Review: Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5) by Richelle Mead

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.

Review:

Hey it’s Alex! I finally caught up with the Bloodlines series, and boy did I love all these books. I’m actually wondering what to do now that I don’t have more books about Sydney & Adrian to fangirl over. But The Ruby Circle is almost here, just one more month.

This review is going to be kind of spoiler-y since it’s the fifth installment of the series, so if you haven’t read it, stop scrolling down and come back later. But if you loved the Vampire Academy series you should check this one out too, it gives you a lot of feels, it makes your heart race and you will, with no doubt, fall in love with all the characters.

Silver Shadows has a different feeling to it than the other books of the series in a lot of ways. Both Sydney and Adrian have to face their own demons, and the worst thing of all: they’re not together to help each other out. In this book you get to see how beautifully these two complement each other. It focuses more on them and their relationship than the other characters which is good since they have a lot going on, but at the same time we have so many good characters that it seems to me Mead should make a little more room for them.

Sydney Sage is one of the most amazing, smart and badass characters, all in one, I have ever met. Her character development from her first appearance in Blood Promise to Silver Shadows is beautiful, I think we all appreciate a character well written and Sydney is definitely the answer to all my prayers.

“Don’t let them change me, I prayed silently. Let me keep my mind. Let me endure whatever there is to come.”

In the aftermath of The Fiery Heart, Sydney is struggling to survive and stay true to herself in re-education and Adrian tries to overcome his demons and save his soulmate. The thing is, it’s easier said than done. Therefore, half of the book we have to witness how our main characters suffer. I was basically shouting at both of them something like “Sydney, my love, stop endangering your freaking life!” and “Adrian, get your head in the game. Baby, everything is going to be alright!” (all of that with a voice of panic and tears in my eyes).

Adrian was so broken and fell into old habits and I was so sad, he had made such a progress, and then all of this was like a step back for him. But sincerely, I can’t blame him; I’m so concerned though, I hope he finds a way to minimalize the effects of spirit magic. I believe in him, Sydney believes in him and everyone should believe in him, so everything better be okay at the end.

“But with Sydney… with Sydney, I’d had it all- And lost it all. Love, understanding, respect. The sense that we’d both become better people because of each other and could take on anything so long as we were together. Only we weren’t together anymore. They’d ripped us apart, and I didn’t know what was going to happen now.”

Anyhow, Adrian and the crew found a way to save Sydney and the others. I was so happy because surely the painful part of the book should be over, but of course those aren’t not Richelle’s plans, we need to suffer more, but somehow it’s not as bad because Sydney and Adrian are back together, with their witty banters, their passion and their unconditional love.

“Are you in a suit?” I managed at last, my voice chocking up. “You didn’t have to dress up for me.”
“Quiet, Sage,” he said. “I’ll make the hilarious one-liners during this daring rescue.”

AND THEY GO AHEAD AND GET MARRIED IN LAS VEGAS IN AN ITALIAN HOTEL. The caps are not even enough to express the way I felt about this, I may still be crying.

“Sydney Katherine Sage,” he said, his green eyes full of love and earnestness. “Would you do a brooding, deadbeat Moroi the honor of being his wife? 

Again, we can’t just enjoy our happiness and our poor Sydrian shipper hearts have to suffer even more. The Alchemists keep trying to destroy their lives, but can we take a moment to appreciate how badass Adrian and Sydney are? This couple could literally rule the world. But to ruin the good mood, back at Court we learn that Jill has been taken (I saw this coming on so many levels) and that complicates things for the next installment. I could probably make a board with all the people I think could be behind this, but I’m no Sydney Sage, so I’m going to leave that for her to figure out.

I’m so scared yet thrilled about how this series is going to end, there are so many questions to be answered and problems to be solved that I literally have no idea how is it all going to end up.

Regardless, the center will hold, right? Because they are the center.

For further fangirling and feels, check Amy’s post here.