December 8, 2012

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead


Title: The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)
Author: Richelle Mead
Publisher: Razorbill
Release date: June 12th 2012

Rating: 4/5

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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?

The Golden Lily is the second book in the series Bloodlines, the spin-off of the Vampire Academy series, a series that I LOVE! and is among my favorites. And also the main male character in this series is Adrian Ivashkov! so be prepared because I can fangirl a bit.

Adrian is part of Moroi royalty and he is part of the group that traveled to Palm Springs to keep "hidden"Jill. The best thing about this book is definitely Adrian Ivashkov!, he´s the best part of the book, I laughed with him and I cried for him. Adrian definitely is changing and is more mature, all thanks to the good influence of Sydney and but also because he wants to change, be better (insert sigh). Now about Sydney, she is an alchemist and she almost always follows the rules and has beliefs about Morois, damphirs and magic that are deeply rooted and because of this I sort of understand her to some extent her behavior towards these races and to my Adrian. She is academically smart, but she is too oblivious to everything else and because of the last chapter of this book, she is not my favorite person right now. Without a doubt:  The best part of the book was Adrian Ivashkov!

The Golden Lily is a book for fans (like me) of Vampire Academy and Bloodlines, it has some action, the wonderful sarcasm Adrian, suspense and a little bit of mystery, although it was too obvious who w were the "bad guys" in this book. In this second book we see a little more about the alchemist´s world and how are they "corrected" when they became too friendly with the Moroi and damphirs. And now I have to wait until February to read the next book in the series - The Indigo Spell.

Favorites Quotes
Day 24. Situation is growing worse. My captors continue to find new and horrific ways to torture me. When not working, Agent Scarlet spends her days examining fabric swatches for bridesmaid dresses and going on about how in love she is. This usually causes Agent Boring Borscht to regale us with stories of Russian weddings that are even more boring than his usual ones. My attempts at escape have been thwarted thus far. Also, I am out of cigarettes. Any assistance or tobacco products you can send will be greatly appreciated.
-Prisoner 24601
“He wasn't like anyone I knew. In fact I was fairly certain there was no one in the entire world quite like Adrian Ivashkov.”

Book teaser trailer

My fave scene of this book!
**Spoilers** don´t watch if you haven´t read The Golden Lily

19 comments:

  1. I agree, the best part is Adrian haha :) I can't wait for the third book. I want to know what happens between Adrian and Sydney. Sydney needs to go rogue already haha

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  2. Adrian is deff the best part if this book. In my opinion TGL was so much better than Bloodlines. Nice review.


    Teresa @ Readers Live A Thousand Lives

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  3. I've heard a lot about htis book. Can't wait to read it!

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  4. Adrian would be the best part of every book. :) He is my all time favorite YA man.

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  5. Ahh Adrian! <3 That last part of the book broke my heart a little. I can't wait for Indigo Spell!

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  6. What? The Vampire Academy has a spinoff series? Gosh, I'm really behind on my YA news, this is embarrassing. Gonna go read this now, thanks!

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  7. Lovely review!

    I love Vampire Academy, and I'm sure I"ll love the Alchemist world too:)

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  8. The black out scene is my favorite too! :D ♥
    So glad you liked it! :D

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  9. I haven't read this book yet ( I know right, I'm awful :P) I've hear great stuff about it, it's a MUST read! (Going off to start it!) :D

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  10. I've been hearing so many good things about this spin off series, but I don't want to read it until I've started Vampire Academy. I know, I haven't started it yet (*gasp*), but hopefully soon. The characters sound great, love sarcastic, snarky male characters and also action, suspense and mystery? I'm sold! Thanks for the great review!

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  11. Best part is definitely Adrian! ♥

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  12. I really love VA and blood lines by richelle mead. I really love anything thats written by her. I a huge fan. I <3 richelle mead :D

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  13. Thanks for the honest review. I think I'm going to pass up on this series. There's no fun if the story is predictable. I like mystery books and that's the reason I like books that have the surprise element in it.

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  14. There is absolutely nothing to say about this other than Adrian. Ivashkov! Adrian is amazing. I love all of the other characters as well, I love this story. I love Sydney. I love Jill and Eddie... But Adrian! Oh, oh my. He is probably one of the absolute best male characters ever written!

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  15. Thanks for your review! I feel super lucky because I found a copy of Bloodlines at Half Price Books for $2!! It'll probably be a while before I can get to it though because I want to read the Vampire Academy series first. :) I can't wait though.

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  16. Thanks for the review. I like the idea of alchemists (always have) so it's fun to hear about another one. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of Vampire Academy nor the other book you mentioned, but would I still like it you suppose?

    I worry about how sarcastic Adrian is. I like a fun, sarcastic guy but if it's forced or overdone, it makes them come across as stale :(

    Otherwise, it still looks like something worth peeking into! So thanks!

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  18. I've heard great things about the book.. I would love to read it, :) Thanks for the review!

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