4.5 STARS
Thank you to my mate Kellie for the ARC :D
I am going to try and make this non-spoilery as possible.
What can I say about The Golden Lily...
First off that I love it and that people still waiting for it to come out, I promise you it is worth the wait.
It is not set long after where Bloodlines was left at, with it being at least a month since.
Sydney was definitely my favourite character in this book. I felt she has become a much more confident person than of what she was in Bloodlines where she seemed to be walking on eggshells most of the time. She was definitely hilarious at times (in a different way to Adrian). She is definitely not physically strong like Rose was but Sydney does have a few tricks up her sleeve.
Jill is less whiny in this book and seems to have matured much more since Bloodlines, although I wouldn't say she was a complete joy to read in this book either.
Angeline was tolerant but I found her much like what Jill was in Bloodlines with getting in trouble at school, she also reminds me of Rose in the earlier books with her hit first think later attitude.
Eddie was just too much of sweetheart for his own good but I feel we haven't seen all of him and hope he is much more explored in later books.
Adrian was hilarious as usual, and if you are not an Adrian fan already I think you will by the end of this book. We see a much more vulnerable side of him that you may not have noticed in the Vampire Academy series.
My favourite scenes were definitely interactions between Sydney and Adrian. They're probably my two favourite characters in the whole VA/Bloodlines series. It is always funny and you cannot help but smile the whole time.
There was a lot of romance and definitely made up for the lack of in Bloodlines. It did have action and scenes that had you on the edge of your seat in anticipation although not a lot.
I felt the first half of the book was lacking and in comparision to the second half very dull. I felt Richelle Mead's foreshadowing was way too obvious for me and made it seem that the characters were too stupid to figure it out sooner. I felt as a result that I knew what was to come in future books. I also didn't like Dimitri being in the book but I guess that is just me and everyone else will be ecstatic to read a scene with him in it.
But beside that I really did enjoy The Golden Lily and think it is a definite step up from Bloodlines.
