Just Finished Reading .... The Golden Lily

The Golden Lily

by Richelle Mead

Published by: Razorbill/Penguin Group

on June 14, 2012

Source: bought from bookstore

Quick spoiler-free Bloodlines recap: 
Alchemist Sydney Sage has been under suspicion since she aided fugitive Rose Hathaway in the Vampire Academy series. In Bloodlines, Sydney is sent to Palm Springs to protect Moroi princess Jill Dragomir, the only living relative of the reigning vampire queen.  So Jill and Sydney enroll as students at the exclusive Amberwood school.   This assignment offers Sydney a second chance to prove her loyalty to the Alchemists. Syd needs to do her job as a bridge between the vampire world and the human one, while staying true to Alchemist principles, which consider magic immoral and vampires unnatural and dangerous.  Still, Sydney can't help but become a little attached to Jill and her undead entourage, like eccentric reclusive Clarence and rakish bad boy Adrian.When Moroi girls start turning up dead in L.A., Sydney knows she needs to get to the bottom of what's happening.

Spoiler-free summary of Golden Lily: With the culprit from Bloodlines brought to justice, Sydney is looking forward to a normal life at Amberwood: going to class and working as a research assistant for eccentric Ms. Terwilliger. A Dhampir team has arrived in town to research the process by which vampires who have been turned Strigoi can be turned back by the use of spirit. The team need Sydney's help, but she's reluctant to provide it. After having to face down a murderer in Bloodlines, Sydney is also concerned with learning to protect herself. To further complicate matters, she's met the perfect guy. Brayden is smart and serious. So why does Sydney find herself drawn to someone else, someone completely wrong for her? Sydney also begins to suspect that there's a new group targeting vampires. When someone close to Sydney is abducted, she'll have to decide if she's willing to betray Alchemist principles to save a life.

My thoughts: I know that some readers find Sydney dull in comparison to Rose.  Not me! I love Sydney. She's so responsible and serious, but underneath it all you just know there's a wild girl waiting to come out!

In Bloodlines, Sydney started out wary of vampires, then grew to know them as individuals and began to change her mind. In Golden Lily, she's getting more comfortable with the whole vampire lifestyle, but she's still struggling with the ethics of magic. She knows that magic saved her in Bloodlines, but her Alchemist upbringing is causing her a lot of internal conflict in this regard. Good stuff!

Adrian. AdrianAdrianAdrian.  Were you waiting for me to say that?
Yes, he's in this book and just as hilarious and heartbreaking as ever. In The Golden Lily, I learned a little more about what makes him so tortured and brooding. He tries to straighten himself out, but don't worry! He's not going to go all straight-laced anytime soon!

That's all I'm going to say. I don't want to spoil anything!!! The book is great and Sydney does some stuff that might surprise even you Sydney-doubters!

Okay, now let's play a game. I'm going to give you six quotes, and you are going to tell me which were said by Adrian in the Golden Lily, and which were made up by me. Give me your best guess in comments!

A: "I've been known to roll the dice now and then."

B: "Sage, your new boyfriend is so excruciatingly polite that I'm certain he's a serial killer."

C: "Slushes. Do you know how much I love those? Cherry, especially."

D: "Believe it or not, I do think some women should keep their clothes on."

E: "I find prostitutes vastly important."

F:  "I absolutely deny requesting a pirate tattoo. Because I already have one."

Put your guesses in comments! I'll tell you the answer on Sunday!

And now, I will tell you about one of my favorite bloggers: Jennifer M. of Some Like It Paranormal. She was one of my very first blog followers and she has been a wonderful follower and friend. She must never sleep, because she always leaves me these long, loopy blog comments in the middle of the night her time.  She just had a birthday and I sent her my copy of Golden Lily because she loves Adrian Ivashkov more than anyone I know. Hopefully, she'll get it today!
Happy birthday, Jen!