The Golden Lily

Synopsis (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.

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It's no secret, I LOVE Richelle Mead. Hell, I'd yell it from the mountaintops of New York City! If we had any....

Now I was a huge/enormous/crazy-ass fan of Richelle's Vampire Academy series so talks of a VA spin-off had me fangirling to no end! I went nuts over Bloodlines, and after reading The Golden Lily, It. Is. ON! As much as I loved Richelle Mead before, now I love her even more.

TGL picks up right where Bloodlines left off. (**MINI SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE ENDING OF BLOODLINES**) Dimka, the future father of my (fictional) guardian children, is in town and Sydney is left to deal with the drama that comes with leading a double-life. Let's not forget there's also Adrian, the drunken Moroi of our dreams, who brings his own set of drama to the table. (**END OF SPOILERS**)

I think that unlike Bloodlines, The Golden Lily is very relationship-driven and there's an obvious focus on Sydney's various Moroi, Guardian and Alchemist relationships. Our girl is growing up and she's beginning to understand that despite such a strict upbringing, things in the vampire world aren't always black or white. 

I enjoyed that growth and development as the novel progressed. Her relationship with Adrian (unsurprisingly) was the most fun for me! I mean COME ON! Who wouldn't be drawn to Ivashkov's...uh...smoking? and... binge drinking? But there came a point where it became so much more than that. There's a subtle buildup where each begins to realize that they're a lot more alike than they'd like to think. 

Um, sexual tension, anyone?

That's not to say the book was without fault, however. I wasn't the biggest fan of Sydney in Vampire Academy, and I remember moving past that after Bloodlines, but there was just something about Sydney that really frustrated me in this one. Something I can't put my finger on.  I felt like we were off to such a fantastic start with Bloodlines, but The Golden Lily left me wanting just a little bit more. Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. It was action-packed and fully entertaining, but at the end of the day, Bloodlines was a bit more memorable.

Again, I want to stress that we're talking about Richelle Mead here. If Vampire Academy is anything to go by, things are only getting started for Sydney! And book three is usually when things get really twisted and out of control!!

In case you are wondering,YES, Richelle is still the reigning queen of cliffhangers and YES, this ending will most likely cause seizures and/or flailing arms. For me it was a unique combo. I hope you're ready!!

Words can't describe how excited I am for The Indigo Spell (2013). I am even beginning to think that the desperation of Richelle's fans keep her young!