The Golden Lily (Bloodlines Series #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
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Synopsis: Sydney Sage
is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to
bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and
human lives.
Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.
But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.
When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.
Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?
Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.
But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.
When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.
Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?
Brought to you by TeamNerd Reviewer
Annabell Cadiz
Review: After reading Bloodlines
I was definitely interested in seeing where Mead’s new series would go. I have
become a fan of Sydney Katherine Sage, the main heroine of the Bloodlines Series, and wanted to know
what messes her and the crew would have to get themselves out of. The Golden Lily proved to be better than
its predecessor which doesn’t happen often. (Usually the sequel is the choppy
one in between a series but Bloodlines
was more lackluster than The Golden Lily).
Sydney, Adrian,
Eddie and Jill return along with some not-so-new-characters making appearances
from the VA Series. Dimitri and Sonya come in at the end of Bloodlines to help aid in protecting
Jill after what happened with Lee and Keith. In order to better understand why
Strogi can’t be turned back into Storgi once they’ve been turned back in their
Mori state, Adrian is forced to team up with Sonya and Dimitri to experiment on
reading auras on both Eddie and Dimitri. Sydney also gets a break from
constantly babysitting Jill since Angeline, a Keeper, moves into Jill’s dorm to
guard over her when she can’t be with Eddie. Sydney also begins a new budding
romance with Brayden, a boy who seems to be her intellectually equal. But
gradually clues start springing forth that not everything is as it seems and
one evening Jill and Sonya are attacked by mysterious men with swords and
tattoos of a sun. Sydney sets out on a mission to discover the masked attackers
before they become a further threat but just as she’s figuring out the details,
Sonya gets taken and Sydney and crew have to find a way to save her before time
runs out.
Oh Sydney Sage,
how awkward and nerdy thy are and how much I love her character because of it!
I had a lot more fun with Sydney in The
Golden Lily. She is beginning to open up more and showcasing her
insecurities as well as her doubts over the Alchemists. Sydney was brought up
homeschooled, away from much social interaction and under the tyranny of her
father so when it comes to having a normal date with a boy, Sydney is
completely lost! I couldn’t stop laughing at how confused Sydney became over
her dates with Brayden, how she kept misreading certain queues and over
analyzing everything. She reminded me very much of myself *wink* I like that
Sydney is beginning to question more what the Alchemists stand for and what she
has already been taught. She is starting to realize not everything she’s always
believed has been right and I like that she’s growing into her own strength. It
was fun being able to see her start to loosen up. She’s always so tightly wound
and overly critical, especially about herself.
Adrian is the
best character to the series. He has his well-known wit and bad boy charm. He’s
quick with his retorts and can have a reader laughing from the moment he comes
onto the scene. But the book also explores more of Adrian’s vulnerabilities and
insecurities; he isn’t the playboy everyone seems to think. There’s a crappy
relationship his dad he has never been able to fix, his mother is locked up for
some evil crimes she committed and Adrian is desperate for answers from her,
and then there’s Sydney making him even more confused about his feelings. I
liked that Adrian is more broken in The
Golden Lily and the mask of indifference he’s always wearing is starting to
fade away.
Eddie shines a
great deal better in the sequel than he did in the first book. He has much more
of a personality. He’s cute and sweet and good. I want him to be able to find
the happiness he deserves with the person his heart longs to be with. Angeline
is a fun member added to the mix. She cracked me up with her complete lack of
understanding in social interactions and boys. She has a major crush on a
certain someone but goes about it totally the wrong way. I also like how she
doesn’t understand that wearing short shorts that look more like underwear
isn’t good attire for school and trying to punch a boy in the face isn’t the
way to get his attention. She was just too funny! Then there’s Jill who still
lacks any real personality. She faded even more in this book and even though
the focus of protection is supposed to be on her, there isn’t much going on
with her character other than her woes of romance so she gets thrown into the
background. I would have expected to read more drama with her character, to read
something happening to her instead of Sonya but Jill barely exists in the
sequel. She’s also ditzy and shallow. She decides to break things off with
Micah but right in the same breath decides there’s another guy she is going to
go after *rolls eyes* The girl should be focusing on getting trained and
learning to ACTUALLY fight instead of constantly dating.
I liked how much
more of a role Trey played in the story. He shares a lot of similarities with
Sydney having grown up with a stern, overbearing father as well who expects too
much and who is as closed minded as Sydney’s father. I liked the way the author
created a connection between Trey’s world and Sydney’s and I’m curious to know
what will happen as both those worlds continue to interact. I am a bit weary
though that the author will use Trey to create some kind of predictable,
pointless love triangle. I hope she doesn’t.
There isn’t much
action in The Golden Lily which makes
sense since the book is built gradually to show the bonds being formed and
Sydney discovering everything she’s always believed about vampires may not all
be true. The Bloodlines Series seems
to be built more as a suspense series than a paranormal/fantasy battle of
vampires versus Alchemists. There are good action scenes in the book though
when they are presented but eighty percent of the book is centered around
putting together the clues Sydney and the others find as well as Sydney
branching outside her comfort zones and learning more about herself.
I’m glad Dimitri
didn’t play too much of a role or else that would have been annoying. I wasn’t
too in love in with his character. He’s just too dramatically made to fit the
quote on quote perfect guy and comes off rather boring. The plot of the book is
pretty predictable but that didn’t take away from the enjoyment of reading what
happens. There are moments the book does get a bit dull and seems to be
wondering around without a point but for the most part the book is written
well. The pacing remains at a steady pace and picks up when the action scenes
kick in. The suspense is well done, especially closer toward the end with what
happens with Sydney and crew when they need to rescue Sonya. The ending, although
expected, was still a bit annoying. It seems the author will be forcing Sydney
and Adrian to fight against their feelings until the end of the series when
right from the first book they are into each other. Hopefully the author
doesn’t drag it out and just lets it happen in the third book. I would also
like to see more action scenes, especially concerning Jill since she is the
main person needing protection, and more involvement from the Alchemists. I
also want to know what will happen with Sydney’s discoveries, both about her
blood and the strange things she’s able to do that Ms. Terwilliger has been
exposing her to. It will be interesting to see what happens between Sydney and
the Alchemist because of it.
The Golden Lily is built on in depth characterization,
intellect, and suspenseful plotting. It’s not a book catered to those who want
a book more action focused but that’s what I like most about it.
I’d have to say
I’m starting to become a fan of Richelle Mead, reluctant as I am, and I hope
she doesn’t ruin it by making Indigo,
the third book, stupidly follow what so many young adult books are doing
nowadays.
For fans who are
just discovering Richelle Mead as an author, definitely give the Bloodlines Series a try!
Some Favorite Adrian Quotes
“What about
those other Greek women?” asked Adrian. “The flashy smart ones.” His forehead
wrinkled, as though it were taking every ounce of his brain to come up with the
word he wanted. And, to my astonishment, he did. “The hetaerae.” I honestly
hadn’t believed he’d retained anything from our conversation in San Diego. I
tried not to smile.
“The hetaerae?
Brayden was even more astonished than I was. He gave me a scrutinizing look.
“Yes . . .yes. I suppose—if such materials were hypothetically possible in that
era—that this is something you’d expect to see find on a hetaera instead of the
average Greek matron.”
“And they were
prostitutes, right?” asked Adrian. “These hetaerae?”
“Some were,”
agreed Brayden. “Not all. I think the usual term is courtesan.”
Adrian was
completely deadpan. “So. You’re saying my sister’s dressed like a prostitute.”
~Adrian and
Brayden, Ch. 14, pg. 238
“Rose once told
me about this poem she’d read. There was this line, ‘If your eyes weren’t open,
you wouldn’t know the difference between dreaming and waking.’ You know what
I’m afraid of? That someday, even with my eyes open, I still won’t know.”
~Adrian, Ch. 14 pg. 241
“He shouldn’t
have said that,” repeated Adrian, eerily serious. He leaned his face toward
mine. “I don’t care if he’s not the emotional type or the complimentary type or
what. No one can look at you in this dress, in all that fire and gold, and
start talking about anachronisms. If I were him, I would have said, ‘You are
the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth.’” ~Adrian to
Sydney Ch. 14 pg. 247
“Not the
craziest thing I’ve ever done.” He smiled as he looked up at me. His eyes grew
slightly unfocused, as though they were seeing more than just me. “What’s a
little crazy here and there? I’m supposed to be doing experiments . . . why not
see which is brighter: your aura or the sun?” ~Adrian to Sydney Ch. 18 pg. 308
About the Author: Scorpio Richelle Mead is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of urban fantasy books for both adults and teens. Originally from Michigan, Richelle now lives in Seattle, Washington where she works on her three series full-time: Georgina Kincaid, Dark Swan, and Vampire Academy.
A life-long reader, Richelle has always loved mythology and folklore. When she can actually tear herself away from books (either reading or writing them), she enjoys bad reality TV, traveling, trying interesting cocktails, and shopping for dresses. She's a self-professed coffee addict and has a passion for all things wacky and humorous.
Where to Find the Author
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