I was SO EXCITED to read an ARC because The Golden Lily was one of my favourite books of 2012, so naturally I couldn't wait to get my hands on TIS. It was as phenomenal as I was expecting and my expectations for the SYDRIAN stuff were very high based on Richelle and Penguin's tweets. I'm so happy to say that the book was HOTTER than I would have thought. 
 Adrian and Sydney's relationship develops a lot and Sydney finally realises her feelings for him. We get to see Sonya's wedding too, which was freakin AMAZING and it will kill you with SYDRIAN feels. *sigh* There is a lot of HOT SYDRIAN stuff to look forward to and their scenes were definitely the highlight of the book. They have the best chemistry ever and the sexual tension is killer! Any SYDRIAN fan would worship this book. 
 Adrian was a total sweetheart as always and i really liked how he handled Sydney's denial and was quite patient with her. His dialogue is brilliant as always and will make you laugh and swoon everytime. 
 His development in this series has been fantastic and I cant wait to see where his character goes. In TIS, we get to see more sides of him, especially how protective he is of Sydney and Adrian being manly. lol <3 
 Sydney changes a lot in this book, She's pretty rebellious and daring and she's definitely changed for the better. She questions the alchemists a lot and doesn't just take people's word for anything. I really like that about her and it makes her more relatable and likeable than when she blindly followed orders. Marcus and Adrian have been very good influences on her! She is also very accepting of magic - both vampire magic and her own - and uses it to kick some major ass! 
 Speaking of Marcus, he turned out to be pretty different to what I was expecting. I'm glad to say that he wasn't another love interest for Sydney and there is no sign of a future love triangle. Marcus is quite mysterious and learning about his past was fun and the information he reveals is very interesting and makes the plot very exciting. I'm not sure he'll be in the next book, but I'm pretty sure we'll see him again because his role seems pretty important for where the story seems to be heading. 
 Eddie wasn't in it that much sadly and I kinda felt bad about what happened to him in this book. I really don't like Angeline anymore and am officially Team Jill. Trey was kinda depressed and as much as I love him, some things he said in this book made me kinda wary of him. I suspect he might do some bad stuff in the future. Ian returned and he was kinda bland but it was cool to see him back. 
 The plot was really cool and other than the SYDRIAN romance (which is a VERY big part of the book) there were two main plots in the book. There was a lot going on and it kept the pace of the book pretty enjoyable. There were also some twists which were unpredictable and they were good to see because TGL's plot was a little expected. The ending isn't as painful as last time but made me very very excited for the next book. 
 [image error] 
 SYDRIAN CUTENESS = 
 MY DREAM ADRIAN: 
 Sydrian wallpaper i made :) 
 "Who knows more about male weakness: you or me? Use my knowledge, Sage." 
 "it's Kahlua, Sage. Packed with sugar and coffee flavor." 
 "Adrian's face was the picture of perfect politeness and restraint, meaning something disastrous was probably about to happen" 
 "We need to get inside. I think my hair gel's frozen."