Bloodlines discussion

So my question is, do I have to read the "Vampire Academy" series before reading "Bloodlines"? I want to read "Bloodlines" I've been looking for a Vampire book series. And don't say to read "Vampire Academy" because I read the first book and hated it, I also forgot almost everything in it.

So, do I have to read VA to understand Bloodlines?

You don't have to read Vampire Academy, but there's a lot of mentions to the previous series and characters from VA show up frequently, plus several of the later books get tied in more with what happened in the VA series.

That being said, if you didn't like VA, there's a chance you won't like Bloodlines since it's written by the same author and is in the same universe as VA. (Or maybe you will, lots of people prefer BL over VA and vice versa.)

Max wrote: "So my question is, do I have to read the "Vampire Academy" series before reading "Bloodlines"? I want to read "Bloodlines" I've been looking for a Vampire book series. And don't say to read "Vampir..."

Like Taryn said... you don't have to read VA, but I would recommend it. I also agree that if you didn't like VA, you probably won't like Bloodlines. I actually found the first book for Bloodlines to be kind of blah compared to the rest of the series and the entire VA series. You'll want to know who all the VA characters are because a lot of them show up in Bloodlines. Also you get the back story about Sydney and Adrian in VA. It's entirely up to you obviously. But just realize that you may be a little lost if you don't read VA first.

I read Bloodlines first, and it kinda of spoiled Vampire Academy.

But honestly I liked Bloodlines so much better. I did not like Vampire Academy, but I'm going to try to read the second book.

Personally I think you could read any first, I HATED VA. (Not hate, just my opinion) But LOVED Bloodlines.

So if you hated it then read Bloodlines, because they also explain everything that happened in VA.

Kiran wrote: "I read Bloodlines first, and it kinda of spoiled Vampire Academy.

But honestly I liked Bloodlines so much better. I did not like Vampire Academy, but I'm going to try to read the second book.

Pe..." I agree with Kiran. Bloodlines is sooo uch better than VA, so I would say if you're planning on reading VA read it first just because there's a lot of reference to it that might come in handy. If you don't really plan to than just read Bloodlines. It is AMAZING!!!

I think you should read Vampire Academy first. A lot of people hated book one and than said it got better. I loved the entire series, but you will be highly confused if you don't read them. And if you really hated Vampire Academy, you won't like this.

I'll tell you what Bloodlines actually does a very good job of explaining the world of Vampire Academy for people who haven't read VA. That said VA and BL are very similar books. They appeal to the same audience. If you're interested in Bloodlines you would get more benefit out of reading VA first. There are of course minor spoilers in BL for VA questions. Romances, permaDeaths, temporary deaths etc. Big things in VA but because it's completely unreleated they just get briefly mentioned in BL.

I've been looking for a Vampire book series

Honestly if you didn't like VA I'm not sure why Bloodlines would appeal to you. The only thing I could see is if you didn't want vampires but you liked YA Teen Girl books. Because Vampires while present don't play the major role in BL that they did in VA. However if you ARE looking for Vampires I'm not sure Bloodlines will really give you what you want. I think Once Bitten, Twice Shy has a hefty amount of vampires in it.. hard to remember it's been a while.

But then again if you're really into Bloodlines for whatever reason (I'm only interested as a VA fan myself) and you never want to read Vampire Academy then Bloodlines should be perfectly readable.

Wolfkin wrote: "I'll tell you what Bloodlines actually does a very good job of explaining the world of Vampire Academy for people who haven't read VA. That said VA and BL are very si..."

"Honestly if you didn't like VA I'm not sure why Bloodlines would appeal to you." See, I actually feel differently about this. Yes, VA gets better around book three, but my main issue with that series is that I didn't like the characters very much at all. I liked the world and the premise, esp. as someone with a background in Russia & E. Europe, but I really can't stand Lissa, Rose irritates me 85% of the time, and Dimitri is sooo dull and flat, I really didn't even care about what happened to him once ~big things~ started happening to him, which was awkward. Adrian I liked fine, because he has a lot of funny lines and often gives voice to the things I personally don't like about Dimitri and Rose in particular, but even Adrian I was largely indifferent towards.

So I really didn't expect to like Bloodlines that much, but I heard from multiple people how much better it was so I kept reading, aaaaaaaaaaand.......I got totally, impossibly addicted. Sydney is 5000000000000000x a better protagonist than Rose is (imo, anyway). I enjoyed her narrative and perspective infinitely more. Adrian's quips are even funnier and RM does a really good job of developing him, fleshing out his complexities that I could finally see why people love him so much. Jill and Eddie are also great, but for me, some of the new side characters like Clarence, Wolfe, Ms. T really make it. Hilarious.

I seriously loved these books something fierce, whereas my overall sentiments towards VA were "meh". I probably would've stopped reading after the first book too if I didn't seriously trust the taste of the person who recommended I read these and promised the spin-off was better. So it's definitely possible to love BL and be iffy on VA, another of my friends feels the same exact a way. As for whether you can skip VA altogether, it's hard to say since I did read them sequentially. Possibly? RM does repeat world-building info a lot, which can be kind of annoying, but possibly useful for these purposes. My advice would be to try to make it through book 3 of VA, see if you like it better. While the characters still annoyed and/or bored the shit out of me most the time, the PLOT did certainly pick up, the world itself grows, etc. and I will admit that I liked that about the later VA books.

Emily wrote: "Wolfkin wrote: "I'll tell you what Bloodlines actually does a very good job of explaining the world of Vampire Academy for people who haven't read VA. That said VA an..."

I totally agree with you Emily ;)

well it's interesting to hear your perspective spelled out. Personally I liked Rose as a protag. I think the whole blood-whore thing was utterly brilliant it was in my eyes a great allegory for something I've only seen tackled appropriately maybe one other time on a TV show. How important reputation is to girls and how damaging it can be to get the wrong one. Bloodlines didn't have that draw.

As much as I like Sydney and Richelle Mead did a pretty good job of making her different from Rose as a whole the series just feels like more of the same. (Which isn't a problem per se. I happen to enjoy MOTS) Sydney isn't *that* different from Rose. Similar is you is or is you ain't romance with Adrian and a few other adoring males that won't make it all the way with her. Similar "wait, I'm not really that beautiful" coyness and similar "I am woman hear me roar" stubbornness.

Sydney in VA was a minor character but as she's become her own main character she's become not that different from Rose. Dimitri vs Adrian isn't ... ehh I guess I just don't really care that much about either of them. They don't make or break the book for me the way Rose and Sydney do. I'll agree that Adrian kinda feels more fleshed out than stand-offish Dimitri. Jill and Eddie are great but I also thought the same of Lissa and Christian.

Wolfkin wrote: "well it's interesting to hear your perspective spelled out. Personally I liked Rose as a protag. I think the whole blood-whore thing was utterly brilliant it was in my eyes a great allegory for som..."

Sure, I thought that was interesting too, but I don't think RM dropped that plot line in BL. It struck me quite a lot how Alchemist men had raped Moroi women and even human women (Keith) and were let off for this with a slap on the wrist, but Sydney's tortured for her consensual relationship with a Moroi man. I think that definitely hearkens back to real life issues on women and sexuality and double standards, in that women are expected to be "pure", so when they act in a sexually atypical way as Sydney does (or even act sexually, period) it's met with a great deal more condemnation.

As for similarities with Rose, I suppose that's a matter of personal opinion. I find Sydney's voice, attitude, and perspective to be very distinct and different from Rose. I think there's a typo in there, so I'm not really sure what you're trying to say about Adrian, but Sydney's distinctiveness really has nothing to do with him, for me. Rose just comes off as really immature, inconsiderate, and judgmental, imo. I think to an extent, she's meant to be this way, so RM wrote her well, but I just personally don't like her, and, of course, whether or not you like a protagonist has a huge impact on how you enjoy a series--particularly one written in first person. If Rose and Sydney were unarguably and objectively the same, then I don't see why I'd like BL so much infinitely more than I did VA. So, yeah, Rose vs. Sydney is definitely a matter of personal opinion, and plenty like them BOTH, but I've found for those who like one and not the other, this often shapes their opinion of the series overall, which makes sense.

I'm definitely not trying to say that I'M right about any of these characters, but I think a lot of people who dislike VA dislike it more because of the characters than the plot, so it does stand to reason that someone may like BL without liking VA, since it's a new cast, for the most part, between actual new characters and other VA characters having more prominent roles. Again, this was certainly how I felt, so I think BL is still worth a try if you didn't like VA, like the person who started this thread.

Agreed, I just didn't like Rose, I liked Sydney better, to me she was just more relatable