REVIEW: The Fiery Heart (Bloodlines #4) by Richelle Mead

Title/Series: The Fiery Heart | Bloodlines #4
Author: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Published: November 19th 2013
Format: Paperback | Pages: 420
Genres: YA, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Romance
Source: Amazon
★★★★★ (5/5) Stars!!!

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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.

The Fiery Heart was both my favorite book in the series thus far and the hardest to read. When I opened the book and saw the first chapter was in Adrian's POV I had an initial burst of excitement and then my stomach dropped because if you're at all familiar with this series and Adrian Ivashkov than you're familiar with his bouts of depression and the vices he uses for coping mechanisms. It's one thing to witness his self-destruction secondhand as you're reading either from Rose or Sydney's POV as we've done up to this point. And it is an entirely new experience to be inside his head when he hits those really low spots and watch his mind spin out of control when in the grips and aftermath of spirit. I was brought to tears and it really hit home just how fragile his mind is.

"I'm not your concierge. Neither is Sydney. I don't know why she always takes care of that stuff for you. She should be dealing with things that are essential for your survival. Ordering pizza isn't one of them."

I knew there was going to be a lot of frustration while reading this book, due to the arrival of a certain character at the end of Indigo Spell. The level of that frustration, though, really took me by surprise. The temptation to throw my book across the room hit me hard on more than one occasion. I knew before I even started reading exactly where things would eventually lead just from seeing her name appear on the page. Yet even that predictability and frustration didn't take anything away from how insanely good this book was.

"And don't think for an instant that I wouldn't do terrible, unspeakable things if it could save someone I love."

The more I get into this series the deeper my feelings go for these characters. Whether it's ones I never thought I'd feel anything for really like Ms. T, Wolfe, Angeline and Trey, who I now find myself excited to get to the next scene they'll appear in. Or characters that I've loved since I first met them like Adrian, Sydney, Jill and Eddy. I can't get enough. They've all made changes since the start of the series. Some in very small ways and others so drastically that if you went back and started at the beginning again you'd hardly recognize them.

Whereas Angeline's antics made me want to pull out my hair sometimes, he found them endearing.

I swear sometimes Angeline didn't even have to be in a scene for you to be laughing at her antics. One character would relate to another what zany thing she'd recently done and I would burst with laughter. Because it was all just so sweet and endearing and they're things that are basically common knowledge to you and me but she comes from a different world and doesn't know any better, like when she went on about how the meerkat wasn't really a cat...I went from being so leery of having her added to the storyline to wondering, like Adrian had at one point, what their lives would have been like without her. She was definitely a bright spot of comic relief to lighten up things when they were either frustrating or sad. Just about everyone had their moments of humor but I adored Angeline's the most.

Everyone said I concealed my feelings, but he always seemed to know how I felt.

Oh my word and things have really heated up between Adrian and Sydney. If this were any other series and any other set of characters I probably would blame my love for all things Sydrian on the fact that we're dealing with a forbidden romance because, let's face it, I'm all about the taboo when it comes to reading romance. While I do love that extra little something it adds to the story, I really do just love both of these characters so much. Just a discreet shared look across a room full of people is enough to set me into a swoon frenzy when it comes to these two. I'm not sure I've ever shipped anything so hard before.

"Things have fallen apart," I said, finally taking the dragon. "The center didn't hold."

There's only two books left for me at this point. I'm feeling a mixture of excitement, nerves and sadness. I'm so excited to see what will come of these characters, all of them, and this world that they live in. I'm nervous for many reasons. One of them of course being that crazy cliffhanger, once again something to reinforce how glad I am I waited until all the books where out before I started! Another just the worry of seeing everything come together and the, hopefully, closure of everything going on with all these people from both Vampire Academy and Bloodlines both since the storyline affects everyone. Plus my track record with being happy with series endings is a bit shaky. And I'm sad because that's just it, it's going to be an ending. But until then I just need to make it through Silver Shadows...