{Dual} Book Review: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead + Frostbite News & Giveaway

Silver Shadows
Bloodlines #5
Author: Richelle Mead
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Paranormal | Vampires | Magic
Released: July 29th 2014
Review Source: Purchased

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.

AT FIRST SIGHT:
• The covers for this series don’t too much for me to be completely honest, but with that being said it looked sad. With Adrian in the backdrop kind of looking afar, it helped me realize I’ll definitely need to prepare for this one. You never know what Richelle Mead will throw at you.


STORYLINE:
• So we pick up after The Fiery Heart, Sydney was captured by the Alchemist to be sent to a re-education sent because she became too cozy with the vampires. Silver Shadows is a true test to Adrian and Sydney’s relationship, if they can withstand anything, but also a test to their strength, can they overcome the demons that are heading them straight on.

HERO/HEROINE:
• We truly have an amazing amount of heroes and heroines in this book, everyone is out there to help another, it’s truly amazing what the characters do and overcome with a little help from each other. But our main hero and heroine are Sydney and Adrian. Sydney truly tried anything and everything while in the re-education center to help everyone. Then you have Adrian who is fighting the dark side of Spirit while trying to break out Sydney and all the other Alchemists that are holed up and tortured in the re-education center.

FAVORITE SUPPORTING CHARACTER:
• For Silver Shadows I definitely loved Marcus. He was always there to help Adrian and was always getting any updates or clues as to where Sydney may be held. Sydney and Adrian would’ve been nowhere without Marcus’ involvement.

SOMETHING WE LOVED:
• Is this really a question? Uhh Adrian, I will always love Adrian. He may have been a little rocky in the beginning but he truly let his love for Sydney pull him out of his ugly storm and get to her no matter what. Sydney’s compassion to do what’s right and help whomever in need is truly extraordinary and has become so much bigger since we were first introduced to her. We really see her grow with every book.

SOMETHING WE HATED:
• I really loved this book and didn’t have much to complain about, if anything. I definitely hated seeing Adrian hurt so badly, but he quit at a point in the beginning and that truly hurt and I definitely hated it.
AN EVENT WE NEVER SAW COMING:
• The friendships and alliances that Sydney made while in re-education.

CLIFFHANGER:
• Richelle Mead always has cliffhangers, and they always kill me. Always. Of course this one did as well and I am of course, freaking out over it.

WOULD I RECOMMEND IT:
• The Vampire Academy and The Bloodlines are both series I’ll always recommend to people. It’s one of my favorites and always will be, and people definitely need to be introduced to Adrian.

FAVORITE QUOTE:
• "I know what love is, Mom. I've had love that burns in every fiber of my being, that drives me to be a better person and empowers me through each moment of the day. If you’d ever had something like that, you’d hold on to it with every bit of strength you had." - Lord Adrian Ivashkov.

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You know when you cannot stop thinking over a book because either you’re frustrated or overjoyed? Well after I was done reading Silver Shadows I was both. But most of all I was frustrated. Just the fact that I was frustrated I thought this was bad so I gave this book a four. But like I mentioned, I kept thinking about the story after, and well I come to turn that being frustrated is good. The book has served its purpose. I should know better. When it comes to Richelle, I should know she loves to mess with our heads and hearts. She can be cruel like that. Which is the main reason why I love her. She loves to throws lemons at us just to make some sweet lemonade at the end. 

While at a 30 Seconds to Mars/Linkin Park concert, when the This is War song was being performed, I pictured The Moroi fighting against The Alchemist! Seriously this book was haunting me. 

Silver Shadows picks up after The Fiery Heart, in which Sydney, a former believer of the Alchemist, but now in love with the heartthrobbing Adrian, a royal and bad boy gone good Moroi, is being captured and sent to re-education.  This is a place like rehab, only that you are being torture if you don’t agree with them. But even in the darkness, “The center will hold”. 

Part of my frustration was this book started slow. I felt like I was reading the first book of the series, Bloodlines. I had such a hard time getting through Bloodlines only because the transition between Rose and Sydney were completely different. Rose the kickass dhampir that doesn’t allow anyone to mess with her, to the very serious and loner Sydney. But yet again, Sydney has proven she is capable to kickass! This girl has completely grown to being such a freakingly amazing and power character. God, how I love her! She kicked ass plenty of time in this book that I have to say she surpassed Rose. 

And Adrian. Dear Lord Adrian. I was so mad! Pissed!!!! If you know me, I ADORE ADRIAN. But in Silver Shadows, I was pissed at him! Sydney, poor Sydney has been fighting to stay strong at this insane place… while he is parting! AH! I wanted to shake him and wanted to make him snap out of it. At the same time I understood him. This poor, brokenhearted guy, needed help and everyone turned their back on him. And this made me even more frustrated! I wanted to slap everyone in this book! GOD! I was pissed. Sydney was there for them when they most needed her and now that she needs them, no one but Adrian was willing to fight for her! 

Not to give more spoilers, which I already did, Silver Shadow turns from slow paced to fast pace to WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON PACED to OMG, ADRIAN I FREAKING LOVE YOU paced. Yeah, this book was crazy! Crazy good. 

If you haven’t read the Bloodlines series, I will go ahead and smack you in the head. LOL just kidding. This is a must read series and I highly recommend that you start soon. 

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A week ago, we learned the filmmakers behind the first film planned to start a crowd funding campaign in order to fund the sequel, ‘Frostbite.’ The potential for a sequel isn’t the only incentive to contribute to the campaign.  Contributors will get exclusive updates from the set, St. Vladimir’s apparel, walk-on roles, and much more.

If fans meet the $1.5 million goal, pre-production will begin late this year with the hopes of a late 2015 release date. The campaign launched August 6 and will close on September 05, 2014.

Please help us, the #VAFamily with this campaign. Share the news, follow their accounts, and if you can, donate. Adrian, my dear sweet loving and caring and amazing character is introduced in this book. Trust me you will fall head over heels in love with Adrian!

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