The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead Series: Bloodlines #2
Published by Penguin on June 12th 2012
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Friendship, Social Issues, Young Adult
Pages: 448
Read it as: eBook
Source: Purchased
My rating:
Check it out in Goodreads
Synopsis
The second thrilling installment in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy spinoff series, BloodlinesTough, 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.
Hands down, Sydney is one of the most interesting female main characters I’ve ever read about. This only struck me when I reached this second book of the Bloodline Series. In the first one, I was just getting used to her analytical personality. But we really see her start to loosen up here. And it’s exactly that why it has five stars in my book. This one, is the evolution of a character who from fearing vampires and avoiding them like the plague, went to treating them like human beings without even noticing it, managing to be entertaining in the way.
The blurb couldn’t be truer. Sydney starts to question what she’s been taught. To what extent does her loyalty to the Alchemists really go, and how much further does the loyalty to her own beliefs?
And, dun-dun, we also get to see the most frustrating part of her. Her denial of this precise change, and… other stuff which I won’t tell but if you read the book you’ll see all the signs and will want to shake Sydney as much as I did at that point.
I must say, this series is more engaging that the main Vampire Academy was. Aside from Jill, who does feeble attempts to be useful, most of the cast is quite well rounded.
Still, I didn’t let Jill take the fun out of this. In this book, she manages to be less annoying than in the first, but I guess the annoyingness was intentional? Which is why I won’t dwell on it.
There are several styles of writing. I love the poetic one of Of Beast and Beauty, the funny and realistic one of Opposition, but another one that goes right into that list, is the one where I don’t even notice I’m reading.
The one where I could go on for hours imagining the story unfolding before my eyes, and then, with a start, realize it was not actually happening. The writing had been that good.
I don’t know about others, but this was my experience.
Vampire books usually have a stigma, after Twilight. Honestly, I liked Twilight, I loved it. But then, I just simply admitted that Edward was creepy and rationalized he isn’t the guy I’d go for in real life, and that Bella was um… weird? No point saying more. Then, the House of Night came along, and something very similar happened. So, after all the rage and hate, I tiptoed around picking vampire books, afraid I’d like them, afraid I’d hate them.
Until I took my chances with Vampire Academy. It was pretty good; better than what my low expectations had been uh… expecting. So, for anyone who likes to thread with caution around the muddy waters of the paranormal genre, this one is worth the try.
I recently read and enjoyed this one as well. While I do still prefer VA over this series just because I like a little more action, I really like where the Bloodlines series is going. They just keep getting better and better! I really like seeing how Sydney is growing as a character. And yes, there is definitely something addicting about these books 🙂
Alise recently posted this awesome thing…Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas
Yes! I saw the last one is coming out in February *sigh*. I’ll have to hold my breath.