The Ruby Circle Review.

Book: The Ruby Circle.

Written By: Richelle Mead.

Pages: 348.

Synopsis: Their forbidden romance exposed, Sydney and Adrian find themselves facing the wrath of both the Alchemists and the Moroi in this electrifying conclusion to Richelle Mead’s 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, she and 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 and alter their lives forever.

My Thoughts: IT IS FINALLY OVER!!

The final installment of Bloodlines was just as disappointing as every other book in this series. There was a time, when I would have felt bad for saying that because I love VA and Richelle Mead, she is extremely brilliant and talented… This was just not her finest hour. I felt like I did not know what the hell was going on half the time and after Silver Shadows, I am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing.

Of course the final showdown meant that everyone’s biggest fear had come to life: Jill has been kidnapped… and this is where the shit show begins. When Angeline said that Jill just vanished overnight, I already knew who the culprit was and I am pretty sure that everyone else did too: Alicia. Now, at the time, I was disappointed with how fast that whole “feud,” (if you could even call it that) lasted…But now I am wishing that she has just burned down with Ms. T’s house.

This was totally pointless and just a way to make the book more complex and all it did was confuse me. Like… why was that necessary? I think she was going for the whole epic heroine/hero thing she had going on in the Last Sacrifice, but it failed miserably because it made absolutely no sense. I think we all could have done without Alicia’s whack ass. She was doing the most with that lame ass scavenger hunt and I couldn’t help but laugh the entire time. But at least we got to see the Stelle Coven at work.

Adrian is literally the worse bond mate ever. Of course they want you to think that he loves Jill oh so much, but if you really pay attention, the Dragomir Princess was always an afterthought to him. He was always thinking about Sydney (shocker) and what she was doing and what was going on with her, as if she could not take care of herself. He was literally thinking of Sydney 24/7 and then would randomly be like “Oh yeah, Jailbait!” Even before then, he knew everything that he did had an affect on Jill, yet he continued to do it anyway. The only reason he really stopped was because Sydney didn’t like it. That’s straight up booty. Luckily he wasn’t on a bender in TRC like he was during SS, but he is still an asshole.

The whole Nina/Olive/Neil/Baby storyline was so unnecessary. At first when Nina was trying to find Olive and figure out why she left, I thought it was pretty cool. But of course, that didn’t last long. I feel like Richelle figured out that there was not enough material for this book to hold a candle to Last Sacrifice so she threw this one last ridiculous curve ball at us. Really, what was the point in all of this? I really don’t see it. Like cool, Rose and Dimitri might be able to have a baby one day, but with all of this other unfinished business, why was it a good idea to add that to the table?

Speaking of unfinished business. None of the important stuff was really touched on. Like, yeah it was great to see that there were a lot of Moroi who wanted to fight and that they were even thinking about creating Strigoi killing teams, but what about the age law? I totally could have missed it with all of this nonsense going on, but did they ever fix that, or are Dhampirs still expected to graduate at 16 and get themselves killed for some lazy ass privileged Moroi? Did we ever find out of that dusty old family decorum law was overturned? I feel like it might have been hinted at, but this was a HUGE part of why everything was put into play. That law put Jill’s life at risk which is why she and her team of dhampir guardians and her alcoholic bond mate were sent off to Palm Springs in the first place. It would have been nice to have the spelled out for us.

Oh yeah, and we finally met Dimitri’s screw job of a father who was revealed to be Rand Ivashkov aka a sloppy drunk bitch aka Nathan Ivashkov older brother whom we exiled. Making Adrian and Dimitri… drum roll please: COUSINS! Okay so it was kind of cool to get this new piece of information and the best part was Rose’s reaction. I mean it didn’t add anything substantial to the story, but at least we got to see Dimitri almost whoop that ass.

I hate the Warriors of Light and I really don’t want to discuss them so I will leave you with this:

And then there is our precious little Angeline. I am so disappointed. She was an amazing asset and a total scene stealer. She had so much great potential and yet they threw it all away. It is like a running theme in this series: Who cares about your personal aspirations? If you got a man, you’re all set!

Of course, this wouldn’t be a true ending if we didn’t go back to where this all started: our friends from St. Vlad’s. I know some people were annoyed that Rose and Dimitri kept popping in and out of the series, but really, that was the only thing that kept me invested in the story. If not for that (and the fact that I purchased all of the books) I would have probably stopped reading halfway through TFH. We finally get to see more of Christian (but still not nearly enough).I was happy to see he actually did create his Moroi army with our girl Mia Rinaldi at his side. We did get to see some of our Queen Vasilisa in SS and TRC, but I would have still liked to see more.

Richelle is great at writing an amazing ass kicking heroine and I love the comparison Adrian made while watching Sydney and Rose battle to save Jill in the end. It was so true and yet I still feel kind of let down. Yes, I know that Rose and Sydney are two very different women but they’re also the same: Strong, fearless, capable and incredibly loyal and dedicated…I just feel like she let Sydney sink. Rose always had a purpose. Long before she met Dimitri, she knew that no matter what, she was a guardian and she would protect Lissa for the rest of her life. When Dimitri came along none of that changed, all they did was make each other better. They understood and trusted each other completely and learned from one another. Dimitri always knew what Rose was capable of and he allowed her to blossom and he grew right along with her. They are the epitome of true love. The best part is that when you look back, VA wasn’t even really about Rose and Dimitri. It was about Rose and Lissa, two girls who lived most of their lives with only each other fighting together and fighting for each other.

Sydney and Adrian, are a totally different story (literally lol)… whether or not she ended up with Adrian, we all know that she would not have lasted with the Alchemists. Everything that made Sydney stronger came from the love and trust of Ms. Terwilliger. Her whole life she was mentored by her father, a man who did nothing but try to crush her spirits and went out of his way to make her feel less than. Ms. T constantly encouraged Sydney and told her how powerful she was even when she didn’t want to hear it. In that confidence, she allowed herself to go against everything she was brought up to believe and fall in love with Adrian…Someone who kept her from living to her full potential. There is no doubt that Sydney made Adrian a better person, she held him accountable for his actions and showed him that he was better than the self destructive behavior he was engaging in. On the other hand, all he did was bring her down. She went from being this brilliant, independent, badass to a needy person who felt she needed Adrian to survive. Not every story has to be about falling in love with a man. I think this would have been much more powerful had Sydney just chosen herself and went to live the life she deserved and always wanted. Likewise, we all know that Adrian needed the exact same thing. He needed to love himself first and stop basing his self worth on the love of a woman or lack thereof.

Looking back at this series, I just see one big ball of disappointment. Something told me not to read these, but nostalgia from Last Sacrifice pushed me towards it. If I could go back, I would have listened to my better judgement and stayed clear of this. I just really wanted to see Adrian get his happy ending, little did I know that by the end, I wouldn’t give a shit about what happened to him. I miss the old Adrian (although his getting sober was a great idea.) This series ruined one of my favorite characters and I am not sure I will ever get over that. Ms. Mead was dropping hints all over the place that their stories, (Rose, Sydney, Dimitri, Adrian, Lissa and Christian) may not be over and I am not sure how I feel about this. Part of me would love to reunite with Rose and Lissa, but I am afraid she might butcher my girls the way she did Adrian. I beg of you, please just let them rest in peace. But…If you decide not to, I of course, will be there.

This book and the series as a whole, gets 3 Stars.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐