Book Review: Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead

 

Goodreads Overview:

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:

I have been a huge Adrian fan since the Vampire Academy series. How can you not love Adrian? He received the short end of the stick in the original series, so I was ecstatic to see that he had a prominent role in this series and hoped he would finally receive his happily-ever-after. While I am hopeful that will eventually be the case, he certainly had a tough time again in this installment. 

I get that the Alchemists provide a valuable service to the Moroi, but I feel like the Moroi and Dhampirs could handle things on their own and eliminate A LOT of headaches. The Alchemists are humans who try to keep the vampire world hidden from the rest of society. They have instilled beliefs in generations of members that are nothing more than a cult sort of brainwashing in my opinion. They do not want anyone making up their own minds and freedom is absolutely non-existent within their group. They seem to control all aspects of Sydney's life and punish her when her beliefs do not coincide with theirs.

For the vast majority of this book, Adrian and Sydney are separated. Adrian is spiraling out of control because he doesn't know how to find and help Sydney. You would think that his good friend, Queen Vasilisa, would be of more assistance, but the Moroi really do not want to dive into Alchemist matters unless it directly impacts them. How they discipline their members really isn't something Lissa wants to get involved in.

We get a clear picture of what goes on within one of the Alchemist rehabilitation centers throughout this book. Hopefully these facilities will not be around much longer now that someone with a backbone has first-hand knowledge to take back to others who are not part of the Alchemists. Someone needs to stand up for people like Sydney, who are trying to do their jobs to the best of their ability, but want to live their own lives and have the freedom to make their own decisions. She has not done anything wrong and shouldn't have been punished simply because her ideas of right and wrong do not match what her father and the elders believe.

The final book in this series, The Ruby Circle, is sure to be a whirlwind after everything that took place in this book. I can't wait to see how the series will conclude and can only hope that Richelle FINALLY gives Adrien his happily-ever-after.