Review: The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines #6) by Richelle Mead



Title: The Ruby Circle

Author: Richelle Mead
My rating: ❤❤❤❤❤
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Release date: February 10th, 2015
Publisher: Razorbill
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.Their forbidden romance exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s bestselling Bloodlines series.

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.

Don't miss their unforgettable final chapter... (summary from Goodreads)

My thoughts: Too many feels! I had sky high expectations of this book, since I absolutely loved the other books in Bloodlines, and I’d waited for ages to get to read this book. I was not disappointed.

   In the end of Silver Shadows, Adrian and Sydney got married and ended up in the Moroi Court, and Jill was kidnapped. In The Ruby Circle, Adrian and Sydney are trying to learn to live in the Court with Adrian’s mother, being married, and trying to find Jill. Then Ms. Terwilliger shows up with a box for Sydney. The box contains a note about Jill’s whereabouts, and a note that says “Come play, Sydney”. So Sydney sneaks out with the help of Ms. Terwilliger and start looking for Jill. They have to be very careful, so the Alchemists don’t find her and send her back to re-education. Adrian stays behind to cover for Sydney.

   Sydney is very smart, socially awkward and logical. Logic and facts calm her down. She knows five languages, loves cars and architecture, and she’s basically good at everything, because of her father’s homeschooling. She dislikes disorder and Moroi and dhampirs she don’t know. She likes order and logic. She’s good at thinking quickly in pressured situations and coming up with solutions. She’s scared of Strigoi, the Alchemists and re-education and of Adrian going “crazy” because of Spirit.  After re-education, she’s worried and troubled.

   Her family is her father, mother, two sisters (one older and one younger) and her husband Adrian. Her family is pretty dysfunctional, her father is very judgemental and wants to put her in re-education. Sydney’s had some issues with her body, and thinks she’s fat, because of her father and because she’s around Moroi so much, who are all very thin, but Adrian helped her to get over it.

   I love Sydney. She reminds me of myself in some ways. She’s willing to risk herself to help the people she loves, and she acts rationally, always thinks everything through. She doesn’t let anyone make her decisions for her, but makes her own decisions and her own path. She’s not afraid of a fight, either with words or a physical fight. She’s not afraid of voicing her opinion. I respect her for that. It’s not always easy to do.

   Adrian is Sydney’s husband. He’s a royal Moroi and uses Spirit. Adrian is brave, selfless, open-minded, intelligent and rebellious. He helps the people he cares about when he can, often without considering the consequences for himself (for example using Spirit to help people, without considering the consequences for himself) and he feels very strongly. He has a bond with Jill because he saved her with Spirit, but in The Ruby Circle, the bond doesn’t work. Because of Spirit, he has quick mood changes, going from happy and outgoing to distant.

   His family is his father Nathan, his mother Daniella and Sydney. His father is ignoring him, because he married Sydney.

   Adrian likes helping people. He’s afraid of going “crazy” because of Spirit, although it doesn’t keep him from using it to help people.  He’s also afraid of being a failure, like everyone expects him to be. He’s good at painting.

   I like Adrian, too. Admittedly, I like most of the characters in Bloodlines (except Sydney’s family and the rest of the Alchemists. Them I hate.) I fell in love with him the moment we met him in Frostbite, and I felt like I fell in love with him a second time in The Ruby Circle. He’s one of my favorite characters in Vampire Academy and Bloodlines.

   The Ruby Circle was filled to the brim with emotions, everything from hope and happiness to grief and worry. I think this may be my favorite book in Bloodlines. It really gave me what I’d been hoping for (though I will not mention what those things were, since that is some major spoilers).

   The plot was quick and thrilling, and there were some plot twists that even I didn’t see coming, which kept it fast-paced and exciting.

   It taught me a lot of things, a lot of important things, like “Love and loyalty run deeper than blood”, which was the most important message in the book. To always have hope and to never give up on your dreams, no matter how big or how impossible they seem. That love is worth fighting for and that, if you try hard enough, it can survive through about anything.

   This book had me want to yell at the characters, I wanted to cry, laugh, swoon, and hyperventilate. I’m in love with this book.