The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Release Date: 6/12/12
Publisher: Penguin USA
Pages: 400
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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.

The Golden Lily sparked so many emotions within me that I'm not completely sure if I've comprehended the book yet. I've been enthralled by the world Richelle has created ever since I read Vampire Academy so many years ago, and this book was a wonderful representation of why so many readers are loyal to Mead and her young adult series.

The characters, I must mention, are very entertaining to read about. Each of their lives intertwine in interesting ways, and even on their own, they're great. I think Richelle has done very well in developing her characters, and in making them all different, yet similar enough to get along well. Sydney, the narrator, is an interesting storyteller in this. Her loyalty to the alchemists is always present, yet as she grows even more friendly to her vampire friends, she finds herself questioning what she's been taught her whole life.


To keep some sense of order in her clustered mind, she starts dating a boy who works at the coffee shop she goes to. His name is Brayden, and as Trey, the boy who set them up, said, the two are exactly alike. They're both very smart and conservative in similar ways, but if they're so "perfect" for each other, why doesn't Sydney feel the "spark" everyone talks about?


There's so much romance in this book, and I loved it! The pairings are great, and while romance plays a major part in this book, it doesn't take over the book. There's still mystery, and like in Bloodlines, you'll find yourself guessing at what will happen next! It's a big secret, and will create even more problems for the alchemists, and probably even the whole vampire world eventually.


Perhaps my most favorite parts of this book were the glimpses we got of some outside characters, Dimitri and Sonya for example. Our favorite characters, including Lissa and Rose, are mentioned in this book as well! While it's little tiny mentions, it makes me so incredibly giddy, because I love these characters! I can only hope that we get more mentions of them, and that I'll soon fall in love with the Bloodlines characters as much as I have with the characters from Vampire Academy. Fans of Adrian, a group that I fit in, will love him in the book, because he's still his witty, charming, and dreamy self!


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