The Golden Lily

A Bloodlines Novel

By: Richelle Mead

Narrated by: Emily Shaffer

Length: 12 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

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 number-one New York Times best-selling Vampire Academy series so addictive. In this second book, the drama is hotter, the romances are steamier, and the stakes are even higher.

©2012 Richelle Mead (P)2012 Penguin Audio

amazing

the first book is good but this one is even better I can't wait to read the next one

I love Adrian!

What did you love best about The Golden Lily?

Finally we get a glimpse at Adrian in love again! Poor Sydney is so OCD about her life, she completely misses the signs that Adrian is developing feelings and more or less ignores her own feelings as well. I like that we get to revisit characters from The Vampire Academy series...Dimitri especially! I was also surprised at how much I came to care about Eddie's conflicted feelings surrounding Jill. It was hard to watch him watch Jill go out with Micah. And now we have a good plotline going with vampire hunters and hidden family secrets. I was a bit skeptical to start with this series, but it is really growing on me now. I am completely rooting for Adrian that he finally gets his happily ever after!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Golden Lily?

Adrian and Sydney at the very end of the book...I don't want to spoil it!

Have you listened to any of Emily Shaffer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes, she was fantastic as Rose Hathaway's narrator in The Vampire Academy books. Her accents are great!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

When Jill finally decides to explore a relationship with Eddie, except Eddie has started to move on and finally date someone because he felt waiting for Jill was hopeless and ultimately the wrong thing to do. He is such a good-hearted and strong character. Oh and Adrian and Sydney...did I mention the end of the book? *giddy*

Any additional comments?

I can't wait to read the third book, and see what happens to everyone next. I like when things get complicated and you get to watch characters grow and evolve through things.

Good part 2.

Any additional comments?

Nice growth of characters and storyline. Interesting. Well written. Holds attention. Good for driving. Characters have matured and developed. Wonder how the alchemist group will evolve with the new radical element and we have yet to see how the older leaders will handle their secrets showing. One of the most unlikely and risky romances yet. Sydney is far more interesting now. The good story continues.

Team Sidney!

The Golden Lily was even better than Bloodlines and I had a hard time turning off the audio when it was time to do other things, like work or care for my family. The action in this story really ramps up, as does the romance. Although Sydney is still the main character, the stories of the other characters was well balance and I felt like I got to know everyone a lot better. We get a better glimpse into what makes Adrian tick and, of course, he has some great lines. If you read the Vampire Academy series, there are some crossover characters, but not having read that series won't take away from this book. The best/worst thing of all was the ending, which is guaranteed to rip your heart out.

This audiobook was read by Emily Shaffer, who read Bloodlines, so there was a wonderful continuity between the two. Once again, Emily's ability to do accents and create character voices really helped bring the book to life. I highly recommend this book for the story and for the performance.

another great series continues

richelle mead always exceeds my expectation. She always leaves you wanting more and now i cant wait to read indigo spell

LOVED THIS BOOK

Would you listen to The Golden Lily again? Why?

Yes I would listen to this again. I have read and reread the Vampire series and I will definitely do the same with the Bloodline series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Golden Lily?

Of course it was the kiss. I waited the whole book for it.

Have you listened to any of Emily Shaffer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Emily Shaffer is one of my favorites. She does an amazing job.

Any additional comments?

The only thing I hate about audible is it didn't give the first chapter in Indigo Spell. Very disappointed.

Caution - Romance Ahead!

Great audiobook. Emily Shaffer did a wonderful job as always narrating. My only complaint is it takes so much longer to listen to an audiobook than it does to read the physical book. I found myself just sitting and listening because I couldn't wait to see what happens. I love the way Richelle Mead has the characters growing and developing. The chemistry between Sydney and Adrian just sizzles and I so hope they end up together. I'll cry if Adrian's heart gets broke again. Storywise, my only complaint was that it felt like it took a while for Mead to reveal what Sydney and the gang's "task" was going to be for this book but with all the conversations and stuff going on with Adrian, I didn't really mind.

Love love love

Everyone’s character arcs were great and there’s enough mystery too keep me invested. Great story

Great book!

Great book great narration. I really loved this book even more than vampire academy.

If you liked Bloodlines...you’ll LOVE Golden Lily!

This is – hands down – my new favorite book of 2012! My only complaint about Golden Lily is that it caused me to lose sleep. I finished this book in one day…and what an emotional day that was!

Normally I would write a little synopsis of the book, but not this time. Richelle Mead’s work speaks for itself. If you’re considering this book, chances are, you’ve probably not only read Bloodlines, but also the entire Vampire Academy series; if you haven’t…then welcome to the Richelle Mead fan club. With that said I’m just going to write a few little tidbits about some of the character development within this second installment of the Bloodlines series.

Richelle Mead leads us back to Palm Springs and back into the lives of Jill, Eddie, Sydney, Adrian, and Angeline. We also see more appearances from Dmitri (and his duster) and Sonya Karp than we did in Bloodlines.

Sydney goes through a lot of personal and emotional growth in this sequel. She not only learns more about the real history of Alchemists, but she also starts to realize that she has more loyalty and tolerance for the Moroi and Dhampir races…and that scares her because she doesn’t want that secret to get back to the Alchemists because they would send her to the re-education center (which she is terrified of). The prejudice that her upbringing taught her (both from her father and the Alchemists) is very hard for her to overcome and she battles with it every day. The decisions that she makes along her journey in this book will make you…. (Nope, not going to give spoilers, it’s MUCH better to not know what’s going to happen – trust me, it will be worth the wait.)

And let us not forget about the sexy, and ever-inebriated, Adrian. For anyone who fell in love with Adrian during the Vampire Academy series (or even if you just discovered him in Bloodlines), be prepared to completely swoon over him yet again. We’ve all adored this sexy man who seems like he’s in a constant battle with his mental health (thanks to his spirit magic), but in this book Adrian takes it to an all new level. I won’t give more details and spoil the plots twists & turns, but just know that hiding his feelings behind his sardonic quips and his constant smoking and drinking just isn’t going to cut it this time.

Also, the narrator, Emily Shaffer does (yet again) a wonderful job with this book. When dealing with a narrator working on a book series, I find that sometimes the characters don’t sound that same from book to book - Shaffer does not have that problem, she gave a seamless performance of all the character’s voices. Her talent for accents and having multiple characters that sound VERY different from one another is astounding.

Buy Golden Lily and get lost in between the pages. I will definitely be enjoying this book a couple more times before Bloodlines #3: The Indigo Spell comes out on February 12, 2013!!!