Although Bloodlines, the spin off to the Vampire Academy series, wasn’t as great as the original series of books it was still pretty fantastic. The heroine of the novels is Sydney Sage, an Alchemist whose sole task is to make sure other humans like herself never find out about the world of vampires. Of course that’s easier said than done.
At first meeting Sydney didn’t seem like an important character, much less one I could like. She first appeared in Blood Promise, the fourth book in the Vampire Academy series, and was deadly afraid of Rose Hathaway and all the other dhamphirs and vampires.
However, what was great about the Bloodlines series is we got to see a whole other side to Sydney and see her grow into a person I could actually like. It turns out Sydney is in fact a very brave person who goes above and beyond to help her older sister who was hurt by someone in the Alchemist community. Sydney’s also fiercely loyal, which is difficult because her loyalty is trapped between the Alchemists and her friends, the dhampirs and vampires she’s supposed to fear.
More than anything, though, what makes Sydney a wonderful character is her ability to empathize with other people. She doesn’t shy away when someone is going through something difficult. She forces herself to stay by their side and does everything in her power to help them even when they don’t want to help themselves. It’s this compassion that often puts her into trouble with her father, a fellow Alchemist, but it’s also what makes Sydney one of my favorite characters.
Besides all this, she’s also beautiful although she often struggles to see this herself. Always comparing herself to the vampires and dhampirs she’s often surrounded by Sydney struggles to feel her body is good enough just the way it is. Thankfully, there’s a certain vampire who’s determined to make her feel beautiful every single day.
‘[Sydney], you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth. And you don’t even know it. You have no clue how beautiful you are or how brightly you shine.’ – The Golden Lily
Zakiya N. Jamal 