and I both have a Type A personality, and I think that helps me relate to her better. I understand her neuroses, her need to compartmentalize, organize, analyze and anything else that ends in the -ize/-yze suffix. Having said that, though, I think Sydney has really shown some character growth as this series has progressed. She's virtually hang-up free when it comes to the dhampir and Moroi, and she's reevaluating everything she's learned from her Alchemist brethren. The biggest kicker, though, is that she's allowed herself to fall in love with one of her supposed enemies.
I love where the Sydrian relationship is going. I was so afraid that Mead would allow Sydney to fight her impulses until the bitter end, so I was pleasantly surprised by that ending in
The Indigo Spell. It left my heart all aflutter, and
The Fiery Heart stoked those flames of love for these star-crossed lovers. Maybe Adrian didn't have to overcome years of social prejudices like Sydney in order for them to be together, but he has his own demons to fight. And his willingness to do so for Sydney really proves how much his own character has improved since the days when he was trying to woo Rose.
While Sydney is practicing her magic and attempting to discover ways to circumvent the Alchemists, Adrian is working on his art and doing his best to use "spirit" only sparingly. Both support each other's ventures, though in the end, it's these very things that cause them problems in the end. Using one but not the other leads them into some precarious situations, and they run the risk of others finding out the many secrets they've been harboring.
And now that Sydney's younger sister Zoe is on the scene, that risk is even higher. I must say, I rather detested Zoe. There were moments when I thought she might turn out alright, that she wasn't going to do that thing that I thought she was going to do, but then she turned a 180 and was back to being the darling Alchemist that Sydney had once been. Seeing both girls interact with their father was kind of heartbreaking because it showed how far Sydney had come and just how far Zoe still has to go to become even remotely redeemable. If that's even possible.
The rest of the gang is all here, and their storylines are still playing out. For awhile there, it seemed like everyone might get a happy ending in this installment, but then I remembered that this was only the fourth book in a planned six-book series, and reality came crashing back in on me. It's not the worst cliffhanger I've read. It's not even the worst I've read from Mead, but the book ended abruptly and left something major unresolved. So, obviously I immediately went and read the summary for
Silver Shadows, which I'd been putting off for fear of spoilers. (Yeah, I still don't recommend reading it until you're done with this newest release.) I'm hopeful about where the story is headed, but I'm also fearful due to some of the wording in book five's synopsis.
Something I was never fearful of was the dual point-of-view in this book. I kind of already felt like I'd been in Adrian's head, so giving him his own perspective in this fourth book seemed like a good move. And it worked really well. It was easy to discern who was speaking because Adrian's sardonic humor shone through at every turn and it was perfectly matched with Sydney's succinct manner of speaking. Since the narrative was told from two perspectives, there was an additional voice on the audio for Adrian. It's always just been Emily Shaffer since book four of the
Vampire Academy series, and I think she's always done a phenomenal job. But I always prefer to have a male narrator when the situation warrants, as in this case. Alden Ford's performance as Adrian is great, though after years of Emily Shaffer reading him with a slightly British accent, it's kind of hard to not hear it this time around. And she so obviously dropped it, or rather, transferred it to the new Guardian Neil, since he actually
does have an accent in the book. I honestly don't know where she got the accent for Adrian because I don't think it was ever mentioned in the book, but it did make him sound like the playboy royal he was always portrayed as.
All in all, I think
The Fiery Heart was a solid addition to the series and added some much-needed tension to the storyline. There's still not a lot of action in this book, but if it helps -- and it does, trust me -- there were plenty of sexy times to make up for the lack of action. Adding Adrian's perspective into this book had the added benefit of making this more Adrian's story than anything else, but I'm not complaining. It was entertaining to watch his love, his lust, and his struggles through his own eyes for a change. I hope he continues to have a narrative in the forthcoming books -- and based on the summary for
Silver Shadows, it sounds like he does.
Oh, one last thing. Can we talk about the covers? How kind of hideous they are? Why do they insist on putting models on the covers of this series? Can't they do something more symbolic? Also, they changed the female model to the one who does the trailers, didn't they? Blech. I don't like her in the book trailers...and I definitely don't want her gracing the covers of the books. And is it me, or does Adrian get less hot with each new cover? These covers have just gotten worse and worse. At least the stuff on the inside doesn't match, though, I suppose.
About the author:
Scorpio Richelle Mead is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Originally from Michigan, Richelle now lives in Seattle, Washington where she works on her three series full-time: Georgina Kincaid, Dark Swan, and Vampire Academy.
A life-long reader, Richelle has always loved mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away from books (either reading or writing them), she enjoys bad reality TV, traveling, trying interesting cocktails, and shopping for dresses. She's a self-professed coffee addict and has a passion for all things wacky and humorous.
Find Richelle:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Thursday, November 20, 2014
{Audiobook} Review: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #5
Narrator: Emily Shaffer, Alden Ford
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: July 29th, 2014
Source: Purchased Audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
Monday, October 6, 2014
{Audiobook} Review: The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #3
Narrator: Emily Shaffer
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: Feb 12th, 2013
Source: Purchased Audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
Golden Lily leaves us off with some serious tension between Sydney and Adrian. When I say tension, I mean all tension, especially sexual tension. Their chemistry is unbelievable, and I cannot get enough of it.
Adrian is as always, a dream come true. His devotion it Sydney is something I want to package up and deliver to every girl in the world. He’s just… *sigh*. Not perfect, by all means, but he’s perfect for Sydney that’s for sure. Lots of “romance” in this one and that made me oh so happy.
There is a lot of magic going on in this installment. Also, a lot of laughs. All I’m going to say is “The bunny room” That shit was funny. And the plot thickens. The alchemists are possibly up to no good, and I loved all the info that is revealed about all of that.
The ending, oh the ending, I loved it so much. But then… OH no… Something happens, and it’s going to make the following book very interesting! I would have downloaded and started it already, but I’m listening to an audiobook from my library and deadlines.. ya know? If I download it there will be no way I can hold off listening to it.
I am really loving these books. Fans of VA who haven’t read these yet need to get on them! Now! I'm blowing through them
Thursday, September 11, 2014
{Audiobook} Review: Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #2
Narrator: Emily Shaffer
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: June 12th, 2012
Source: Purchased Audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
I have become obsessed with these books. Much like the Vampire Academy ones, I waited until the first 5 came out, now I will blow through them, and then have to wait for the last. Why! oh why! do I do this to myself? I should I have just waited, but I can’t stop the train now.
I finished Bloodlines and then immediately started Golden Lily. I remember, because I stopped putting always laundry just so I could download it to my phone. Once I was up and ready, I finished my chores. lol
The Golden Lily was so good. My favorite thing by far is her budding relationship with Adrian. *sigh*. I could talk about that all day long. She puts up resistance but he’s a hard one to stay away from.
There is a lot that goes on and it’s full of action. I loved the new elements to the story. Not only does Sydney have to struggle with her growing feelings for Adrian, there are other personal things she needs to come to terms with that completely goes against all she’s ever believed in.
Series books are so hard to review because there is only so much you can say. I will say this, I’ve listened to this one and the following already and they keep getting better!
Thursday, August 14, 2014
{Audiobook} Review: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead
Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #1
Narrator: Emily Shaffer
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: August 23rd, 2011
Source: Purchased Audio
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
{Audiobook} Review: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead
Author: Richelle Mead
Narrator: Emily Shaffer, Alden Ford
Series: Bloodlines, book #5
Length: 10 hrs 41 mins
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: July 29, 2014
Source: borrowed from library
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
When you get to this point in a series, it gets increasingly more difficult to review a book without spoilers. Also, it's all relative. What one person considers a spoiler may not matter to the next person. I didn't provide any major plot details below, but as always, you should read at your own risk if you've yet to read this installment.
In The Fiery Heart, Mead finally did what all of us had been expecting for awhile based on our experiences with her previous books. She gave us what we wanted and then took it away, as she is wont to do. The Bloodlines series is actually the third of Mead's that I've undertaken, and it might just be my favorite. And not just because of the Sydrian romance, though that is definitely a big part of it. Yes, you can see some patterns among the different series; you know that she's going to separate the beloved couple and wreak havoc on the lives of everyone involved, but she manages to do so without her tactics becoming stale and predictable.
I loved Rose and Dimitri in the Vampire Academy books, but they were extremely compatible, with the same sense of duty and honor. The only thing that really kept them apart, besides Dimitri turning Strigoi, was the fact that he was several years older and also her mentor and tutor. With Sydney and Adrian, though, there are so many more complications from a relationship, which is why Sydney fought her feelings for Adrian so adamantly. She's an Alchemist and he's a Moroi...one of the good vampires. They're not exactly enemies, especially as the Alchemist's primary mission is to keep the Moroi's existence a secret from humans, but neither is a relationship -- friends or otherwise -- simply frowned upon. No, it's flat-out not allowed...by the Alchemists or the Moroi. Which is why Sydney and Adrian kept their relationship a secret for as long as they could.
Until someone close to them betrayed them to the Alchemists. Which landed Sydney in a rehabilitation camp, not unlike the one Keith was sent to earlier in the series for his crimes against the Alchemists. And if you've read the previous books, you know that didn't turn out so well for Keith. The Alchemists resort to all methods of torture to rehabilitate their wayward agents, and when all else fails, a full re-inking is their last option, one that leaves the Alchemist traitor resembling something closer to a robot than a human being. If Sydney isn't careful, the same could be her fate.
Lucky for her, though, Adrian's not going to give up on finding her. He does lose track of himself, letting his depression and feelings of inadequacy lead him astray for a time, but his thoughts are never far from Sydney. I love that we got to see some dream-walking again (finally) and that Sydney got to use some of the magic she'd been practicing, that the Sydney Sage we knew and loved way back in VA is still alive and kicking. And she's not going to take this rehabilitation thing lying down. Sydney's a strategist, the girl with the plan, and even though she knows Adrian is out there doing everything he possibly can to help her, she knows she cannot rely on that hope alone.
But just rescuing Sydney from the Alchemists won't be enough to keep her safe, so Adrian does something so completely out of character, so crazy that I never even considered it within the realm of possibility until now. Though, if you've been reading the series, you'll understand that it's not that unbelievable that he'd do something like this. And now that we've come to know the lengths that the Alchemists will go to in order to further their own agenda, it isn't all that surprising that they would retaliate because of Sydney's escape and the subsequent aftermath.
This book had such a different feel from previous books in the series. Still the same old cliffhanger, still action-packed, still full of the antics of one Adrian Ivashkov. And yet this book was just MORE. More daring. More intense. More to the point. I'm surprised by how much I loved this installment but at the same time, I'm not. With VA, I found myself growing weary by the fifth book, more than ready for Rose and Dimitri to get their happy ending. But with these books, I'm just curious to see what craziness Richelle Mead has in store for us next.
I've listened to both the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines books on audio, so I'm more than familiar with Emily Shaffer and how she voices some of my favorite characters. I'm exceptionally pleased that Mead went the dual POV route, though, with this series after the first couple of books so that we could get a male narrator for Adrian's perspective. I guess because he's Moroi royalty, Shaffer always affected a slightly English accent for Adrian, which wasn't bad, but it also seemed unnecessary, especially when Neil came along and really was English. It doesn't matter now, though, because Alden Ford owns Adrian. Ford as Adrian is cocky and self-assured, but he also capitalizes on Adrian's self-doubt and failings in order to gain sympathy for the character. He's kind of perfect for the part, as is Shaffer as Sydney. If you haven't started the series yet, I highly recommend trying out the audio, though the fact that Mead manages to give both Adrian and Sydney very distinctive voices means you'll have no trouble keeping the perspectives separate if you read the text.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
{Audiobook} Review: The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead
Author: Richelle Mead
Narrator: Emily Shaffer, Alden Ford
Series: Bloodlines, book #4
Length: 12 hrs 4 mins
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publication Date: November 19, 2013
Source: purchased
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Audible
Man, knowing how Richelle Mead likes to leave a reader hanging, I really should have opted to read this series when it was complete, like I did with Vampire Academy. Honestly, though, with that series, I waited because I wasn't sure it was for me, and then I think Audible offered it up in one of their $4.95 sales, and well, I can't pass up a deal like that. But now I love those characters and Bloodlines was just coming out and I couldn't help but start the spin-off series. And look where it's gotten me: agonizing over yet another gut-punch of a cliffhanger, fearing the worst and knowing Mead still has two books with which to torture me.
I know a lot of readers haven't connected with Sydney like they did Rose, but I don't have that problem. Sydney and I both have a Type A personality, and I think that helps me relate to her better. I understand her neuroses, her need to compartmentalize, organize, analyze and anything else that ends in the -ize/-yze suffix. Having said that, though, I think Sydney has really shown some character growth as this series has progressed. She's virtually hang-up free when it comes to the dhampir and Moroi, and she's reevaluating everything she's learned from her Alchemist brethren. The biggest kicker, though, is that she's allowed herself to fall in love with one of her supposed enemies.
I love where the Sydrian relationship is going. I was so afraid that Mead would allow Sydney to fight her impulses until the bitter end, so I was pleasantly surprised by that ending in The Indigo Spell. It left my heart all aflutter, and The Fiery Heart stoked those flames of love for these star-crossed lovers. Maybe Adrian didn't have to overcome years of social prejudices like Sydney in order for them to be together, but he has his own demons to fight. And his willingness to do so for Sydney really proves how much his own character has improved since the days when he was trying to woo Rose.
While Sydney is practicing her magic and attempting to discover ways to circumvent the Alchemists, Adrian is working on his art and doing his best to use "spirit" only sparingly. Both support each other's ventures, though in the end, it's these very things that cause them problems in the end. Using one but not the other leads them into some precarious situations, and they run the risk of others finding out the many secrets they've been harboring.
And now that Sydney's younger sister Zoe is on the scene, that risk is even higher. I must say, I rather detested Zoe. There were moments when I thought she might turn out alright, that she wasn't going to do that thing that I thought she was going to do, but then she turned a 180 and was back to being the darling Alchemist that Sydney had once been. Seeing both girls interact with their father was kind of heartbreaking because it showed how far Sydney had come and just how far Zoe still has to go to become even remotely redeemable. If that's even possible.
The rest of the gang is all here, and their storylines are still playing out. For awhile there, it seemed like everyone might get a happy ending in this installment, but then I remembered that this was only the fourth book in a planned six-book series, and reality came crashing back in on me. It's not the worst cliffhanger I've read. It's not even the worst I've read from Mead, but the book ended abruptly and left something major unresolved. So, obviously I immediately went and read the summary for Silver Shadows, which I'd been putting off for fear of spoilers. (Yeah, I still don't recommend reading it until you're done with this newest release.) I'm hopeful about where the story is headed, but I'm also fearful due to some of the wording in book five's synopsis.
Something I was never fearful of was the dual point-of-view in this book. I kind of already felt like I'd been in Adrian's head, so giving him his own perspective in this fourth book seemed like a good move. And it worked really well. It was easy to discern who was speaking because Adrian's sardonic humor shone through at every turn and it was perfectly matched with Sydney's succinct manner of speaking. Since the narrative was told from two perspectives, there was an additional voice on the audio for Adrian. It's always just been Emily Shaffer since book four of the Vampire Academy series, and I think she's always done a phenomenal job. But I always prefer to have a male narrator when the situation warrants, as in this case. Alden Ford's performance as Adrian is great, though after years of Emily Shaffer reading him with a slightly British accent, it's kind of hard to not hear it this time around. And she so obviously dropped it, or rather, transferred it to the new Guardian Neil, since he actually does have an accent in the book. I honestly don't know where she got the accent for Adrian because I don't think it was ever mentioned in the book, but it did make him sound like the playboy royal he was always portrayed as.
All in all, I think The Fiery Heart was a solid addition to the series and added some much-needed tension to the storyline. There's still not a lot of action in this book, but if it helps -- and it does, trust me -- there were plenty of sexy times to make up for the lack of action. Adding Adrian's perspective into this book had the added benefit of making this more Adrian's story than anything else, but I'm not complaining. It was entertaining to watch his love, his lust, and his struggles through his own eyes for a change. I hope he continues to have a narrative in the forthcoming books -- and based on the summary for Silver Shadows, it sounds like he does.
Oh, one last thing. Can we talk about the covers? How kind of hideous they are? Why do they insist on putting models on the covers of this series? Can't they do something more symbolic? Also, they changed the female model to the one who does the trailers, didn't they? Blech. I don't like her in the book trailers...and I definitely don't want her gracing the covers of the books. And is it me, or does Adrian get less hot with each new cover? These covers have just gotten worse and worse. At least the stuff on the inside doesn't match, though, I suppose.
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starryeyedjen
- I work with numbers by day, and I'm a mommy and avid reader by night. I'm a self-proclaimed Spreadsheet Queen, and I'll read anything you put in front of me. I seriously love all the books! And I adore audiobooks, too!
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