"The Golden Lily" by Richelle Mead

Release Date: June 12, 2012
Publisher: Razorbill
Pages: 418

From Goodreads: "The second thrilling installment in Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy spinoff series

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." 

I don't believe it possible to do this book justice in a review/ write an eloquent review- therefore excuse me for a moment while I have an epic fan-girl moment. OMFG! MY HEART, IT WAS SO HAPPY WHILE READING THIS BOOK. Seriously though, this book was without a doubt the best book of 2012 that I have read (prior to reading this book I was in a 7-8 star book slump, but this book, well, if I could give it more than 10 stars I could AND it once again gave me hope for the future of YA books) and this book was without a doubt one of the best sequels I have EVER read before- no second book slump for this series! While Richelle's "Vampire Academy" series is one of my most favourite series of all time I must admit that I liked this book more than at least half of the books in that series.

In Richelle's "Vampire Academy" series I was such a DIE-HARD Dimitri fan- so much so that Adrian didn't even register on my radar (well, I suppose that he did in the sense that I found him to be a HUGE annoyance, not unlike one of those flies that always buzzes about but you can't actually see or an itch that can't be scratched), however in "Bloodlines", the first book in this spin-off series, I I started to really appreciate and actually like Adrian. And in this book? My love for him was completely and totally solidified- I think that he may very well give Dimitri a run for his money.

Furthermore, I also really liked Sydney in this book (whereas in "Vampire Academy" I gave very little thought to her)- I love that she is truly growing as a person as this series progresses, coming into her own mentally, physically, and emotionally, and that she learns from her mistakes. 

That being said, my biggest complaint was that I found the storyline to be fairly obvious- I was able to figure out all of the various mysteries well before (upwards of hundreds of pages) they were revealed (for instance, the significance of tattoos, the identity of the vampire hunters, Jill's apparent crush on Sydney, etc.). I personally LOVE being taken by surprised by storylines and I was quite saddened that that wasn't the case whatsoever with this book (and in all honesty, I am very likely the worst foreshadower EVER, so if even *I* was able to foreshadow the vast majority of this book, it stands to reason that it was fairly obvious). 

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend this book- I literally cannot say enough good things about it, it has everything (and more) that you could ever want in a book- a strong heroine, an utterly swoon-worthy male character, one of the most adorable *potential* romances of all time IMO, great secondary characters, and the likes of. I eagerly impatiently wait to see what Richelle has in store for us (and the gang) in the third book of this series!

Rating: 10/10

I received this book from the publisher to read and review. I was not compensated in any way for said review.

Memorable lines from book:

"If you ask her, she'll claim that it was the staking and decapitation. But I'm sure it was the Zen wisdom that won her in the end" (pg. 24).

"This is the most messed-up thing I've ever seen. And the most beautiful" (pg. 66).

"Is he cute?" 
I glanced at the clock. It was time for me to meet my study group. "Gee, maybe I should just send you a picture to review?" 
"Yes, please. And a full background check and life history" (pg, 73).

"Really?" I asked. "You'd give up drinking to go see your dad?" 
"Well, not permanently," he said. "That'd be ridiculous. But maybe I could switch to something cheaper for a while. Like... slushes. Do you know how much I love those? Cherry, especially" (pg. 101).

"Sage," he said. "What are you wearing?" 
I sighed and looked down at the dress. "I know, it's red. Don't start. I'm tired of hearing about it." 
"Funny," he said. "I don't think I could ever get tired of looking at it" (pg. 235).