I didn't know what to expect with this book. Even when I like a series, when it comes to the end I figure it's time to end. I know this is considered a "spinoff" series, but really it's still in the same world with many of the same characters we've already met before. Another thing that made me hesitant to even pick up and start this series was Sydney. I honestly didn't care for her too much in Vampire Academy. By the end she had grown on me a little, but I wasn't too interested in her as a narrator. 
 I have to admit that I was surprised by how much I liked the start of the new series. Things pick up about a month after the end events in Last Sacrifice. Sydney is still unsure of her future (if she has one) with the Alchemists when a new assignment comes along and can either be offered to Sydney or her younger sister Zoe. In wanting to protect her sister (who has yet to be initiated into the Alchemists), Sydney convinces everyone to let her take the assignment, and from there out story starts. 
 I really ended up liking Sydney a lot as a character. She's very intelligent and thinks things out beforehand. She uses research / science to solve "mysteries" and it's a nice change of pace from Rose always wanting to jump right into a situation. There's definite differences between Mead's two narrators which is good because one of the things I was worried about in this series was it would be a lot of the same. 
 But with that said, there were a lot of the same occurences. There's not too much "new" information Mead can give us after building up Vampire Academy. There are some things that she (and I believe this will happen more in boks to come) will expand upon. For example, there are some new ideas about Spirit that we will be learning more about in this series. She did pose some new possibilities towards the end. Something to look for in the next book. I don't want to give too much away about the story, so sorry if I'm being a little vague about it. 
 One of the main things I appreciated with this book was the "romance" or lack thereof. I mean, you can see that it's kind of on the periphery of happening, but, unlike Vampire Academy where the romance was apparent from the beginning, I like that this will take awhile to form. I also like that, while I'm sure everyone knows who the main contender for Syndey's affection will be, there are a couple possibilities. At this point I don't know where Mead will take it (although I too have my favorite). 
 Speaking of Adrian, he's still depressed about the way Rose treated him at the end of Last Sacrifice. I can appreciate, however, that he doesn't really dwell on it too much (at least from the reader's point of view, I'm sure if this book was told from Adrian's POV it would have been much more broody). Adrian is just as Adrian was in the Vampire Academy series, but towards the middle of the book he does start to make progress with bettering himself. I, like many people out there, like Adrian despite his addictions. I like even better that we can see him coming out of his stupor over the whole Rose thing. That is, until the end of the book! 
 I liked finding out what our familiar characters from Vampire Academy were up to. I am excited with the possibilities that Mead has created with this new spinoff series. It'll definitely be one to keep reading!