Debbie's Spurts

This reader's personal opinion, ©2016, all rights reserved, not to be quoted, clipped or used in any way by Google Play, Penumbra Publishing, amazon.com or other commercial booksellers* 

Read this back in 2015 for Bookshelf BINGO but just now copying over:  This series spins-off a character from her Vampire Academy books—Sydney who I found interesting because is

I went into series "blind" without reading reviews or synopses just because with the Vampire Academy books I got way too many spoilers just in book descriptions nevermind friend reviews and posts. (Spoiler tags in these comments are only spoilers for readers who haven't read VA books.)

That going in blind had mixed results because I would otherwise have known they were assigning Sydney as an undercover student at the high school they were hiding Jill 

who is now the target of assassins. Adrian is nearby because he

I like the writing and aspects of story and characters are interesting. So, I'll still read on in the series via library borrow, but in no hurry.

I wasn't in the mood for a high school setting. Frankly, they mellowed Sydney and Adrian way too much. Everyone seemed way younger than in VA books. The bad guys were pretty force fed to the reader to add to the "rebelling against authority" aspect of Sydney's character and made that less interesting plus adding a serial killer mystery to solve (mystery not my bag and not what I was expecting even in a small piece for this book). I was already liking her character and agreeing with her motivations -- no reason to dump her in with high school setting and glom on how wrong/bad the bad guys and others were. Stereotypical "after-school special" style bullies, sibling quarrels, crushes and mean girls ... which thankfully weren't main focus of book or I would have DNF'ed and picked another for the shelf call.

Did I mention how this series neutered  mellowed Adrian and Sydney both to potentially set up a future "forbidden" romance? I liked it well enough and still want to know what happens next with Sydney. But not if author is just eeking out a few more bucks using same formula from VA (high-school/academy setting with danger, discovering new powers, and forbidden romance between student and older man — even if that meant an awkward inconsistency of shoving an already graduated, independent character back into student role). If author veers back into the worldbuilding and Sydney discovering new magics and powers while navigating her duties and various politics, count me in. Turning Sydney into Rose and Adrian into Dimitri, count me out. I want more of that difference of Sydney's slyly getting around her authorities, learning her powers/strengths, discovering more than the world view she was raised with and getting over prejudices (and not by crushing on a member of a race she was prejudiced against) ...

*©2016. All rights reserved except permission is granted to author or publisher (except Penumbra Publishing) to reprint/quote in whole or in part. I may also have posted on booklikes, goodreads, Leafmarks, and may have cross-posted to other book sites including kobo and Barnes and Noble. Posting on any site does not grant that site permission to share with any third parties.  

Ratings scale used in absence of a booklikes suggested rating scale:

★★★★★ = All Time Favorite 
★★★★½ = Extraordinary Book. Really Loved It.
★★★★☆ = Loved It.
★★★½☆ = Really Liked.
★★★☆☆ = Liked.
★★½☆☆ = Liked parts; parts only okay. Would read more by author.
★★☆☆☆ = Average.   Okay. 
★½☆☆☆ = Disliked or meh? but kept me reading in hopes would get better.
★☆☆☆☆ = Loathed It. Possibly DNF and a torturous read.
½☆☆☆☆ = So vile was a DNF or should have been. Cannot imagine anyone liking.  (Might also be just an "uploaded" word spew or collection that should not be dignified by calling itself a "published book." If author is going batshit crazy in the blogosphere over reviews -- I now know why they are getting bad reviews.  Or maybe author should take remedial classes for language written in until basic concepts like using sentences sink in. Is author even old enough to sign a publishing contract or do they need a legal guardian to sign for them?)