The Ruby Circle

Judul : The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines #6)

Penulis : Richelle Mead

Tebal : 348 halaman

Penerbit : Penguin Books Ltd

When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, she and Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world and alter their lives forever.

Silver Shadows

Judul : Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5)

Penulis : Richelle Mead

Tebal : 380 halaman

Penerbit : Penguin Books Ltd

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. . . .

The Fiery Heart

Judul : The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4)

Penulis : Richelle Mead

Tebal : 420 halaman

Penerbit : Penguin Books Ltd

Sydney always believed that alchemists were born to protect vampire secrets and human lives - until she met Marcus and turned her back on everything she once knew.

But she's not free yet. When her sister Zoe arrives, Sydney can only tell her half-truths about her past. And with every word she risks exposure - and the fatal consequences.

Consumed by passion and vengeance, Sydney must choose her path once and for all. Even if that means harnessing her magical powers to destroy the way of life she was raised to defend...

The Indigo Spell

Judul : The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3)

Penulis : Richelle Mead

Tebal : 401 halaman

Penerbit : Razorbill

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch—a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood—or else she might be next. 

The Golden Lily

Judul : The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)

Penulis : Richelle Mead

Tebal : 418 halaman

Penerbit : Razorbill

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. Alchemists protect vampire secrets - and human lives.

Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she's been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California - tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formorly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.

But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age-old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and her sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi - the fiercest vampires, the ones who don't die. But it's her fear of being just that - special, magical, powerful - that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Braydon, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else - someone forbidden to her.

When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney's loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.Should she trust the Alchemists - or her heart?

Bloodlines

Judul : Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1)

Penulis : Richelle Mead

Tebal : 421 halaman

Penerbit : Razorbill

When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the unlikeliest of places: a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one.

The Moroi court believe Jill and Sydney will be safe at Amberwood Prep, but threats, distractions, and forbidden romance lurk both outside - and within - the school grounds. Now that they're in hiding, the drama is only just beginning.

Last Sacrifice

Title : Last Sacrifice (Vampire Academy #6)

Writer : Richelle Mead

Number of Page : 594

Publisher : Razorbill

My rating : 5/5

At last, I finished all the books of the series. I might ramble in this post, so I will warn you that there's gonna be spoiler.

Because this is the last book, I will conclude everything that I feel.

Starting from the good part :

1. Adventure. From the prison break, runaway, hiding, meeting new people, investigation, and revelation... I like all of them. I could not stop reading because they are all interesting part of this book.

2. Suspense. I'm not even sure that's the right word. I tried to guess who murdered the queen. And I thought it would be Daniella Ivashkov, but I was wrong. And the fact that I could not guess correctly proved that this book is beyond my usually clever instinct (LOL). 

3. Certain characters. Of course, I could not stand books that have no likable characters. I like Adrian Ivashkov for his good heart and because he was willing to admit his weakness. He knew he was an addict and he needed Rose as his strength. He also had cheerful personality that lightened up everyone's mood even in bad situation. And the fact that he was one of the character who did not get happy ending made me love him more (haha =.=). Beside Adrian, I also like Abe Mazur for the funny ladies-man way of his and his antique fashion style. I also like Sydney Sage, the serious and competent alchemist who also didn't get happy ending. And the last is Christian Ozera because of his fire-fighting coolness and his sarcasm. He was independent and strong despite of his bad reputation and all.

4. Concept. The new world created by Richelle Mead always amazed me. The political system, strigoi-moroi-human-alchemist-dhampir world, the guardian system... The guardian mantra never stopped getting me chills, I don't know why... They come first...

5. Couples. Okay, I never like Dimitri because for me he didn't seem to have character. He was described as a god, then what? Kind, yes. Passionate, yes. But, nothing special. Boring and bland. However, I like the fact that he ended up with Rose. They deserved each other although I also don't like Rose. Moreover, Lissa and Christian were also a good and suitable pair.

6. Breakup lines. I never felt more hurt than reading the breakup lines said by Rose and Adrian at the end. Damn. It was unfair but yet inevitable. The part when Adrian yelled and clutched his chest like his heart being ripped apart, it was just the best dramatic breakup scenes ever.

7. Dying scene. It's not even important to be mentioned here. But I like these paragraphs in one scene.

My vision was growing dimmer, the blackness and ghosts closing in, and I swore, it was like I could hear Robert whispering in my ear : The world of the dead won't give you up a second time.

Just before the light completely vanished, I saw Dimitri's face join Lissa's. I wanted to smile. I decided then that if the two people I loved the most were safe, I could leave this world. The dead could finally have me. And I'd fulfilled my purpose, right? To protect? I'd done it. I'd saved Lissa, just like I'd sworn I'd always do. I was dying in battle. No appointment books for me. 

Lissa's face shone with tears, and I hoped that mine conveyed how much I loved her. With the last spark of life I had left, I tried to speak, tried to let Dimitri know I loved him too and that he had to protect her now. I don't think he understood, but the words of the guardian mantra were my last conscious thought. 

They come first.

Now, the bad thing :

1. The ending. I believe in happy ending, but I don't believe in perfect ending. And Vampire Academy ending is damned very perfect. Rose got everything she always wanted. And she lost the bond? Seriously, it's kinda unbelievable. All the fuss and problems that she had throughout the series were just vanished. She was Lissa's guardian, Dimitri was Christian's. Then, Lissa was a queen. The weak and doll-like Lissa? It would make more sense if Ariana Szelsky was the queen. 

2. The killer. Okay, the killer wasn't Daniella Ivashkov. I was relieved because I could not stand Adrian got more hurt. But, still. It was so sad. She had already had bad reputation for having Strigoi in the family, ruined face... Oh, the reason Rose took the accusation was so laughable. Jealousy, huh?

3. Main character. Yah... Rose was not that bad. She was willingly to sacrifice everything for protecting Lissa. She was strong and she always fight for her own fate. I liked her when she changed a bit in the second book. But, toward the end she didn't get any better. She was still reckless and annoying. Well, I was still okay with that until she cheated behind Adrian. If she wanted with Dimitri, she should break up with Adrian first before sleeping with Dimitri. Oh, God. When Adrian visited Rose in her dream after she and Dimitri "did" it, I almost wanted to cry seeing Adrian was still happy. He said Rose's aura was glowing, bla, bla, bla... And Rose still didn't say anything. Poor Adrian. Cheating?! I still couldn't believe a main character did something stupid like that. I had no sympathy left for Rose already. 

That's all. I experienced love-hate relationships with this book. And after I finished it, I could not stop thinking about the story. I kept replaying every scenes in my head. Yah... I should admit that Vampire Academy is wonderful, so I give this book five star. 

The last young adult fantasy I read was Hunger Games. I still like the story of HG better than Vampire Academy. But because the writing and plot structures of VA are much more neat than HG, I think that VA is better book than HG.

T.T *cry

I always feel sad whenever I finish book series. But, I really enjoy the journey reading VA.

Vampire Academy Series : 

1. Vampire Academy

2. Frostbite

3. Shadow Kiss

4. Blood Promise

5. Spirit Bound

6. Last Sacrifice

Spirit Bound

Title : Spirit Bound (Vampire Academy #5)

Writer : Richelle Mead

Number of Page : 489

Publisher : Razorbill

My rating : 4/5

It's a bit difficult writing review for this book. Too many plots and stories inside.

Rose had to face the final practical exam for becoming the guardian. Since she had killed strigoi before, the exam was very easy for her. I even think that the exam scenes were not intriguing at all.

After she graduated, Rose and her friends went to the Moroi court to wait for the assignments. However, Rose had another plan. Dimitri had sent her many letters showing love and hate at the same time. He also wanted to find and kill her. But, Rose wanted to save Dimitri. She thought strigoi could be brought back to their original form (dhampir/moroi/human). And the only person who might know about this was Victor Dashkov's half-brother, Robert.

No one knew where Robert was, except Victor. Because Victor was in jail, Rose planned to break into jail and free him. This part was very interesting. I like the adventure and the action. Rose with Lissa and Eddie had to find a brilliant trick to save Victor.

At last, they met Robert. And it was true, strigoi could be brought back.

The plot was quite fast. A strigoi attack, Lissa and Christian captured by Dimitri, and rescue mission. Well, I had to say I was a bit disappointed here. The action was too fast that there was no tension built. I could not feel the thrill and the dangerous-you-must-be-careful feeling. Brief and simple. Suddenly, everything was done. Dimitri was dhampir again.

This book was full of politics, I think. There were a lot of discussions and meeting associated with moroi laws and decrees. They were making a new adjusment. And Rose did not like the new adjustment. She complained and even insulted Queen Tatiana in front of The Council because of the stupid adjustment.

Then, the next day Queen Tatiana was found dead in her bedroom. She was murdered. And the most possible culprit? Rose, of course. She was the one who expressed a lot of hatred to the queen the day before.

I like the story a lot. It is very complicated and deep, sometimes I think it doesn't feel like young adult novels. There are some boring parts here and there, but I still like the book very much.

However, I don't like Rose. Okay, she is bad-ass and tough. I don't like stupid and weak heroine, and Rose is far from weak. But, she is... how to say? I think she doesn't know the term "respect". She does whatever she wants the way she likes it. She loves Dimitri and yet she is blood-whoring with Adrian. She uses Adrian a lot of times, uses his money, uses his influences... Even she doesn't care that Adrian truly loves her. And the stupid thing is Adrian understands and wants to accept those. Okay, love makes people blind. But seriously? Rose should be able to restrain herself. Make decision! She has chosen Adrian and she should deal with that choice. If she still wants to pursue her love with Dimitri, at least she should break with Adrian first, not two-timing him.

The worst is Rose doesn't respect the moroi's council. Okay, she doesn't agree with their decision. But, at least don't be a crazy maniac who insults the queen in front of a lot of people. That only shows how shallow she is, cannot control the emotion at all. She just ruins her own reputation. Well, I know it's for the sake of the story. If Rose is not like that, then the story would be very flat. But, it's just a very bad example, especially comes from the main character. 

Yah... that's my opinion. I still give the book four stars for the story and all. I never lower my rating just because I don't like the characters. Bad and unlikable characters are the ones who make a story more colourful. Kind and holy characters are boring, hehehe...

Blood Promise

Title : Blood Promise (Vampire Academy #4)

Writer : Richelle Mead

Number of Page : 493

Publisher : Puffin

My rating : 4/5

I am not used to read book series continuously. I usually leave them for other books so that I won't feel bored.

But, for this I made exception. The third book of Vampire Academy gives me the best cliffhanger and I can't wait for reading the next book. 

Rose left St. Vladimir Academy. She left her best friend and dropped out from school to find Dimitri. She once promised Dimitri that if one of them became strigoi, the other had to kill because death was better than being a strigoi.

And that was Rose gonna do. She went to kill the man she loved. I know it was such a reckless and stupid act from Rose. But who could blame her? She just loved Dimitri that much.

At the end of previous book, Rose threw away her dignity and asked Adrian Ivashkov for money. Using his crush to her, she knew she was wrong doing that. But, Adrian gave the money and made Rose promise if she came back, she had to give him chance to date with her. 

I think I change my preference now. Switch to Adrian Ivashkov because he is easy-going, understanding, funny, narcisstic, and rich. Who doesn't want such a guy?

Okay, back to topic.

Rose went to Russia, funded by Adrian. She believed Dimitri was in his hometown, Baia. Her adventure was dangerous, yes. But she could protect herself better now because she could sense the presence of strigoi. She felt nauseous everytime there was strigoi nearby.

I could say that this journey of finding Dimitri was boring. Most of the time Rose was in sad and mourning condition. She met Dimitri's family, Sydney the Alchemist, other spirit user and shadow-kissed guardian, and many more. 

The plot was getting interesting when she joined the unpromised guardian (free guardian who didn't want to protect certain moroi) to Novosibirsk which was believed as the most possible place to find strigoi.

And Rose met Dimitri. 

Red eyes, pale skin, fang, and strigoi. But the resemblance with Dimitri that she had known before made Rose hesitate. She could not bring herself to kill him. Hence, he kidnapped Rose.

Being strigoi made Dimitri have a real character, not as perfect as before. He was fierce and cruel now. He wanted Rose to become strigoi too so that they could be together forever. He feeded on Rose and the effect from vampire's endorphin made Rose could not think clearly. *sigh... Dimitri, how bad you are using Rose like that. 

Poor Rose.

But, Rose was strong. She freed herself but Dimitri chased her. 

"We need to be together."

"Why?"

"Because I want you."

"Wrong answer."

Rose drived the stake to Dimitri's heart. He fell down into the river and Rose had a feeling that she didn't stake properly. Damn, I cried here. Killing the man you love? Seriously, is that a bad joke or what? Oh, Rose... why did you have to face something like that?

Continue...

The story was chaos. While Rose was hunting Dimitri, Lissa was also in problem herself. Rose visited Lissa's mind time to time and with the help of other spirit user, she saved Lissa. 

I miss you. When will you be back?

Soon.

Thank you. Thank you for being there for me. 

Always.

Ah, I am always touched with a friendship like this. Lissa and Rose, I just like the bond between them.

Hmm... actually I have a complaint. I was dissapointed that Richelle Mead destroyed my Christian. He was so bad to Lissa. I meant he as her boyfriend should know, understand. He shouldn't go away like that when Lissa was in trouble. I thought Christian was the kind of person who didn't care much about reputation. And yet he broke up with Lissa because of some of her bad actions. Actions that she did because of a compulsion.

Never mind. I love Adrian now. His character is getting more and more lovable. I always laugh whenever he says something stupid. This is Adrian's cheery voicemail : "I know how devastated you must be to miss me, but leave a message, and I'll try to ease your agony as soon as possible." Aigooo... narcisstic bastard.

Oh, yes. Rose met her father here. I think I don't mind having such a cool and powerful father like that. Hahaha... Rose called him "old man".

And the surprise is... Yeah, you will have known already anyway. Rose got a package from Russia.

...Dimitri was still alive and he was going to find Rose and kill her.

Dreamer gonna read other books now, saturated with Vampire Academy...

:)

Shadow Kiss

Title : Shadow Kiss (Vampire Academy #3)

Writer : Richelle Mead

Number of Page : 443 

Publisher : Razorbill

My rating : 5/5

Unbelievably twisted. I didn't expect this book would turn out this way. Thanks to my restraining ability not to peek into spoiler. I was really surprised and very heart broken reading this. 

The story began with the announcement of field experience exams for novice guardian. Every novices would be assigned to certain moroi and guard them. Once in awhile some adult guardians would attack them pretending like strigoi and the novices had to show the best efforts defending their moroi. This made the story interesting. I didn't feel bored since the beginning, not like the first and second book where the excitement happened too much later. 

Rose thought she would be assigned to Lissa, her moroi best friend. But instead she got Christian Ozera. She protested and was told that she had to try protecting other moroi who had no bond with her. So, she obeyed. 

At the end of second book, Rose had faced the death of her friend, Mason. She also killed two strigoi which made her famous as a good if not the best novice guardian at school.

However, she failed the first test in a bad way. Why? Because she saw Mason's ghost. She was panicked and thought that that was because of stres. But, the problem was she didn't want to tell anybody about that. She was afraid people would think she was crazy. So, she just said that she was messed up. Then, she was ordered to have counseling since everyone thought that was the effect of  having seen a friend's death.

Rose thought the ghost thing would go away. But, it didn't. She kept seeing them in random time. And still she didn't want to tell anyone. 

Later she found that it was the side effect of shadow-kissed. She was dead before and had gone to the world of death. That was why she saw ghosts. Moreover, she also caught the spirit magic effect from Lissa. She became easily angry and always in bad mood because of Lissa. 

Rose was confused and scared. She knew that the former shadow-kissed guardian in the past, Anna died because of insanity. And she didn't want that. At the end she confided to Dimitri, her instructor. He supported Rose and I could see how obvious his love to her was. I was touched because he understood Rose and always be there where she needed him.

Until there was strigoi attack. Massive strigoi attack at school. Rose was the the first one knew there would be an attack because Mason's ghost told her. Okay, I thought the fighting was interesting because Christian joined. He used his fire magic, helping Rose. The combining strength made Rose killed the most.

I just love Christian Ozera, kyaaaaa...

But, I didn't see it coming. The ending got me chilled and sad. Rose was devastated, so was I. No comment here. The best plot ever!

You will lose what you value most...

It hadn't been me that Rhonda was talking about. It hadn't even been Dimitri's life.

What you value most.

It had been his soul. 

Solid five stars, of course!

Dreamer is preparing for her 2012 resolution...

:)

Frostbite

Title : Frostbite (Vampire Academy #2)

Writer : Richelle Mead

Number of Pages : 327

Publisher : Razorbill

My rating : 4/5

I prefer the story of book one because there are more suspense, mystery, and hidden secrets. In Frostbite, the enemies were very clear, the strigoi. They planned to kill all royal moroi.

Rose changed a bit. She now considered her actions more, she was less reckless and bitchy. And that was because of Dimitri, her mentor. Maybe the Zen-life lectures of self-control from him did have effects to Rose's rebellious natures. Or maybe it was simply because Rose really loved him.

The story began...

Rose was supposed to take practical exam. The person who would gave the test was a legendary dhampir. But when she and Dimitri arrived at the place, the legendary dhampir and his royal moroi had already been dead, killed by strigoi. 

Royal moroi were getting anxious and scared. They decided to put all the students from St. Vladimir academy in ski resort exclusively for moroi. Well, I felt bored in this part. Nothing important happened here because all moroi were protected. Mostly ski resort part told about drama between Rose and her mother, Rose's new "friend" Adrian Ivashkov, and her relationship with Mason.

It started to get interesting when Mason, Mia, and Eddie ran away to Spokane, which was said as one of strigoi nest. They were foolishly believed that three untrained students could beat powerful strigoi.

Rose knew and she asked Christian Ozera, fire moroi who was Lissa's boyfriend to help her dodging the guards. But, in the end Christian also joined the forces. After that, there were more fighting and more adventures which were very good.

Christian Ozera!!!! He was that cool, damn.

Sadly, someone died here. T.T Why oh why? I like that character and in a matter of seconds he/she (no spoiler) was dead. Rose was shocked, so was I. I cried when Rose became so angry and devastated seeing the death that she took revenge in a dramatic way.

Dreamer is so agitated, wanna continue reading but final date line is close...

:)

Vampire Academy

Title : Vampire Academy (Vampire Academy #1)

Writer : Richelle Mead

Number of pages : 332

Publisher : Razorbill

My rating : 4/5

I picked this book because my friend kept telling me how good the story is. I'm curious. The first time I saw this book in the bookstore, I was not even interested. The synopsis at the back of the book is ridiculuous some more. But, still I bought it.

Once I started, I could not put it down. The story was interesting and unique. I like the concept of three creatures : Moroi, Dhampir, and Strigoi, how they are related, why the Guardian system are made, and the academy itself. Oh, wow.

Moroi : good mortal vampire, can master one of the elements (water, air, fire, earth --> legend of Ang, lol), can withstand under a little sunlight.

Dhampir : half human, half vampire, faster and stronger than Moroi, the guardian of Moroi.

Strigoi : bad immortal vampire, very strong and very fast, cannot withstand sunlight, predator instinct 

Errr, I don't like the name of Moroi. Seriously. Doesn't it sound like moron? =.=

Continue...

The story was about Rose Hathaway a dhampir who ran away from academy with her Moroi best friend, Lissa. They were caught by the academy staff after two years and brought back. I was very curious at first because I wanted to know the reasons why they had run away.

After that, mostly the book was centered around the teenage life of Rose and Lissa. School, guys, popularity, and stuff. But slowly the secrets were revealed from many flashbacks in Rose's memory.

In the beginning, I like Rose because she was tough and independent. But as the story went, I couldn't find her interesting anymore. She liked to flirt (A LOT), she was reckless and irresponsible, and her confidence with her looks was just annoying. She kept saying how sexy and pretty she was that no Moroi could even compare with her. Okay, I got it. You could not always get likable heroine, even I still read Twilight although I hate Bella. But the problem is the reason Rose falling in love with Dimitri. Rose kept saying about how god-like and handsome he was. And just that. Love based on looks. Seriously, is that supposed to be lust?

In the end, I like Lissa more than Rose. She may be weak, but she was persistent and full of compassion. There was something genuine in her that made me relieved. At least, there was likable character in this book. Furthermore, I like Christian Ozera more than Dimitri. Ozera was sardonic bad boy whereas Dimitri was very bland like Edward Cullen plus pony tail. Iuhhh... I don't like long-haired man.

Anyway, like I said the story was interesting, The suspense was good although I could guess the villain from the beginning. Sigh* I was getting good at guessing, I think. And I hate that since it ruins the surprise. But, I enjoyed the story very much. Nice read.

Dreaming was drowning in the world of skin stem cells...


:)