4,5/5* I read the book pretty much in one go. The only break I got was when my laptop died at the airport and I had to wait a couple of hours to get home. I couldn't stop thinking about what happens next! 
 As a fan of Vampire Academy I knew which characters will be in it, and the basic premise of hiding Jill among humans, but I had no idea how that would work, it seemed a bit strange choice of characters to put together. I shouldn't have worried, Richelle Mead's writing is as always brilliant and it all starts making perfect sense one third into the book. For anyone who has read VA it's not very difficult to guess Adrian's involvement but it's also well explained for people who haven't read VA. Seeing Sydney, Jill, Eddie, Adrian and Keith (an alchemist whom Sydney hates) pose as siblings is quite hilarious. There is more than just a little potential for romances among these characters so it looks like there will be enough drama and hilarity in the latter books of the series. 
 Sydney as seen through Rose's eyes didn't look like a great choice for book narrator but she is fantastic. She is very smart and introverted with no experience in high school politics or social interactions but she holds her own very well. She is observant and insightful and doesn't make stupid decisions. Her only problem is that she sometimes unintentionally hurts people when trying to solve everybody's problems. Sydney might become one of my favourite female characters simply because I can relate to her really well, in many ways she could be my younger self. (view spoiler)[The ending when her teacher hinted at Sydney being a witch is quite intriguing. Maybe she isn't as human as she always thought she was? Are we going to get witchces in the mix? As hinted rather heavily in the last chapters the possible romantic interest for Sydney will be Adrian but right now she still feels that him being a Moroi is anathema to her human Alchemist self, but who knows? I foresee a lot of drama in the next instalments. If we're getting romance I'm hoping for well-developed one, I don't want them to be together just for the sake of being together. But there's enough evidence that Richelle Mead can drag soulmates through six books before they get togther so I'm not worried. (hide spoiler)]