This review was first posted on http://www.rubysreads.com 
 The Vampire Academy books are good, don't get me wrong, but they didn't hold my interest past the third book and even having read Bloodlines, I don't regret my decision not to finish the series. I was, however, very excited about this new, but related series because I thought that a new cast of characters would revive my interest in the world. I was, at first, intrigued by Sydney, the Alchemist forced to work with the Moroi she's been raised to despise. Sydney takes on the job so her younger sister won't have to--an oft used technique in teen fiction. 
 Still, my interest was piqued and read happily until I hit page 81 of my ARC, where I came to a screeching halt. Here's why: 
 Watching me button a white blouse, Mrs. Delaney tsked, "I think you need a size two." 
 I froze mid-button. "I wear a size zero." 
 "Oh, yes, you can fit into them, but look at the arms and the skirt length. I think you'll be more comfortable in a two. Try these." She handed over a new stack, and then laughed. "Don't look so mortified, girl! A two's nothing. You're still a twig." She patted her ample stomach. "We could fit three of you into my clothes!" 
 Despite my many protests, I was still sent away with the size-two clothing. I rode back to my dorm, dejected, and found Jill lying on her bed and reading. She sat up at my arrival. 
 "Hey, I wondered what had happened to you." 
 "Got delayed," I said with a sigh. "Are you feeling better?" 
 "Yeah. A lot." Jill watched as I put away the uniforms. "They're pretty terrible, right? We didn't have uniforms at St. Vladimir's. It's going to be so boring wearing the same thing every day." I didn't want to tell her that as an Alchemist, I might have worn an outfit like this, anyway. 
 "What size did you get?" I asked, to change the subject. I was kind of a glutton for punishment. 
 "Zero." 
 A twinge of annoyance shot through me as I hung my uniforms in the closet beside hers. I felt huge by comparison. How were all those Moroi so skinny? Genetics? Low-carb blood diet? Maybe it was just because they were all so tall. All I knew was that whenever I spent time around them, I felt frumpy and awkward and wanted to eat less. 
 This (long--sorry) passage irked me on so many levels, the primary one being a heroine who had image issues because she has to wear a size two instead of a zero. I wouldn't have a problem with this if there was the sense that this was a larger issue. If, perhaps, Sydney wasn't worried about a matter of an inch difference in the waist, bust and hips (yes, I looked it up), her attitude would have made more sense. 
 What I'm trying to say, is, if Richelle Mead is trying to make a point about the pressures that women face regarding their weight, she went the wrong way about it. Creating a main character who wishes she were a size zero instead of a size two makes me want to hurl the book against the wall. It makes me want to demand to know how a size--gasp!--four is supposed to feel. The fact that Sydney is so distressed by it that she begins dieting rang the death knell for the character. 
 My overall opinion of Sydney was colored by this facet of her personality. At least, after it was introduced (and maintained), I kept finding more and more things to irritate me about her. She hangs on to her vampire prejudices until they start to resemble bigotry, her ignorance of male/female interactions isn't "sweet" or "innocent"--it just makes her look stupid, and her long suffering, self-sacrificial air is frankly over the top. She's a character of very little empathy and I think it's too bad the books will all be told from her perspective. 
 Sydney's potential love interest is Adrian. Adrian, who had his heart broken in the first series, has been dragged to Palm Springs to help out with the Jill Dragomir watch. All he does is loaf around and indulge in self-pity. As much as I liked him in the Vampire Academy books--Bloodlines did away with all my affection. Originally, I was pleased to learn that this series would tell his story--now I'm wondering how I'm going to make it through the next book. 
 The characters that I liked best got the least screen time. I like Eddie, and I think Jill's okay, though she's awfully young still, and it shows. Irritatingly, I smell at least two love triangles in the offing, and that just feels like cheating to me. It's an easy way to throw a wrench in the romantic element and I'm tired of it. 
 All in all, I was unimpressed by Bloodlines. Which is why I put it on my Saturday Swap list, I suppose. I realized, in rereading this review, that I put in very little about the plot. I guess you could say that that's how much it affected me, though I do have to say: Sydney's decision to keep quiet about her sister's rape was, frankly, the wrong one. If she'd encouraged her sister to tell, she wouldn't have had to worry that Keith would also rape her younger sister. I also worked out the mystery fairly early on, which never bodes well for my opinion of the MC. I've no doubt that my opinion is going to be in minority regarding this book and maybe I'm wrong. So, let me just say it had flaws that I, at least, couldn't overlook.