Review: The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead

 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.

In The Indigo Spell, Sydney was torn between the Alchemist way of life and what her heart and gut were telling her to do. And in one breathtaking moment that Richelle Mead fans will never forget, she made a decision that shocked even her. . . .

But the struggle isn't over for Sydney. As she navigates the aftermath of her life-changing decision, she still finds herself pulled in too many directions at once. Her sister Zoe has arrived, and while Sydney longs to grow closer to her, there's still so much she must keep secret. Working with Marcus has changed the way she views the Alchemists, and Sydney must tread a careful path as she harnesses her profound magical ability to undermine the way of life she was raised to defend. Consumed by passion and vengeance, Sydney struggles to keep her secret life under wraps as the threat of exposure — and re-education — looms larger than ever.

Pulses will race throughout this smoldering fourth installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series, where no secret is safe.

My Review:

This series never leaves me disappointed.  I love these characters, and I love the storyline.  Something I really loved in this book is the romance.  Also, this book has both Sydney's and Adrian's POVs.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD

The Sydney and Adrian romance in this book was absolutely perfect.  They are a couple who work so well together, even if they seem like an unlikely match at first.  They have fallen in love, and hearing them say they love each other, and getting to read their thoughts about each other is awesome.  They have such good banter between each other too.  I liked their Love Phones, and how they would secretly send each other messages on those phones.  Their relationship reaches another level physically in this book as well.  At the end of this book, things happen.  I can't say what those things are, since that would spoil the end, but I will say that these things that happen are about as bad as that time when Dimitri got turned into a Strigoi.  I'm not sure how Sydney/Adrian romance is going to go on in the next book.

There is a lot going on in this book when the characters are trying to figure things out to change the world of the Moroi forever.  Adrian does some stuff with spirit to try to see if the blood of a Strigoi who has been restored to a Moroi or a dhampir can be used in tattoos on others to prevent Strigoi from drinking their blood.  It is an interesting theory, and the tests they do to figure it out are interesting too.  They do end up figuring out a solution of how to do this.  

I liked getting to see cameos of the characters from Vampire Academy.  Both Sydney and Adrian spend some time in the Moroi palace, so there are many familiar faces there.  We get to Rose, Lissa, and Dimitri, and even Abe shows up there.  And I also love all the characters who are part of the Bloodlines series.  There is a new dhampir at the boarding school named Neil.  He is quite serious about his job, and he does something interesting near the end of the book.  There is Jill, and she has feelings for Eddie that she is trying to forget about.  Let's just say that something happens with Jill and Eddie near the end of the book, and I'm not sure what will happen next in their story.  Angeline gets into some trouble as usual, having to break into a classroom because she forgot her homework at the desk.  And she's also trying to figure out her complicated relationship with Trey.

If you like YA paranormal, read this book.

Katie