There are two ways you can look at The Ruby Circle.
One:
If you love these books and you’ve been able to pause the series and go back to it without it losing its magic and really you just want more Sydney and Adrian, then congratulations! You are most likely going to enjoy this book.
It features callbacks to earlier parts of the series as well as extended cameos from certain favs from the Vampire Academy books (*cough* Rose and Dimitri *cough*) (that was probably a spoiler) (oh well) as well as assorted adventures and wacky shenanigans.
If all of these things sound right up your alley and you’re good at turning off your brain, not looking too hard at the plot and enjoying the ride, I think you’ll be greatly pleased and you can skip the rest of this review to go look at pictures of cake and unicorns and other magical, happy things.
(here’s one to get you started)
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(seriously, you may want to turn back)
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(I don’t want to ruin it for you)
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(alright, if you’re sure)
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(you were warned)
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Two:
If you’re like me and read all the Vampire Academy and previous Bloodlines books in one intense, hazy, week-long binge and the wait for The Ruby Circle has been just long enough for the magic to wear off, you may run into problems. Specifically, this book is on drugs. Like, so many drugs. More drugs than the entire attendance of Burning Man combined. I’m honestly surprised I didn’t get some kind of bizarre contact high just from holding it.
By far, the my biggest issue was the plot. Remember how The Dark Knight Rises felt kind of like Chris Nolan went into with an ‘I ONLY HAVE ONE MOVIE LEFT SO I’M GOING TO MAKE IT COUNT BY PUTTING FIVE MOVIES WORTH OF PLOT INTO IT’ kind of attitude? (No? Just me?) Well, The Ruby Circle had the same sort of feeling.
To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, in the space of two or three (short) chapters, approximately seven things happened right after another that could have been major events on their own but combined left all of them feeling half assed and kind of glossed over. [spoiler] A sort of hilarious example was this whole thing where they figured out that Adrian’s uncle was Dimitri’s dad but then it was lol, I guess we’re cousins, let’s never talk about it again (no, seriously, it’s never brought up again).[/spoiler] Before I’d even made it to the halfway point, the main plot had shifted focus twice an was gearing up to switch back to the original plot (it did and then picked up a hitchhiker along the way). There was a pointless subplot that seemed like it only existed to give Adrian something to do when he couldn’t be with Sydney for reasons that felt a lot like unnecessary dramatic tension.
Basically, too many things happened, giving me massive plot fatigue, only to pile even more stuff on top. A representative from every previous book in the series made an awkwardly-shoehorned-in come back and by the time I got to the end, it all seemed incredibly anticlimactic. Too much stuff had already gone down, nothing felt like it had any significance and I’d lost all sense of reason.
I even had problems with the ship. Don’t get me wrong, I adore Sydney and Adrian and they’ve always been incredibly cheesy but in a way that somehow worked for me. Not so much this time. I put a lot of it down to Richelle Mead’s writing style, it’s never been my favorite though I’ve always been able to get over it but this time I spent a lot of pages gritting my teeth especially pages where Sydney and Adrian got their heart-eyes on. Instead of sweeping me away with emotion, their scenes struck me as either stilted and awkward or over the top dramatic. My other problem was with how they dealt with (or more accurately, didn’t deal with) their relationship issues. They both spent a lot of time separately raising concerns about the future of their relationship and they never took the time to talk about them and work it out (to be fair, how could they with so much plot happening?) and it bugged me. Functioning relationships require open communication kids, you can’t just avoid your problems and hope they go away. Trust me, I’ve tried this.
I was also not a fan of how the book handled mental health and PTSD. I felt like they were approached with all of the care and delicacy of smashing things with a sledgehammer. The issues seemed to be picked up and dropped as the plot demanded with no weight behind them and left me with a vaguely squicky taste in my mouth.
And then there’s the end. I can’t talk about it without some incredibly spoilery ranting so DO NOT click the tag unless you want to know how the book ends. You have been warned [spoiler] Oh god, where do I even start. It turns out, the other point of Adrian’s boring-ass subplot is to set up circumstances in which he would charged with taking care of a newborn baby for awhile (cue a slow, creeping dread on my part). Sure enough, when Adrian tracks down the other viable parent, he can’t take the baby due to some incredibly shoddy reasoning and leaves the baby to Adrian and Sydney, two nineteen year olds he doesn’t know very well, (tada! my dread was justified!) and the book ends with the two of them throwing a dinner party, raising their brand new tiny human and I’m typing this sentence and still can’t quite believe that happened. Leaving aside the whole THEY ARE NINETEEN AND FOUR CHAPTERS AGO THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT THEIR LIFE TOGETHER WOULD EVEN LOOK LIKE AND NOW HELLO SUBURBIA issues I have with it all, it was possibly the most random, implausible, corny ending imaginable. I cringed so hard I think I crunched a spinal disc. It’s not so much that I had an issue with the whole young parents thing (although that storyline tends to not be my fav), it’s more that one of Sydney and Adrian’s running issues throughout the book was what was going to happen to them after they found Jill? Where were they going to live? What were they going to do? Would they live among humans or Moroi? How would their lives work at all? Then, instead of actually sitting down and talking about it like a functioning couple, the plot handed them a baby like THIS IS YOUR LIFE and they were like we surrender, the plot is our master now. Fast forward a year, here’s a sappy internal monologue about how perfect life is and aren’t babies a neat substitute for working through your issues? The end. Like I said, this book is on drugs, really wacky drugs. [/spoiler]
Tl;dr: everything falls conveniently into place (it pretty much has to, too many things happen to spend more than the bare minimum word count on each event without the book veering into George R. R. Martin length territory) and very little makes all that much sense. Don’t get me wrong, The Ruby Circle is still fun to read and the adorable details that sucked me into this ship series in the first place are still there (could’ve used more Hopper though), but if you can’t turn your brain off and relax, it’s a hot mess.
Mishma @ Chasing Faerytales
I wanted to cry while I was reading your review.
I’ve been a huge fan of this series since 2012,and Sydrian is my OTP.The first four books in this series were amazing and I was happily drowning in all the feels,but the last two books completely let me down.I didn’t even want to read Ruby Circle,because all the reviews just killed me.I was expecting so much from Richelle Mead!
I think it will be safe if I stop now or I’ll start venting and it won’t be pretty:(
I am a new follower btw.
Meg Morley
I really want to tell you that it will all be okay buuuuuuuut, as you may have picked up on, this wasn’t the case for me and I don’t want to lie to you. I’d say if the last two books didn’t work for you, this one probably won’t either because I think they made INFINITE AMOUNTS MORE SENSE.
Amanda
I will gladly take the unicorns. I do totally agree with your review Meg-the book was ridiculous, but I definitely read it with my mind off so I could love it. The whole series has been a hot mess you just had to relax to love. I can say goodbye to Sydney and Adrian with a smile on my face though. Definitely needed more Hopper-that was a bummer.
Meg Morley
YAY! Yeah, I read the whole think with this vague, nagging feeling like if I could just get back to a space of blissful non-botheredness, I would like it. Tragically, I could not. But I’m so glad you loved it!
tatum
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA that ending though. This was the most entertaining review ive read in a while
Meg Morley
It was so ridiculous Tatum, so. fucking. ridiculous.
Hannah
Gah, I loved the first three books in this series, but loathed book four for it’s utter cheesiness. I’ll probably finish books 5 and 6 sometime soon just to say I’ve completed the series, but for me it appears to have rapidly gone downhill.
Meg Morley
Eeeerm, yeah, I can’t really say it ends on a high note. If you were already cooling on the series, I am willing to bet the conclusion won’t help.
Brigid
So….I haven’t gotten this book yet. But, I completely agree about the Adrian/Sydney relationship. It just works for some reason. I’ve never really liked really emo love interests, but Adrian just made it work for me. It completely took me by surprise that I liked him.
Oh and you are NOT alone in your opinion of The Dark Knight Rises. Maybe he was drinking something weird when decided to put that much in that one film? I have no idea what was going on there.
Oh no. I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you, Meg.
Samantha
I totally agree with you Meg! As soon as I got the book in the mail and saw how skinny it was, I already felt let down. Combine that with the super fast plot and I was left completely confused and torn. On one hand, I love everything Richelle Mead writes and I thought the epilogue was cute. On the other, if I’m being honest with myself, I am totally disappointed in the book both as a novel and as a concluding installment to a 12 book adventure.
Renee Bookboyfriends
I was one of those people who had read the series book after book as they came out and fell in LOVE with Vampire Academy and Rose and Dimitri. Then when Bloodlines came out I was so excited! I loved The Golden Lily the most and I liked the idea of where the ship was going, however the last 3 books, nup, they let me down. I kind of want to re-write the last 3 myself!!! I agree about the too many things happening at once and making it feel anticlimactic. (and I DID NOT like the Declan being included in their lives.(hopefully that isn’t too spoilery in the comments)) And I WAS SO MAD THAT THEY DIDN’T INCLUDE HOPPER’S END!!!!!! SO MAD!!! HOPPER WAS MY FAVOURITE!!!! Too many people had small cameos that didn’t affect the plot much and I all in all thought it could’ve been done A LOT better. I think it’s kind of a bad ending to the series that started out so well to be honest, and I was part of option 1 and 2. I had to turn my brain off and read the fanfiction-like book and I actually didn’t like or Adrian as much in this book, which is sad because Adrian is my top book boyfriend. 🙁 In fact, I didn’t really connect or like any of the characters. Thanks for the review! Raises some good conversation and I know quite a few people have been disappointed.
Devon
I’ve been a fan of this world for a little while now, long enough to experience some anticipation leading up to The Fiery Heart, then Silver Shadows, and now The Ruby Circle. This last book ruined the whole series for me. I think I may have to stick to Mead’s Age of X or any other adult sci-fi/fantasy from now on. Those just seem so much more consistent and steady all-round. I feel really bad for everyone else anticipating this series ender, but I’m also glad I’m not the only one who feels like 2-stars for TRC!
Wendy @ Book Scents
You know what’s funny is that I read your review and agreed the whooole way and the things that bugged me that were in your spoilers that I didn’t mention in my review rankled with me more and then I lowered my rating. Haha. I really enjoyed the series but this last book really did have a lot of things that bugged me. Esp the part you mention in your spoiler about the end. Oddly enough the other people I talked to didn’t have a problem with it but it did bug me. Anywayyy all that to say, I agree! I still enjoyed the series but like this last book the least and still love VA. 🙂
Ellis
I have decided that I actually don’t care all that much about going into this series unsurprised so I read ALL THE SPOILERS, which I kind of regret at the moment because I did not need that information in my brain. Okay so, full disclosure: like a normal person, I immediately tried Bloodlines after finishing Last Sacrifice because … can’t come up with a reason but I’m sure you sort of instinctively understand this move. However, I couldn’t get into the first book because Syndey’s voice was just so different from Rose’s and I just really missed Rose. Honestly, I’m probably going to read this series because of the Rose cameos and also because I have a steadfast belief that there will be a TASHA OZERA JAILBREAK at some point.
“More drugs than the entire attendance of Burning Man combined.” –> still my favourite sentence in the history of the English language (sorry Melina) (sorry Laini) (sorry cracked out Ellis)
Ha, I remember when Mead tweeted The Ruby Circle was going to blow open the entire Vampire Academy world but seems like she just blew it up and it exploded LIKE A DRUG-FILLED PINATA. Anyway, your review amused me a lot (as they always do) but I just finished the cheesiest of books (The Fine Art of Pretending) (seriously, apparently I can only read/watch bad/awful/craugh-worthy things atm) (or maybe I just don’t care enough about them to be in a better reading/watching mood) (honestly though I continued watching New Girl and it is THE WORST. And not in a sausage way like Judith’s Froi review being THE WORST) (she wanted to remain Finnikin of the Rock Spoiler of Lumatere) (SOB WITH ME MEGARA)
BLOODWHORE TOWNS FOREVER
Ellis
*rename
and also *Sydney