Book Review: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Title: The Golden Lily

Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines, #2
Pages: 418
Publisher: Puffin
Date of Publication: 7th June 2012
Source: Publisher
Synopsis from Goodreads: 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.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, Richelle Mead's breathtaking Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive. In this second book, the drama is hotter, the romances are steamier, and the stakes are even higher.

*With this review comes the usual series spoiler warning: May contain spoilers from Bloodlines and Vampire Academy. No spoilers from The Golden Lily though.* 

My Thoughts:
If you know me or my blog, you'll know that Vampire Academy is one of my favourite series. Ever. And Bloodlines, the spin-off series, is just as awesome. I'd say better, but there's very little Dimitri, so, it's not quite as good ;P Anyway, The Golden Lily is a great addition to the Vampire Academy universe and I loved every minute of it.

Having read Bloodlines about a year ago, I didn't really remember all that much about what actually happened at the end of it, but once I started reading The Golden Lily it all came rushing back as soon as the action started. It's Richelle Mead's writing - I know it's cheesy - but I always feel like I've never been away when I pick up either a Vampire Academy or Bloodlines book. I can jump straight back in a fall in love with the characters and the story once again.

Anyway, so Sydney really grew on me in this book, but at the same time she was also really annoying sometimes. (I'm aware that that doesn't make sense, but it's possible to like someone but still be annoyed by them, right? Or is that just me? ;P Whatever.) I really liked her in the first book, but in this one I just felt like we got to know her a whole lot more and in the process I picked up on the little habits she has that were irritating. It kind of irked me that she never seemed to get over the fact that she was living with and protecting vampires though... I get that she's an alchemist and she's been brought up to believe that vampires are evil, but she kept reminding herself that they were evil and to not get too involved... Hasn't she realised that it's only the minority that are actually evil?! Eurgh. Annoying. But she's a nice person and sometimes she was even funny. I liked her. A lot. But not creepily...

So I read this right in the middle of when I should have been revising for my first three Science GCSE modules. Bad. Idea. Seriously, I should have been learning about crude oil and radiators and crap (sorry, scientists), but I couldn't stop reading about vampires and alchemists and Adrian Ivashkov (more on that later ;) )... I literally read the last half completely accidentally in one sitting. We were in the car, for a six hour car journey, and I thought, I'll read for half an hour, revise for an hour, read for half an hour, revise, etc, etc. Didn't work. I was glued to the pages and I couldn't stop. Richelle Mead's writing is as action packed and fast paced as usual and I needed to keep reading to find out what on earth was going to happen next, because it was pretty unpredictable (for me, anyways).

My favourite character was definitely Adrian. I've never taken a liking to him because he's always been overshadowed by Dimitri, always prevented Rose from being with Dimitri and seriously, NO ONE is worthy to stand in their way. No one. Anyway, I said in my review of Bloodlines that I could possibly fall for him in future books... Guys, I'll confess. I've fallen for him. He's just soo... Lovely :P Which leads me nicely onto my next point...

This paragraph might not make sense if you haven't read the book. It's not spoilery but you might want to skip to the last paragraph if you haven't read it yet and are planning to.

Which is that I do have one complaint. And it's a spoilery one so I won't share details. It's SAFE TO READ ON PEEPS, don't worry. Anyway, the ending. Yeah, that bit. Well, WHY?! Sydney Sage, are you the stupidest person EVAR, or something? No. Just, NO. EURGH. The caps lock is completely necessary... Sorry, I shall stop shouting at you now. This might be weird if you haven't read it yet. It just bugged me, that's all. I closed the book, went to find my mother for the sole purpose of telling her that the ending is ridiculously stupid and cliffhangery. And it's making me want the next book all the more.

The Golden Lily is definitely a fantastic addition to the Bloodlines series, and I may have even enjoyed it more than I did Bloodlines. This series is definitely one to read if you're a fan of the Vampire Academy books, and if you haven't read those, then I suggest you read those super quickly and then move onto these because they're all awesome. Looking for something to read over the summer? There are six VA books and two Bloodlines books just waiting for you to pick them up. Go on, go. Now. I'm watching. In a totally uncreepy and unstalkerish way... Just go - you won't be disappointed.

*Huge thanks to Puffin for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review! In no way has this affected my opinion of the book and I'm so sorry it took me ages to get this review posted! I have a few to catch up with due to the aforementioned exams.