Golden Lily - Richelle Mead

In A Nutshell:

•  4.75 out of 5 stars
• Recommended for: 
• fans of YA vampire lit looking for something different than the last twelve they read
• fans of any of Mead's other YA books
• anyone with an interest in urban paranormal YA

Knowing that I'd read Bloodlines and enjoyed Mead's work, a friend of mine threw this my way last Christmas. Sadly, I never seemed to have the time to get to it, until Zenita invited us to New York shortly after graduation for a book signing that Mead was going to be at. I reread Bloodlines the night before, and read Golden Lily on the ride up.

Golden Lily is a great sequel to Bloodlines, and continues the story of Sydney working to protect Jill in sunny Palm Springs while also balancing potential romance on all fronts, new secrets, and her own experiences with the belief system that she's been raised with.

I liked Golden Lily. Like most of Mead's books, the Bloodline series makes you want to keep reading, and there are so many plots that are subtly twisted into the books that I found myself wanting to reread bloodlines -again- just so I could look back and find all the hints for future plots that I didn't even think twice about the first time I read it!

Character development is one that that Golden Lily does -not- lack! I don't think there's a single decent character in this book who didn't change and progress over the course of this novel, and it's amazing how well Mead manages to juggle so many characters! Sydney especially is great to read about, because the belief system she's been raised into and places so much trust in is challenged almost constantly by the things she sees and does every day as she works with the Moroi, and Mead's portrayal of Sydney and her slowly morphing belief system is spectacularly believable!

One thing that I find myself hating in modern YA is the constant presence of a love triangle in almost every book I seem to put my hands on. Mead does not hesitate to place hints of this trope in her book--yet I still found myself wanting to read despite my minor annoyance as I noticed the slow formation of what seemed like one, which is very notable considering that I have been known to throw a book down if the romance becomes too excessive. I consider the fact that the romance in this book barely phased me to be a star for Mead. She is capable of doing what many other authors are not: including romance in a story without deriding the plot. I love her for it.

Overall, I enjoyed The Golden Lily a lot. I loved it so much, in fact, that I stole Zenita's copy of The Indigo Spell from her while we were waiting in line to see Mead at the signing, and managed to finish it before we got home that night! I'd definitely recommend The Golden Lily, and in fact, the entire Bloodlines series to anyone with an interest in urban paranormal YA, anyone who enjoyed Mead's other YA, and anyone who is interested in a book series about vampires that doesn't read like the hundred other vampire books flooding the market!

If any of those describe you, you should definitely look into picking up a copy the next time you're looking for something new to read!

Vampire Academy - Richelle Mead

If you've been following my twitter, you may have heard that I'm dealing with the aftermath of a housefire. Mix that with my work schedule, and I haven't had much time to write my reviews. But I never stop reading, so expect further reviews for the Lords of the Underworld series, Ultraviolet, and the Vampire Academy series, plus a few others that are probably escaping me, at the moment.

That being said, I finally have the time to write up a quick review, and today I figured I'd start my special Vampire Academy readthrough series of reviews. For those of you wondering why these particular reviews are special, the answer is that unlike the majority of Mead's fans, I did not read Vampire Academy first. Rather, I got ahold of a Bloodlines ARC--which you can see my review for here on this blog--and read that before I was asked to do a Vampire Academy series review. That being said, let me begin my review of Vampire Academy, through the eyes of a Bloodlines' fan.

As someone who read Bloodlines first, let me start by advising everyone to not make the same mistake. Bloodlines is the first book in a series that, while being a spinoff, is still a series that can standalone. This means that the story is a huge spoiler for, let's face it, pretty much everything in just the first book, and several major points that I assume show up later. If you don't like your books spoiled, don't touch Bloodlines until after Vampire Academy.

But even with the spoilers, I still enjoyed Vampire Academy--although I'll admit that I'm enjoying the following books a lot more. In Vampire Academy, you follow Rose and her best friend, Lissa. After running away two years ago from the academy meant to train living vampires--Moroi--to live in society and use their elemental powers, and dhampires--half human and half vampires--to be able to be guardians that protect the Moroi, the two girls are suddenly caught and sent back, where Rose faces expulsion and separation from Lissa if she steps out of line even once. The only reason she is even allowed to stay is the mental bold formed between the girls that makes Rose the perfect candidate to be Lissa's guardian after graduation. But before they can graduate, the pair have to survive their final years of training, dealing with the rumors and aftermath of their escape, and the dead animals that keep appearing in Lissa's things.

Vampire Academy is a decent book that I probably would have enjoyed more if I hadn't already spoiled most of the plot. I particularly enjoyed the types of vampires that Mead has created, and her twists on the race and myths. I love the academy setup, too, which is probably the influence of my inner Harry Potter fangirl. But what's really great about Vampire Academy is that, while there is the typical romance you associate with a YA book, nowadays, VA isn't at all Twilight-esque like so many paranormal YA books tend to be, nowadays. There's a great plot, strong female characters, and and the romance is light and -not- the entire reason for the book.

The only bad thing I can say about Vampire Academy is that it's a little slow, in comparison to the later books in the series. That being said, if VA isn't your favorite book when you're reading it, I'd still suggest finishing it and going on to the next book in the series before you give it quits.

Vampire Academy is a promising start to a new series, and fans of books like the House of Night series or vampires in general will probably really get into it. If you're a paranormal YA fan, you'll probably like Vampire Academy too, and I'd definitely suggest picking it up at your local library or bookstore.

Bloodlines - Richelle Mead

I never finished the Vampire Academy books. Hell, I'm not even sure if I finished the first one, to be perfectly honest. I picked it up during the beginning of the vampire craze, and got so bored with vampires so fast I don't think I ever picked it back up. That being said, there is a big chance that I've both missed a lot of the nuances in this book that referenced the other series and spoiled the VA series for myself entirely. But after finishing Bloodlines, I can honestly say I'm okay with that.

Bloodlines is about Sydney, a girl who is part of the organization, alchemists, that is dedicated to protecting humans from vampires. Or at least keeping the peace between the two races, anyway. She was trained for her job in the organization since she was young, being the only alchemist picked out of her three sisters for the job. However, after helping Rose she was shamed and a new mission is the only way she can redeem herself and keep her little sister from having to take up the mantle of alchemist instead. She'll have to live with Jill, a living vampire, and her halfvampire guard in order to keep Jill safe and the current queen of the vampires on her throne. The only problem? In order to keep Jill safe, Sydney needs to go undercover at a high school boarding school in Palm Springs, a situation that suits neither of the two girls involved.

Before I started Bloodlines, my ideas on what to expect were mixed. On one hand, I vaguely remember trying to read VA and not finishing it. On the other, the line for this book was HUGE and ZenitaDee, a fellow blogger and friend of Lost Train of Thoughts, has been gushing over Richelle Mead for years. Plus, you know, I'm a sucker for some gorgeous cover art.

Having now finished Bloodlines, though, I'm really happy I gave it a chance! Despite not reading Vampire Academy, I didn't feel as though I was missing any important details, although ZenitaDee has informed me that I've probably got a tainted view of Rose, since Adrian is your main source of information about her in this particular book. I loved Sydney's character, loved how she struggled to fight against everything when it seemed like everyone and everything in her life was against her. I'm particularly fond of her ideology, although I'd sad to say I was reading this during a slow shift at work, and I don't have the exact quote. If I recall right, it was to the effect of "everyone has a choice. there are no victims here." I love how much of a hardass she comes off as.

One of the random aspects about the book that I particularly enjoyed was the idea of metal bound tattoos. Alchemists are given the same golden tattoo on their faces that gives them slight immunities and strengths while insuring they can't talk about alchemist matters to anybody outside of their circle of knowledge. There are several other tattoos that show up in the book as Sydney finds out about a special tattoo parlor that gives silver and copper tattoos that act as drugs or strength enhancers for a temporary amount of time. The whole system just sounds kind of awesome to me.

I liked Bloodlines a lot, and now that I've finished one of Mead's books and found out how good of a writer she is, I'll definitely see about picking up Vampire Academy and the following books in the series and trying to read it again. As far as Bloodlines goes, though, let's just say I've found out the biggest flaw in reading and reviewing ARCs: there's a much longer wait time until the next book in the series comes out. That being said, I'd recommend Bloodlines to anyone in the supernatural YA fansection, including those who haven't read Vampire Academy. Despite being in the same world, Bloodlines is the start of a spin-off series, and from what I've seen, VA isn't a requirement for enjoyment. If you like vampires, hardass female leads, or plotlines with twists to keep you on your game, pick up Bloodlines in your local bookstore when it comes out August 2011.