Sarah’s Comments (group member since Nov 10, 2010)

Sarah’s comments from the Nothing But Reading Challenges group.

I am going on vacation from March 1st until March 15th. I will probably finish this before we go, because I don't want to take too many books on the plane. I wanted to let you know in case you wanted to read the last book on your own. I don't want to make you wait until I come back when it's the final book in the series.

I wanted to get a close to where you are before I commented. I am up to Chapter 8 (page 118) also.

I'm disappointed also, but I'm a little mixed about it. I feel bad for him too. I can understand how tough/challenging it must be to finally have his abilities back but it doesn't do anything. Everyone has been saying how important spirit is for the last four books and yet when he needs it most, he can't contact her. I agree about (view spoiler)[ Adrian priorities being off. He really shouldn't be out drinking at parties with Nina, and instead still trying to find Sydney. But then again, everyone is telling him to stop. Lissa is saying she can't help. Rose would if she could. His mother is telling him love isn't real. Then there's Nina who really doesn't know anything but needs a friend. Adrian thinks he can be a friend to her but I have a feeling it's only going to make things worse. (hide spoiler)]

Sydney's re-education isn't as terrible as I thought it would be, but it's all about the brainwashing right? So if it were all horrible I don't think anyone would want to become an Alchemist again. (view spoiler)[Which is probably why Emma is now trying to help Sydney, if that's really what's going on. Who knows, she could really have it in for her and wanted to catch her in the act of doing something wrong just to make herself look better. The Pavlovian experiment was terrible and gross. But it's on par with what I expect from the Alchemists. They want to punish you but only enough that you know it'll hurt, and they also want to still be able to use you in the future (hide spoiler)].

I didn't see the thread until now, and I'll be starting the book shortly :)

Elise wrote: "Yeah, that was more along the lines of my thought process as well. I thought someone from one of his classes might have found it or something.

I still think that [spoilers removed].

Yeah, Monday ..."


I didn't think about that with Sydney and Zoe. (view spoiler)[I wonder if the betrayal of being turned in and the treatment in re-education will prevent Sydney from wanting a relationship with Zoe, that could be the nail in the coffin. (hide spoiler)].

When Adrian (view spoiler)[lost his phone I thought maybe it was his friend Roxanne ... I think that's her name ... took it, I thought maybe she knew about Moroi or Alchemists and was spying on them, turns out I was wrong. Which I'm glad but I didn't want it to be Zoe. Sydney already feels like she's turning her back on everything and I feel like Zoe is the one thing she didn't want that to happen to. She knew it would mess up, possibly destroy, her relationship with her father, or at least whatever that was that passed for a relationship. (hide spoiler)]

I really hope that the next one lives up to what I'm hoping it will be.


Would Monday work? I just know I won't be able to start Sunday we are having a little family get together.

Don't worry! Take your time! I just happened to have a lot of time for reading recently.

Mrs. T and Malachi are definitely funny to think about. I love that his stories become more and more outrageous.

I finished the book a little while ago and I've been trying to figure out how to write down my thoughts.

It was quite romance heavy, and I really didn't mind so much until it felt like it was more that than progressing the story along. I'm really glad Sydney discovered how she could help other people trying to get out of the Alchemists as well as Moroi and dhampirs from becoming Strigoi.

The last 40 pages really reminded me of the intense well paced action from the Vampire Academy that I felt was missing from this series. I'm just a little disappointed that it took so long and that it was very short. The cliffhanger ending was a great way to end the book also. It makes me really excited for the next book.

I was so disappointed in Zoe, but I kind of felt like it was going to happen at any moment. (view spoiler)[Her feelings for her father and her need to impress him heavily outweighed her fealty to her sister and her mother. She can't see clearly because of her father's blind misguidance and the doctrine of the Alchemists. I wasn't that surprised that she betrayed Sydney to the Alchemists and turned her in for re-education. (hide spoiler)]

I'm up to Chapter 4 (page 50).

The alternate narrators kind of threw me off. I wasn't expecting it and I was confused when I read the first line because I didn't notice it said ADRIAN at the top. Personally, I love Adrian (I loved him in VA too) so I don't mind his perspective. I don't think Sydney will die either but what if they become shadow-kissed, perhaps Adrian saves her? I don't know. But I like getting more of Adrian's perspective and while he does talk about his love for Sydney it's not over done. I like that we get a better idea of what spirit actually does to him, and how it causes his mood swings.

So far everything seems okay for the group. Except the fact that Sydney and Adrian have to sneak around - that's going to end up being a problem or cause conflict between Adrian and Sydney. Sydney and Zoe's parents divorcing will probably end up being a huge problem. Sydney doesn't want Zoe in the Alchemist life but she can't exactly go against her father yet. Especially if her goal is to try to figure out anything shady going on with them and exposing it. This may cause her to hurry to pick a side. Is she really with the Alchemists or not? Does she really want to be with Adrian? How much is she willing to risk for him?

Excited to start this tomorrow :)

Elise wrote: "Yeah, I blazed through it too. It's just one of those books that you can't seem to put down once it gets started.

The invisibility spell just seemed a little too convenient. I'm sure she is going ..."

I agree with all the points you made about Zoe, although (view spoiler)[because she wants to please their father so much she may just follow blindly. She already feels like Sydney doesn't want her to succeed because she took her original assignment. I feel like Zoe will stand more in Sydney's way. But I do hope you're right and Sydney can "unbrainwash" her. (hide spoiler)]

Ok. So I finished the book much quicker than I thought I would. It was really easy to get through, but not in a bad way, everything just moved a long rather nicely.

Wow. Sydney is definitely way different from the beginning of the series and it's only the third book. I agree with her assessment of Marcus, he has a lot of good intentions but with all of the information he's acquired he really hasn't done much beside get Alchemist's tattoos broken.

I felt like Sydney's plan and execution of getting the video footage for Marcus was well done but a little too well done. There wasn't really any problem or consequence to her actions, which could mean that it will come up later or it's just a missed opportunity on Mead's part to create more conflict/action. But there was still a lot. I feel like Alicia is going to be a problem still later, also the Warriors and the Alchemists. Having Zoe on assignment with Sydney isn't good either.

I'm surprised that Sydney didn't have a lot of reaction to the appearance of Neil. She was just like oh yeah I mentioned I needed more help. There's got to be some other twist or something to having Zoe there. Perhaps the Alchemists know Sydney wont risk her sister and they already sense her rebellious nature.

Angeline and Trey. That was something I wasn't expecting, although I did kind of guess it from the way she was acting about her tutoring after the initial book incident and the way she was reacting to Trey.

It was probably just as good as the last one, but better in the relationship department because of the huge developments that happened between Sydney and Adrian. He's definitely swoon worthy.

So I'm up to Chapter 6 (page 91), and so far I like this one a little more than the last one. For a lot of the reviews I've read this one seems to be the favorite in the series. There's much more excitement in my opinion. Adrian wants to convince Sydney to see her own feelings for him. There's more exposure to the Alchemists and the possibility of Sydney's new beliefs being exposed. Plus Ms. Terwilliger's sister is sucking the life out of young witches to stay youthful. There's also still the mystery of Marcus Finch and the Warriors of Light. This might be the book that really separates Sydney from the other Alchemists.

Saturday will work :)

Sorry! I've been so busy in the last few days I haven't had a chance to start it yet :( I'll have it finished by Thursday though because I'm using it in a group challenge.

I hope you feel better! Don't worry about going through it!! I understand how it is, sometimes you just go through books and other times it takes a bit longer. :)

I haven't gotten to it yet either lol!

You're quick! I haven't gotten a chance to start yet but I'm hoping to get to it today.

Elise wrote: "Still not quite finished (up to Chapter 22)

So, it is just me or does it seem obvious that [spoilers removed]. I realize that Sydney is kind of oblivious when it comes to relationships, but I thou..."

I thought it was pretty obvious too!

I think Sydney talked to Stanton about it and she didn't seem to have a lot of information about the Warriors of Light. Basically that they're a group that stemmed off from the Alchemists, but it seems like the Alchemists didn't really take them seriously, or see them as a possible problem. Perhaps, the Warriors just got bigger than they ever expected.

No problem! Take your time. This Saturday sounds good :)

So I finished it about 5 minutes ago so my thoughts might not be very coherent.

Angeline is definitely different from where we last updated, but I feel like there might be more that she's hiding. I want to know more about Keepers in general so I'm hoping we might get more of that in a later novel.

Keith doesn't come up again, but I think Sydney is realizing more and more that even though Keith was a horrible person perhaps she is being put into a similar situation. She claims to still hold the Alchemist beliefs, but she's doing things that go way against them. Plus, the interesting part about Sydney is that she conspired with another vampire to have Keith's eye taken. That's a ruthlessness that is in Sydney that we haven't really seen yet. I wonder if that will become a bigger thing later.

I'm glad everything with Trey and the Warriors of Light is all out in the open. It was lurking underneath everything and it's all clear now. I know they'll probably show up again. Especially if they're only taking out Strigoi in order to eventually take out Moroi.

Adrian is so different from where he was before. He's not pining over Rose any more but I don't really know if it's better for him to be interested in Sydney. At this point their relationship would be doomed as well, because of Sydney's misguided loyalties.

While the plot did seem to start slower, I think the climax and ultimate resolution were way more interesting than the first book. I'm really excited about the next one also.