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blurrypetals's review
5.0
November 29, 2017
[re-read for my Greatest Hits Bookshelf Tour 2017]
This book is so fucking good. I'm running out of ways to describe just how perfect Adrian and Sydney are for each other.
One thing I have always really loved about these two is this: Sydney Sage and Adrian Fucking Ivashkov could have easily lived their whole lives without knowing one another and they could have gone on and lived sufficient enough lives separately. We've even SEEN them living those lives and, even though they still had lessons to learn about life, since they're young adults, they seemed like they would be fine.
Instead, we get to see them making each other better. They build each other up every single step of the way. They don't break up. They never give up on one another. Sure, they could have lived their lives separately, but their lives wouldn't have been nearly as full of love or as surprisingly wonderful as their lives ended up being together.
Also, this is one of the very, very few uses of the "hey now the male and female protagonists SHARE the POV even though we're more than halfway in, isn't that fun?" thing that YA seems to be occasionally conceited with that actually works in favor of the story. Usually the split POV gimmick is a sign the couple is going to be in two different places for most of the book and, while that's true of most of the next book, Silver Shadows, I'm so happy it isn't true of this book. It further enforces how close Adrian and Sydney have become, how much closer they keep getting, and it's a refreshing use of something that I usually hate. Maybe it's because it's Adrian Fucking Ivashkov's POV that's added that I can forgive it, but I don't care because, either way, I love it.
This book is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of YA romance. It's forbidden, it's got two protagonists facing down the very institutions that brought them up, it's got healthy, beautiful relationships that make you feel positively wonderful when they're going well--like peppermint cupcakes and lodges in the snow--and absolutely devastated when they aren't--like ruby cufflinks and dug-up pasts--and that's what I really love about these books and the love story they tell.
Onward.
P.S. Adrian's voice actor is American! Adrian has an American accent again! REJOICE!
July 12, 2014
LATE REVIEW
Okay shit I'm the worst. I've had a review for every Bloodlines book so far so I'll be damned if I don't have one for this book too.
I adored this book. The sense of impending doom made Adrian and Sydney's relationship that much more wonderful and precious. I loved seeing and hearing things from Adrian's side of the coin because, if you've read my other reviews for these books then you'll know, Adrian is my favorite character in any book ever.
I have always felt love for him. I have always wanted to protect him. I have always wanted to see someone love him and protect him for me. And look at what I got. Look at what he got. Sydney is his lover, his protector, his center.
And even though the center did not hold, they at least had one perfect, beautiful novel-worth of happiness.
I'm distressed for the future, but even if things don't come together, even if they suffer, we will always have the Fiery Heart to look back on as "the good ol' days".
[re-read for my Greatest Hits Bookshelf Tour 2017]
This book is so fucking good. I'm running out of ways to describe just how perfect Adrian and Sydney are for each other.
One thing I have always really loved about these two is this: Sydney Sage and Adrian Fucking Ivashkov could have easily lived their whole lives without knowing one another and they could have gone on and lived sufficient enough lives separately. We've even SEEN them living those lives and, even though they still had lessons to learn about life, since they're young adults, they seemed like they would be fine.
Instead, we get to see them making each other better. They build each other up every single step of the way. They don't break up. They never give up on one another. Sure, they could have lived their lives separately, but their lives wouldn't have been nearly as full of love or as surprisingly wonderful as their lives ended up being together.
Also, this is one of the very, very few uses of the "hey now the male and female protagonists SHARE the POV even though we're more than halfway in, isn't that fun?" thing that YA seems to be occasionally conceited with that actually works in favor of the story. Usually the split POV gimmick is a sign the couple is going to be in two different places for most of the book and, while that's true of most of the next book, Silver Shadows, I'm so happy it isn't true of this book. It further enforces how close Adrian and Sydney have become, how much closer they keep getting, and it's a refreshing use of something that I usually hate. Maybe it's because it's Adrian Fucking Ivashkov's POV that's added that I can forgive it, but I don't care because, either way, I love it.
This book is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of YA romance. It's forbidden, it's got two protagonists facing down the very institutions that brought them up, it's got healthy, beautiful relationships that make you feel positively wonderful when they're going well--like peppermint cupcakes and lodges in the snow--and absolutely devastated when they aren't--like ruby cufflinks and dug-up pasts--and that's what I really love about these books and the love story they tell.
Onward.
P.S. Adrian's voice actor is American! Adrian has an American accent again! REJOICE!
July 12, 2014
LATE REVIEW
Okay shit I'm the worst. I've had a review for every Bloodlines book so far so I'll be damned if I don't have one for this book too.
I adored this book. The sense of impending doom made Adrian and Sydney's relationship that much more wonderful and precious. I loved seeing and hearing things from Adrian's side of the coin because, if you've read my other reviews for these books then you'll know, Adrian is my favorite character in any book ever.
I have always felt love for him. I have always wanted to protect him. I have always wanted to see someone love him and protect him for me. And look at what I got. Look at what he got. Sydney is his lover, his protector, his center.
And even though the center did not hold, they at least had one perfect, beautiful novel-worth of happiness.
I'm distressed for the future, but even if things don't come together, even if they suffer, we will always have the Fiery Heart to look back on as "the good ol' days".
paigeworrall's review
5.0
Centrum permanebit..those two words shattered my heart....sometimes i read a book and wonder..why was i born with emotions?
Sydney has been one of my favorite characters since i was first introduced to her in VA. She seems cold and only able to express a love for knowledge, and seems incapable of being passionate with another person. But we all know that she has a fiery heart....(See what i did there?)
Adrian tries to hide his emotions by presenting himself as a vain, womanizing, idiot. But in reality he doesn't seems to value himself enough. The only thing he thinks he is good at is using spirit to help people. He thinks that without it, he is useless. Sydney and Adrian are two people that should not go together, but do.. the support that they give each other warms my heart.
Sydney makes Adrian think better of himself, and because of this he refuses to let the darkness that spirit brings consume him.
In this novel, both Adrian and Sydney have to face things that test their love for each other. Sydney also has to do things that risks her relationship with her sister Zoe.
I also think that Richelle Mead has a love of Pink Floyd.....just a bit....
Sydney has been one of my favorite characters since i was first introduced to her in VA. She seems cold and only able to express a love for knowledge, and seems incapable of being passionate with another person. But we all know that she has a fiery heart....(See what i did there?)
Adrian tries to hide his emotions by presenting himself as a vain, womanizing, idiot. But in reality he doesn't seems to value himself enough. The only thing he thinks he is good at is using spirit to help people. He thinks that without it, he is useless. Sydney and Adrian are two people that should not go together, but do.. the support that they give each other warms my heart.
Sydney makes Adrian think better of himself, and because of this he refuses to let the darkness that spirit brings consume him.
In this novel, both Adrian and Sydney have to face things that test their love for each other. Sydney also has to do things that risks her relationship with her sister Zoe.
I also think that Richelle Mead has a love of Pink Floyd.....just a bit....
belle2022's review
4.0
I think the ending definitely saved this book. The book felt a little too slow and happy for my tastes but I’m obviously not happy that Sydney is in re-education but this also sets up for an interesting plot.
cobycoyle's review
4.0
God damn, after every love scene between Adrian and Sydney I was on the edge of seat thinking "Zoe is going to find them. Someone will find them. They're going to get caught." And damnit at the end if I wasn't right...what a cliffhanger to leave me on.
I also think Richelle Mead does a great job at writing sex scenes, even without actual body/"gory" details, I was fanning myself.
I also love Eddie's character even more.
I just finished the book a few minutes ago so all of my thoughts are jumbled, so I'll stop writing now.
Definitely going to start reading the next book immediately.
I also think Richelle Mead does a great job at writing sex scenes, even without actual body/"gory" details, I was fanning myself.
I also love Eddie's character even more.
I just finished the book a few minutes ago so all of my thoughts are jumbled, so I'll stop writing now.
Definitely going to start reading the next book immediately.
graciejames's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
beatrizmees's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kathydavie's review
3.0
Fourth in the Bloodlines urban fantasy series for Young Adults and revolving around Sydney Sage, an Alchemist, charged with protecting Princess Jill Dragomir, the Moroi queen's only living relative who is attending boarding school at Amberwood Prep.
My Take
The Fiery Heart is using the love of a good woman trope, and even though it's a bit hackneyed, this one is my favorite of the series, and I think it's because we're finally starting to get somewhere. Lord knows we've suffered through three books of Sydney's angst. Now Sydney's becoming human and letting her hair down, although only in secret and at specified hours since her sister, Zoe, has come to "help".
Adrian is becoming real with a greater sense of hope although he's caught between a rock and a hard place with his desire to help, to overcome his useless, playboy past, and Sydney's terrified desire to keep him safe. At least we have Adrian's escape plans to laugh about. It's a desperate lightness that breaks up the darkness under which he and Sydney love.
The divorce is an interesting crisis and brings a warmth to the Sage family. Unfortunately it brings a lot of other issues to the fore as well. And just reinforces what a jerk their dad is.
There's plenty of action: the good, the bad, the juvenile, and the bitter. Tasks are getting ticked off Sydney's to-do list even as more are added on. Including that stupid decision to hunt Strigoi. What were they thinking?
It's that sort of confession of Adrian's that brings it back down to the juvenile level, fortunately, it doesn't last long. It reads like an uh-oh moment, as if Mead realized she didn't have a conflict between Sydney and Adrian. I'd've preferred it either stretched out much longer or make it much shorter.
The bitter is betrayal. A betrayal on several levels with a parting comment that will bring you to tears.
The Story
Sydney's to-do list is long and getting longer: find a way to keep Spirit from destroying Adrian, find an ink to negate the Alchemist compulsion, keep her life and love a secret from Zoe, help Adrian and the Moroi discover how to restore more Strigoi, and keep her father from learning which side she'll testify for.
It's a tangled path, and with an increasingly suspicious Zoe looking over her shoulder, it only gets worse.
The Characters
Sydney Sage, a.k.a., Sydney Melrose in her undercover student role, a.k.a., Miss Melbourne, is a young and promising Alchemist addicted to caffeine who has had the misfortune to be intelligent with a questioning mind. Zoe is her younger sister, out in the field for the first time with all Sydney's original prejudices and a yearning for some sister-time. Carly is the older sister. Her father has become a coldhearted man while their mother has remained warm and funny.
Adrian, Lord Ivashkov, is Moroi, a Spirit user who can dream walk. An incredible Gift with damaging short-term side effects of deep depression, actually, think bipolar disorder to get a better idea. Nephew to the assassinated Moroi Queen Tatiana. He's currently studying art at Carlton. Hopper is a callistana, a baby dragon from a demonic realm called into existence in Indigo Spell, 3.
Jill Dragomir is Queen Lissa's half-sister, and very important to Lissa if only to fulfill the requirement of the Moroi constitution that requires that a ruler have at least one living relative to be allowed to rule. When Adrian saved her life in Last Sacrifice, Vampire Academy 6, unfortunately forging a tight bond with her, a condition called shadow-kissed was the result. They can't stray too far from each other. Her dhampir bodyguards include Eddie, who is in denied love with Jill; Angeline Dawes, a Keeper with a tendency to go off on tangents; and, Neil Raymond, who has been christened Tall, Proper, and Boring, and has something to prove.
Ms. Jackie Terwilliger is Sydney's witchy history teacher who provides lots of excuses. The Stelle coven members include Trina, Maude, and Alison. Inez Garcia is an ancient over-rosed witch with a very particular blood type. Malachi Wolfe is a slightly crazy self-defense and gun safety instructor with a gift for the gab.
Marcus is a former Alchemist in rebellion against his old organization. Jamie and Chad are new recruits.
Rowena Clark is a fellow art student of Adrian's; Cassie is her significant other with a yen to cook. Wait'll you read about the dinner plans! Trey Juarez had been a member of the Warriors of Light, an anti-Strigoi organization that has as little love for dhampirs and Moroi as the Alchemists (The Golden Lily, 2). He's in love with Angeline and a fellow student.
Clarence Donohue is an elderly Moroi who lives in Palm Springs and allows them to feed from his housekeeper, Dorothy. Keith is an Alchemist and a rapist who has been reconditioned. Scary.
Dimitri Belikov and his wife, Rose, (the Vampire Academy series) are trying to help; Abe Mazur is Rose's mafioso father. Horace is the tattooist. Nina Sinclair is a full-blooded Moroi with a Gift for Spirit, trying to help her dhampir sister, Olive, whom she restored. Olive will join with Dimitri and Sonya Karp as restored Strigoi; Mikhail Tanner is Sonya's husband. Christian Ozera is still Lissa's boyfriend. Wesley Drozdov, Lars Zeklos, and Brent Badica are Adrian's former drinking buddies with some awful secrets to spill.
Moroi are undead vampires who sip their meals and can tolerate sunlight. Strigoi are undead vampires who kill for their blood and can be killed themselves by sunlight. Dhampirs are a race born of vampires and humans, stronger and faster than Moroi and ideal warriors and bodyguards. Alchemists are humans who believe they must protect humans from the supernatural. That humans can't handle the idea of vampires and such. We lowly humans certainly can't, not if the Alchemists' reactions and prejudices are anything to go by! Keepers keep to the old ways, accepting of dhampirs, humans, and Moroi living together.
The Cover
The cover is...curious. A fiery orange background helps the very blonde Sydney stand out along with Adrian, and I can't get excited about the stubbled model they chose to represent him. The bottom of the cover is a gradated band of rust fading up into orange fading up into nothing with the title and the series against a representation of Sydney's lily tattoo.
I'm guessing that the title is for Sydney, reflecting the change in her attitudes and beliefs, her love for Adrian with The Fiery Heart.
My Take
The Fiery Heart is using the love of a good woman trope, and even though it's a bit hackneyed, this one is my favorite of the series, and I think it's because we're finally starting to get somewhere. Lord knows we've suffered through three books of Sydney's angst. Now Sydney's becoming human and letting her hair down, although only in secret and at specified hours since her sister, Zoe, has come to "help".
Adrian is becoming real with a greater sense of hope although he's caught between a rock and a hard place with his desire to help, to overcome his useless, playboy past, and Sydney's terrified desire to keep him safe. At least we have Adrian's escape plans to laugh about. It's a desperate lightness that breaks up the darkness under which he and Sydney love.
The divorce is an interesting crisis and brings a warmth to the Sage family. Unfortunately it brings a lot of other issues to the fore as well. And just reinforces what a jerk their dad is.
There's plenty of action: the good, the bad, the juvenile, and the bitter. Tasks are getting ticked off Sydney's to-do list even as more are added on. Including that stupid decision to hunt Strigoi. What were they thinking?
It's that sort of confession of Adrian's that brings it back down to the juvenile level, fortunately, it doesn't last long. It reads like an uh-oh moment, as if Mead realized she didn't have a conflict between Sydney and Adrian. I'd've preferred it either stretched out much longer or make it much shorter.
The bitter is betrayal. A betrayal on several levels with a parting comment that will bring you to tears.
The Story
Sydney's to-do list is long and getting longer: find a way to keep Spirit from destroying Adrian, find an ink to negate the Alchemist compulsion, keep her life and love a secret from Zoe, help Adrian and the Moroi discover how to restore more Strigoi, and keep her father from learning which side she'll testify for.
It's a tangled path, and with an increasingly suspicious Zoe looking over her shoulder, it only gets worse.
The Characters
Sydney Sage, a.k.a., Sydney Melrose in her undercover student role, a.k.a., Miss Melbourne, is a young and promising Alchemist addicted to caffeine who has had the misfortune to be intelligent with a questioning mind. Zoe is her younger sister, out in the field for the first time with all Sydney's original prejudices and a yearning for some sister-time. Carly is the older sister. Her father has become a coldhearted man while their mother has remained warm and funny.
Adrian, Lord Ivashkov, is Moroi, a Spirit user who can dream walk. An incredible Gift with damaging short-term side effects of deep depression, actually, think bipolar disorder to get a better idea. Nephew to the assassinated Moroi Queen Tatiana. He's currently studying art at Carlton. Hopper is a callistana, a baby dragon from a demonic realm called into existence in Indigo Spell, 3.
Jill Dragomir is Queen Lissa's half-sister, and very important to Lissa if only to fulfill the requirement of the Moroi constitution that requires that a ruler have at least one living relative to be allowed to rule. When Adrian saved her life in Last Sacrifice, Vampire Academy 6, unfortunately forging a tight bond with her, a condition called shadow-kissed was the result. They can't stray too far from each other. Her dhampir bodyguards include Eddie, who is in denied love with Jill; Angeline Dawes, a Keeper with a tendency to go off on tangents; and, Neil Raymond, who has been christened Tall, Proper, and Boring, and has something to prove.
Ms. Jackie Terwilliger is Sydney's witchy history teacher who provides lots of excuses. The Stelle coven members include Trina, Maude, and Alison. Inez Garcia is an ancient over-rosed witch with a very particular blood type. Malachi Wolfe is a slightly crazy self-defense and gun safety instructor with a gift for the gab.
Marcus is a former Alchemist in rebellion against his old organization. Jamie and Chad are new recruits.
Rowena Clark is a fellow art student of Adrian's; Cassie is her significant other with a yen to cook. Wait'll you read about the dinner plans! Trey Juarez had been a member of the Warriors of Light, an anti-Strigoi organization that has as little love for dhampirs and Moroi as the Alchemists (The Golden Lily, 2). He's in love with Angeline and a fellow student.
Clarence Donohue is an elderly Moroi who lives in Palm Springs and allows them to feed from his housekeeper, Dorothy. Keith is an Alchemist and a rapist who has been reconditioned. Scary.
Dimitri Belikov and his wife, Rose, (the Vampire Academy series) are trying to help; Abe Mazur is Rose's mafioso father. Horace is the tattooist. Nina Sinclair is a full-blooded Moroi with a Gift for Spirit, trying to help her dhampir sister, Olive, whom she restored. Olive will join with Dimitri and Sonya Karp as restored Strigoi; Mikhail Tanner is Sonya's husband. Christian Ozera is still Lissa's boyfriend. Wesley Drozdov, Lars Zeklos, and Brent Badica are Adrian's former drinking buddies with some awful secrets to spill.
Moroi are undead vampires who sip their meals and can tolerate sunlight. Strigoi are undead vampires who kill for their blood and can be killed themselves by sunlight. Dhampirs are a race born of vampires and humans, stronger and faster than Moroi and ideal warriors and bodyguards. Alchemists are humans who believe they must protect humans from the supernatural. That humans can't handle the idea of vampires and such. We lowly humans certainly can't, not if the Alchemists' reactions and prejudices are anything to go by! Keepers keep to the old ways, accepting of dhampirs, humans, and Moroi living together.
The Cover
The cover is...curious. A fiery orange background helps the very blonde Sydney stand out along with Adrian, and I can't get excited about the stubbled model they chose to represent him. The bottom of the cover is a gradated band of rust fading up into orange fading up into nothing with the title and the series against a representation of Sydney's lily tattoo.
I'm guessing that the title is for Sydney, reflecting the change in her attitudes and beliefs, her love for Adrian with The Fiery Heart.
ingo_lembcke's review against another edition
5.0
Started January 09th, 2014.
As expected I could not stay away from this.
The pause in waiting for the next book, which is to be published in July 2014, will make me suffer withdrawal (which i might fill with other books by [a:Richelle Mead|137902|Richelle Mead|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1270374609p2/137902.jpg] ).
In this book, pov alternates between Sydney and Adrian, with long chapters each.
Makes for an interesting read.
Most of the book is in high spirits about their romance leading to, guess what.
No explicit scenes, though. And also some surprising action scenes.
It ends with a cliffhanger, while I expected something bad coming, I suggest to wait until the next book is available to read them back-to-back, for continuation.
Highly recommended.
As expected I could not stay away from this.
The pause in waiting for the next book, which is to be published in July 2014, will make me suffer withdrawal (which i might fill with other books by [a:Richelle Mead|137902|Richelle Mead|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1270374609p2/137902.jpg] ).
In this book, pov alternates between Sydney and Adrian, with long chapters each.
Makes for an interesting read.
Most of the book is in high spirits about their romance leading to, guess what.
No explicit scenes, though. And also some surprising action scenes.
It ends with a cliffhanger, while I expected something bad coming, I suggest to wait until the next book is available to read them back-to-back, for continuation.
Highly recommended.