Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

This is an informal buddy read of Richelle Mead's Silver Shadows, starting Monday, February 22nd. Anyone interested in joining is welcome to do so =)

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

Up to Chapter 8

I'm a bit miffed with Adrian's behavior so far. Considering how much he claims to love Sydney, and how much he's tried to change in order to be worthy of her, you would think that he would be doing any and everything possible in order to track Sydney down and save her. Instead, (view spoiler)[it seems like he is mostly reverting to his old ways of drinking and partying. When Marcus finds the list of potential cities where Sydney's re-education center might be, I thought he would jump all over it. But instead, he's finding parties in Court to go to with Nina. (hide spoiler)] Very disappointing.

Sydney's re-education has been a bit lackluster as well. Considering what the last guy went through and how he came out, I expected wayyyyyy worse. Though the scene where (view spoiler)[she has to watch the happy Moroi while being conditioned was pretty messed up (hide spoiler)].

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 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.

Up to Chapter 19

I think this installment just isn't quite my cup of tea. While Sydney goes through a portion of re-education that is along the lines of what I was expecting it to be, (view spoiler)[something that would explain why Keith was a zombie when he returned to the world (hide spoiler)], it still didn't add much to the story in my opinion. Also, with Keith, he wasn't really gone all that long. What, a few months at the absolute most? Sydney has been there just as long, and up until she triggers their attention, they really aren't doing much re-educate her at all. The whole process just seems like what the Alchemists are doing in the centers doesn't make much sense.

You've got a good point about Adrian and everyone telling him to give up. But at the same time, none of them really know what's going on with him, right (apart from Jill, because of the link). His relationship with Sydney is still very much a secret, so they just think he's worried about an acquaintance he met at the school. And that one particular scene with Nina really made me mad (I think you were right on point about his friendship with her only making it worse).

I do like (view spoiler)[how they were able to work out where the re-education center might be, based on the clues they got from Keith. I thought that was at least realistic (hide spoiler)].

From where the last chapter I read left off, it looks like some excitement is about to pick up. I hope so. Even with re-education and the (view spoiler)[rescue to get Sydney out of the re-education center (hide spoiler)], this book has been, on the vast majority, an extremely slow read for me so far. Fingers crossed!



Have fun on vacation! I am taking a trip myself March 23rd through 30th and will have minimal room in my luggage, so I will probably go ahead and read the last one in early March to make sure I finish it before I go on my trip.

So it doesn't look like I'll be able to finish Silver Shadows before I leave (at least it seems highly unlikely). I'll update when I get back.

Thank you so much for doing these buddy reads with me!! It has been a lot of fun. I'm sorry we wont be able to finish it together. Have a great trip! I'll be finishing the series when I get back.

Hope you have a fun vacation! I'm glad we were able to do five of the six together; thanks!