The Ruby Circle (Bloodlines, # 6)
By: Richelle Mead
Published: February 10th 2015 by Razorbill
384 pages
Genre: Young Adult (YA), Paranormal, Vampires, Fantasy
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Goodreads description--The epic conclusion to Richelle Mead's New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series is finally here...
Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.
After their secret romance is exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series. When the life of someone they both love is put on the line, Sydney risks everything to hunt down a deadly former nemesis. Meanwhile, Adrian becomes enmeshed in a puzzle that could hold the key to a shocking secret about spirit magic, a secret that could shake the entire Moroi world.
Okay guys…so I totally cheated on this one. I had to look at the last page before I even started this book to give me an idea of whether or not my characters would have a happy ending or not. I’ve read too many recently that have left me feeling drained and wondering what the point was. I didn’t want the Bloodlines series to come to an end, but yet…I needed to know how it all wraps up at the same time. You know the battle I’m talking about?
We ended Silver Shadows with Sydney and Adrian getting married and looking to the Moroi court for sanctuary from the Alchemists. And then they find out that Jill has been kidnapped. And so most of The Ruby Circle on the hunt to find Jill. This was very reminiscent of Last Sacrifice and how the Vampire Academy series wrapped up as well. But searching for Jill is impossible while being confined to court. We do find out that human magic is involved with Jill’s kidnapper and so Sydney has to be present to be able to detect and combat the human magic whenever possible.
I had a small battle of annoyance with Adrian again in The Ruby Circle though nothing like the battle I had with him in Silver Shadows. Adrian just fights doing the things that will keep him out of trouble and keep everything happy-go-lucky. I was worried and annoyed when Nina came back on the scene, but thankfully her role isn’t anything to worry about.
As always Richelle Mead weaves all of the pieces of an elaborate puzzle together. I have only read through the Bloodlines series one time so I’m not sure how much foreshadowing I missed throughout the earlier books, but I know that she’s a master of this with the Vampire Academy series. So I do look forward to re-reading this series to see what all I missed in the moment since I didn’t have the overall storyline.
We see glimpses of all of the characters that I loved so much in Vampire Academy. Rose and Dimitri actually have a fairly large role to play in The Ruby Circle and there was one piece in particular that involved Dimitri and Adrian and an uncle that I loved. We even see Lissa, Christian (briefly), Sonya, and Mikhail. Adrian’s mom has a fairly prominent role and I loved how supportive her character has grown into being. I haven’t always liked her throughout all of the previous books, but she redeems herself, I think.
I will say that there was some conflicts that I felt like were wrapped up with very little effort—specifically Adrian’s spirit usage. And there were two moments in the book itself that I felt like were errors in general. For one, Marcus makes the comment that Sydney has more experience breaking and entering than Eddie. Okay granted he does clarify that with saying “to retrieve intel,” but are we forgetting about all of the endeavors that Rose dragged Eddie into during the Vampire Academy series? I mean he did break in and out of a prison with her for one. But then also, on page 230 there’s a flat out error made about who is holding Jill captive. I’m not trying to be snooty, but it’s the little things, right?
In the end, I was left wanting more as always, but in the good way. A new character was introduced in The Ruby Circle that Richelle Mead just HAS to elaborate upon. And thankfully she mentions in the Acknowledgements that we likely haven’t seen the last of these characters, and I think that’s got to be exactly what she has in mind! ANOTHER SPIN OFF SERIES!!!!! (I hope!) The big reveal was in typical Richelle Mead style. She didn’t quite wait until the very end for that information, but it was so big in the grand scheme of the Moroi/dhampir world that I just have to know the ramifications of this is in the future.
The Ruby Circle was pretty much everything I could have wanted from it. More of the characters I love. Twists. Plots. Surprises. Love and romance. Action. And a hint of new things waiting to be further explored. It would be an injustice to give this book less than 4 Stars, but even though I really enjoyed it and I want more, I can’t quite give it 4.5, so I’m settling with 4 Stars. Have you read The Ruby Circle? What did you think? Let me know!
