THE GOLDEN LILY by Richelle Mead

The Golden Lily
Richelle Mead

Rating: A+
Synopsis from goodreads.com:

The second thrilling installment in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy spinoff series

Tough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doe-eyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hiding at a human boarding school in the sunny, glamorous world of Palm Springs, California. The students--children of the wealthy and powerful--carry on with their lives in blissful ignorance, while Sydney, Jill, Eddie, and Adrian must do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer, hiding the truth is harder than anyone thought.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Richelle Mead's breathtaking Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive. In this second book, the drama is hotter, the romances are steamier, and the stakes are even higher.

My thoughts on the book:

Wow! Richelle Mead does not disappoint with the second installment of the Bloodlines series. The Golden Lily is amazing! It took me four days to finish this book because I have so much going on right now, but every time I'd pick the book up again, I'd get sucked into Mead's world. The pacing for everything is perfect. There is plenty of character-growth, action, and romance in this novel. The Golden Lily cannot be missed. 


Sydney grows a lot in this novel, but she doesn't change so quickly that it seems unrealistic. Her progress is very natural and believable. She's starting to question the Alchemists (thankfully), but she hasn't completely grasped that they're not the best people ever. But Sydney's not the best judge of character, so it will take her awhile to figure it out. As she's stated, she works with facts and data. Social interactions are beyond her comprehension, so it takes her longer to figure out her feelings and people's true motives than it would a "normal" person. However, she is improving, and I'm confident that she'll end up making the right choices in the end. I really enjoyed watching her grow, and her awkwardness is endearing to me. She makes me laugh, a lot. Almost as much as Adrian. 


Speaking of my fictional future husband, he is spectacular as always in this novel. He is snarky and sarcastic and wonderful. He also grows quite a bit, and some of his changes are shocking. He is becoming a braver and more responsible Moroi. Also, we get to see A LOT of Adrian because he is involved in every aspect of the plot. I think the overabundance of Adrian is my favorite part of this book, and I can only hope that Mead  shows as much of Adrian in future books as well. I feel like I got to know him and Sydney both a lot better in this novel. 


The action is pretty much nonstop, though when I say action, I don't necessarily mean fight scenes. I mean intense moments, mysterious occurrences, people going missing, romantic tension, things falling apart, etc. There are a few fight scenes, but most of the suspense is because of other, less violent, events. There is one big surprise that I saw coming, but even that had a few twists that I wasn't expecting. Some of the things seemed odd when they were happening, then after everything fell in place, I got all excited like, "oh, NOW it makes sense!" 

There is plenty of romance in this novel, too. People get together, break up, drift apart, drift together, go against what they thought they wanted, and so on. I like where things are heading, but this book ended with a lot of characters sad, and not just Sydney and Adrian. I think things will work out for each character in the end, and I think that the fans will be really happy with what happens as the series progresses, but the ending kind of ripped my heart out a little. I have faith in Mead, though, and I know she won't lead us astray. Also, I agree with how this book ended, even though it wasn't what I wanted to happen. If things had happened the way I wanted them to happen, then it would not have been believable, and I would not have liked it. As it stands, I can't wait to see how this plays out and what happens in the third installment. 

The Golden Lily is just an exciting read from cover to cover. I was not bored for a single second while reading it. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster at times, and I was kept on the edge of my seat throughout most of the novel. I laughed a lot because of Sydney's awkwardness, a certain weirdness that has to do with Jill, and Adrian's sarcasm. Even though the ending was a bit sad, I still finished this book with a happy sigh. I can't wait until February! You did an amazing job, Ms. Mead. 

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