Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

Title: Silver Shadows (Bloodlines #5)

Author: Richelle Mead

Publisher: Razorbill

Release Date: July 29, 2014

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository / Indigo

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 an the memories of those she loves. Meanwhile, Adrian clings to phone in the face of those who tell him Sydney is a lost cause, but the battle process 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. 

If you’ve been following this blog since the beginning then you know that I’m a HUGE Richelle Mead fangirl, and an EVEN BIGGER Bloodlines series fangirl. I had been waiting what felt like FOREVER for Silver Shadows. Once I got my hands on my copy of the book, I absolutely devoured it.

Sydney has always been told to follow the rules. And for an Alchemist, following the rules means no fraternizing with vampires. But now, she has risked everything to do what she thinks is right, even if it meant alienating herself from the people who have always taken care of her. Now stuck and surrounded by Alchemists who are determined to change her, Sydney does everything she can in order to hold on to who she is and the people she loves. If she keeps holding on, Sydney knows that Adrian will find a way to get to her. He has to. If he doesn’t Sydney may not be able to come back from it all.

HOLY CRAP this book guys. When I got home to find that my pre-ordered copy had arrived, the only thing I considered doing what drop everything and start reading. And that’s what I did. How could I not? After everything that happened in The Fiery Heart, it felt like I had been waiting forever for Silver Shadows. But knowing what was going to be happening in this book, I was also afraid of what it would do to my emotions. And I definitely felt a lot of emotions while reading. This book brought on ALL THE FEELS, in the way that very few books can. There were parts of this book that were downright difficult to read. What the Alchemists put Sydney through is beyond awful. And seeing everyone else torture themselves over what had happened to Sydney was just as painful. But as weird as it might be to say, that pain was worth it for what came in the last third or so of the book. If I thought the first two thirds of the book had given me a lot of feelings, it was NOTHING compared to ALL THE FEELS I got in that last part. It’s hard for me to say much of anything about that part of the book though, without ruining it for everyone who hasn’t read it. So just go read it, and then come talk to me about it. If you’re anything like me, you will NEED to get your feelings out. 

Silver Shadows is the fifth book in the Bloodlines series, and at this point I feel like I keep saying the same thing about Sydney, Adrian and their friends in each of these reviews. So I apologize in advance if I’m starting to sound like a broken record where these characters are concerned. It’s no secret that I love Sydney and Adrian, and I love that with every book you get to see a different side of them. In Silver Shadows, I got to see Sydney’s strength. Before this book, I knew she was strong, but didn’t know the extent of that strength. With Adrian, I hated seeing him fall back in his old ways, but at the same time I loved his determination when he got his act together. I’ve said it before, but there’s so much more to him than people give him credit for, and the lengths he will go to for the people he cares about, it just warms my heart. And just because it needs mentioning for the billionth time, Adrian and Sydney belong together, no matter what people think. I would be happy reading books about those two until the end of times. And that’s only a SLIGHT exaggeration. 

If you think that I ADORED Silver Shadows, then you absolutely guessed right. At this point, Richelle Mead can write anything, and I mean ANYTHING, that features Sydney and Adrian together and I would read it. It goes without saying that I’m now DYING to read The Ruby Circle. And if you haven’t already read Richelle Mead’s books, you are missing out in a big way.