REVIEW: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Pub. Date: June 12th 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 418
Readership: Young adult
Genres: vampires
Rating: ★★★★★ 

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.

I always say that it's nearly impossible to write a review for a new book in a series without spoiling. It is. I will do my best to be vague but to the point about things. This review may be short but it will be without spoilers.

Did the wait for Book 2 in the Bloodlines series kill anyone else? I know it killed me! Richelle does not disappoint in the second. If anything, Richelle exceeded any expectations I had for The Golden Lily. I knew I would enjoy it. Obviously, I would enjoy it, but to me a good book doesn't just make you feel good; it makes you want to hurl it at a wall sometimes because you're just too overwhelmed and invested in the characters, whether they make good or bad decisions. This is what The Golden Lily did to me.

Sydney was as amazing as ever. She's still a great alchemist but she's growing and changing. She's straying slightly from the cut and dry alchemist mindset. She's becoming friends with the moroi and dhampirs she has to protect because of her job. She's beginning to care about them. She's beginning to see that everything is not as black and white as she was raised to believe. She's still slightly uptight and stubborn at times but it's wonderful to see how far she has come. I can't wait to see how much more she'll grow and change as the series progresses.

Then there's Adrian. He is by far one of my favorite fictional characters ever. He's not perfect but that's probably why I adore him so much. He has flaws. Quite a few of them, actually. But somehow that makes him all the more endearing and amazing. He's also grown so much from when we first met him in Frostbite. Adrian is someone you root for; in The Golden Lily especially.

The dynamic that Syd and Adrian have is fantastic. They are so genuine when they're around each other. Adrian let's his walls down around Sydney and allows him to see the real him. Sydney is funny and light around him when she's usually in serious alchemist mode. You really root for the two of them. (and for Sydney to realize that Adrian is so obviously in love with her but that's another issue entirely!)

I thoroughly enjoyed The Golden Lily. I read it slowly because I didn't want it to end. I am not prepared to wait 7 more months for the next book in the series. The Golden Lily is action packed, emotional and just down right awesome. Fans of Vampire Academy and Bloodlines, the first in the series, will be pleased with this book.

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