The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Synopsis:
Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. They protect vampire secrets—and human lives.

Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she’s been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California–tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.

But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age–old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and the sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi—the fiercest vampires, the ones who don’t die. But it’s her fear of being just that—special, magical, powerful—that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Brayden, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else—someone forbidden to her.

When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney’s loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.

Should she trust the Alchemists—or her heart?

My Thoughts:

The ending of The Golden Lily made me angry. Richelle Mead hinted most of the book that two characters liked each other, and were going to get together, only to have it come crashing down at the end. Needless to say, I was very upset. Otherwise, the book was fantastic. It was definitely worth the agonizing wait. The book mostly sticks to the characters we know and love from Vampire Academy and Bloodlines. However, a new character named Brayden is introduced. I thought he was a jerk. Hopefully he won’t be in the rest of the series. The plot had me guessing up until the very end what was going to happen. I didn’t see any of the plot twists happening until they did, which made the book fun to read. It’s impressive to see how much Sydney has matured from the Vampire Academy series until now. She can actually make friends with the Moroi and Dhampirs without caring much about what the alchemists think. Actually, all of the characters have matured in their own way. Even Adrian has matured, which is something I never would have thought possible before. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, The Indigo Spell. February 2013 can’t get here quick enough for me. 

I give The Golden Lily: 5/5.

Want to know more about the author?
Website: http://www.richellemead.com/
Blog: http://blue-succubus.livejournal.com/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/137902.Richelle_Mead
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/richellemeadfanpage
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RichelleMead

I bought this book from the bookstore because I wanted to read it.. I was in no way compensated for this review.