Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

This topic is open for discussion of The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead.




Book 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?

Reserved

Reserved

I am suddenly really disappointed I suggested this only be a once a month buddy read.

I'm in for this one!

Im in also

Fantastic! Welcome to you both :D

Oooh! This starts today!! *picks up book and starts to read*

I'm going to start reading today, this thread fell off my rader!

I think I'll start reading this too!

Oh I'm so glad that other people are going to be reading this. I was worried that I'd be reading this after Christmas all on my own :D

Where are people up to?

I will join this discussion. I will begin the book after the first of the year. I read the first one a couple of years ago.

Awesome, Karrie. I reckon that's an achievable start date for me too.

I am on chapter 4. So far I like the book. I read the first one a last year. As I go along parts of it are coming back for me. So far I don't have too much to say. I like how she refreshed my memory without being obnoxious about repeating things.

I have really liked this book. I have just finished chapter 12 (view spoiler)[ I didn't realize how much she would reference back to the Vampire Academy Series I have just finished the first book in that one, so I am a little disappointed. It is pretty obvious, I think, that Adrian is interested in Sydney. I wonder how she will react when she figures it out. (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

This book was great! I like Sydney better than I like Rose so that makes this series better for me. (view spoiler)[ I found the battle at the end disappointing. I would rather have seen Sydney make some progress with the Hunters. I am curious to see how the relationships continue.(view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

BUDDY READ REVISIT! BUDDY READ REVISIT! BUDDY READ REVISIT!


This topic is open for discussion of The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead.

Starting Saturday Jan. 30th

I can hardly wait! =D

Up to Chapter 5 (pg 72)

I am not a fan of Angeline so far. She's kind of gotten on my nerves. And I'm curious as to the presence of Keith in the first chapter. I'm wondering if that is going to play a role in the novel down the road.

Up to Chapter 8 (pg 131)

I am not a fan of Angeline either. But I want to know more about her Keeper society. Speaking of Keith, I want to know more about the facility they sent him to. That first part with Keith really set up a juxtaposition of what he did versus what Sydney is doing. Because even though she still has an aversion to magic for the most part she is very friendly with the Moroi and dhampirs. They would have to have a worse punishment for her, because although Keith made a deal with Clarence and was selling his blood and saliva, he still didn't like the vampires.

There's something weird about Trey's cousin. Also, with Trey, he acted strangely when he saw Jill for the first time. If my prediction of him being a vampire hunter is correct then I think he knows what Jill is and maybe he's worried that Sydney is one too. Brayden is a good match for Sydney but what if there are ulterior motives for putting them together. He's knew so he might be in league with Trey. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. LOL.

Something else that was interesting was the person that stopped Sonya and Sydney when they got food for everyone. Sonya claims she doesn't know who that man is but he knows who she is. Fishy.

I feel so bad for Adrian. He's stuck doing something he really doesn't want to with a person he really hates (Dimitri) and Sydney seems to be his only escape but now she's interested in Brayden. I think it's subtle but you can tell that Adrian has feelings for Sydney, and Sydney really doesn't realize that what she feels sometimes for Adrian goes beyond friendly. It'll be interesting if they ever become a couple.

Mrs. T (I always forget how to spell her last name) has Sydney doing some interesting spell research, I wonder if those will come in handy later like the fire amulet did in the first book.

Sarah wrote: "I am not a fan of Angeline either. But I want to know more about her Keeper society. Speaking of Keith, I want to know more about the facility they sent him to. That first part with Keith really set up a juxtaposition of what he did versus what Sydney is doing. Because even though she still has an aversion to magic for the most part she is very friendly with the Moroi and dhampirs. They would have to have a worse punishment for her, because although Keith made a deal with Clarence and was selling his blood and saliva, he still didn't like the vampires."

I keep waiting for Angeline to evolve, but she doesn't. I'm still trying to figure out the purpose of her character, if she even has one. But I agree about the Keeper society.

You make a great point about Keith. (view spoiler)[Sydney seems to toe the line every day with what is part of her job and what is her personal relationships with the group. (hide spoiler)] And while Keith was farrrr from a saint in the first novel, he still had his ideology in line with the Alchemist teachings. Sydney, however, seems to be straying further and further away. It wasn't surprise me if that is one of the fundamental theme throughout this series, as it seems to be so far. I think she's going to have an internal personal struggle of beliefs when it comes to vampires, and I'm thinking a lot of that is going to come from her relationship/interactions with Adrian and Jill.



Sarah wrote: "There's something weird about Trey's cousin. Also, with Trey, he acted strangely when he saw Jill for the first time. If my prediction of him being a vampire hunter is correct then I think he knows what Jill is and maybe he's worried that Sydney is one too. Brayden is a good match for Sydney but what if there are ulterior motives for putting them together. He's knew so he might be in league with Trey. I'm getting a little ahead of myself. LOL.."

I don't know what the heck is up with those two. On one hand, Sydney and Brayden are adorkably cute, for all the seasons that Trey seems to believe they are perfect for each other. On the other hand, they don't seem to have much chemistry. Like, at all. I don't know if it's because both are clueless when it comes to relationships or what. I've definitely been in a relationship where on paper we were perfect for each other, but when we were dating I realized I was only ever going to like him as a friend. (view spoiler)[I kind of get the sense that this is the direction Sydney and Brayden are heading down (hide spoiler)].

And Trey? I have no idea about him. I'm further along (Chapter 15), so I don't want to get in specifics, but I'm starting to definitely buy in on your theory that he has something to do with the vampire hunters with a couple of weird things Sydney has noticed/pointed out in her narrative. Although, in Bloodlines, I jumped to some conclusions I thought were obvious (that the guys running the tattoo place where the vampire hunters) and I was completely off, so now I'm a little more cautious lol!



Sarah wrote: "I feel so bad for Adrian. He's stuck doing something he really doesn't want to with a person he really hates (Dimitri) and Sydney seems to be his only escape but now she's interested in Brayden. I think it's subtle but you can tell that Adrian has feelings for Sydney, and Sydney really doesn't realize that what she feels sometimes for Adrian goes beyond friendly. It'll be interesting if they ever become a couple."

I think it's impossible to read either this series or the VA series and not relate to Adrian on one level or another. i.e., Rose breaking his heart by dating him even though she was in love with someone else the entire time, his fractured family relationships, his unique talent and tortured soul, and the way that no one can really understand him because no one truly knows what he's going through. How do you not pity/sympathize someone who is going through all of that at the same time? Plus he's snarky and kind of a bad boy. Born to be a lady killer lol. I definitely see Mead planting the seeds of a relationship for them down the line, and I think that plays a major part in my theory that one of the subfocuses of this series is Sydney's prejudices and how they are changing now that she's actually interacting with these people she's always judged.


I'm still finding the plot of this novel slow (I think maybe even slower than the first one). There a lot of time spent developing characters and relationships that I'm kind of neutral/bleh about, so I'm hoping the pace/suspense starts to pick up before too long. But I'm still liking it enough (though Jill's starting to irk me a little as well. She just doesn't have much development in her character at all). And Sydney's constant focus/worry of her appearance bugs me.

So I finished it about 5 minutes ago so my thoughts might not be very coherent.

Angeline is definitely different from where we last updated, but I feel like there might be more that she's hiding. I want to know more about Keepers in general so I'm hoping we might get more of that in a later novel.

Keith doesn't come up again, but I think Sydney is realizing more and more that even though Keith was a horrible person perhaps she is being put into a similar situation. She claims to still hold the Alchemist beliefs, but she's doing things that go way against them. Plus, the interesting part about Sydney is that she conspired with another vampire to have Keith's eye taken. That's a ruthlessness that is in Sydney that we haven't really seen yet. I wonder if that will become a bigger thing later.

I'm glad everything with Trey and the Warriors of Light is all out in the open. It was lurking underneath everything and it's all clear now. I know they'll probably show up again. Especially if they're only taking out Strigoi in order to eventually take out Moroi.

Adrian is so different from where he was before. He's not pining over Rose any more but I don't really know if it's better for him to be interested in Sydney. At this point their relationship would be doomed as well, because of Sydney's misguided loyalties.

While the plot did seem to start slower, I think the climax and ultimate resolution were way more interesting than the first book. I'm really excited about the next one also.

I haven't read what you wrote yet since I still have a little ways to go but wanted to see if you wanted to start the next one this Saturday =)

No problem! Take your time. This Saturday sounds good :)

Still not quite finished (up to Chapter 22)

So, it is just me or does it seem obvious that (view spoiler)[Jill is paying attention to Sydney's look and looking at her with glassy eyes because of how Adrian's feeling through the bond (hide spoiler)]. I realize that Sydney is kind of oblivious when it comes to relationships, but I thought it should be pretty obvious.

I'm also a little confused about Warriors of Light. If they have been around for generations (view spoiler)[(long enough for Trey to be automatically a member because of his family heritage) (hide spoiler)], how come they've never heard of them before? Especially if they are out hunting Strigoi, you'd think the Moroi or the Alchemists would have heard of them before. Or did I skim over something in the read that explained that (or maybe it's coming later).

The pace is definitely picking up now, and I see how all the elements that Mead slowly threaded through the novel are slowly coming together.

Elise wrote: "Still not quite finished (up to Chapter 22)

So, it is just me or does it seem obvious that [spoilers removed]. I realize that Sydney is kind of oblivious when it comes to relationships, but I thou..."

I thought it was pretty obvious too!

I think Sydney talked to Stanton about it and she didn't seem to have a lot of information about the Warriors of Light. Basically that they're a group that stemmed off from the Alchemists, but it seems like the Alchemists didn't really take them seriously, or see them as a possible problem. Perhaps, the Warriors just got bigger than they ever expected.

Sarah wrote: "I think Sydney talked to Stanton about it and she didn't seem to have a lot of information about the Warriors of Light. Basically that they're a group that stemmed off from the Alchemists, but it seems like the Alchemists didn't really take them seriously, or see them as a possible problem. Perhaps, the Warriors just got bigger than they ever expected. "

Now that you say that, I kind of remember reading it (the hazards of multitasking. I read it, but can't always remember it!)

Finished it today =) The ending with Sydney and Adrian was kind of surprising, but at the same time Mead spent enough time developing the characters that it feels true to both of them. I would have been disappointed if (view spoiler)[Sydney had given into Adrian's whims right then and there. I still think she will eventually, but she has all these walls she's built around herself with her teachings with the Alchemists that I think it's going to take some time, even though she's already starting to cross some of the barriers that the others in her group believe in (hide spoiler)].


Sarah wrote: "Angeline is definitely different from where we last updated, but I feel like there might be more that she's hiding. I want to know more about Keepers in general so I'm hoping we might get more of that in a later novel."

I'm still not the biggest fan of Angeline. Her character just doesn't seem "real". She's got some development, but it doesn't feel authentic. And the (view spoiler)[love triangle developing between Eddie, Angeline, and Jill is a little annoying, just because I really don't understand Eddie and Angeline at all. That you irritate me, but suddenly now I find that attractive. (hide spoiler)]. Granted, Angeline shows that development, but I still wasn't the biggest fan of that development.

Overall, I think I'm on par with how I liked the first one. There is still a lot of development going on in layers, so I'm thinking the series is going to get better and better as Mead develops these parts later on that she's laying the foundation for now - the Warriors of Light, the Keepers, the magic Sydney's learning from Mrs. T, and of course Adrian.

Looking forward to the next one this weekend =)