Wow... Just wow! I wasn't expecting much from this book but... wow! 
 A continuation of the popular Vampire Academy series, this book follows Sydney, a young alchemist who helped Rose Hathaway and Dimitri Belikov from the previous novels. The alchemists are a group of people intrusted in keeping humanity safe from the benign Moroi and evil Strigoi. Sydney is entrusted with caring for Jill Dragomir, princess of the house of Dragomir and Vasilisa's (the Queen) little sister. After an attack at the Moroi Court, Jill flees with her guardian Eddie Castile to Palm Springs, California. Sydney and crew join forces with the Moroi to keep Jill safe. 
 I was so glad that right off the bat, we saw Rose and Dimitri! I absolutely fell in love with the couple and was so sad to see the series end. Since Vasilisa is now Queen and Rose and Dimitri are guardians, I guess it made sense that they would be a part of it. I didn't really think they would be so I'm very happy they are! This book doesn't go much into Sydney's past like I thought it would and picks up just a few months after Last Sacrifice. 
 All in all, it wasn't as good as the Vampire Academy series, but I liked it for what it was. I didn't feel like Rose and Dimitri's story was over but at least you get a glimpse of them in this series. Being the first book in the new series, I do look forward to reading the next one to see where Richelle takes the story.