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A review by sinika
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
4.0
Wow, I'm turning really preachy with my reviews nowadays, aren't I?
Anyway, I /PERSONALLY/ love the story arc that Sydney is being given whereupon she is forced to confront and examine the beliefs she's being raised with but not because someone is actively trying to change her mind nor is she trying to change her own position but rather her world and her beliefs are being shaken up. That is my JAM. Some of you seem to have some trouble comprehending why this is so difficult for her, to which I really have nothing I can say.
Sydney is not Rose. Look at that sentence and read it again. Okay, got it? I love Rose but I love how different Sydney is from Rose. I can understand why some of you are having trouble adjusting to a new narrator but I'm quite glad we aren't getting just a watered down version of Rose. (Also I don't know what y'all were expecting since we met Sydney already in Blood Promise and Last Sacrifice.)
Look, I think Mead's writing has improved since Vampire Academy and Frostbite. However, let's be honest - this is a YA novel about vampires with magical powers and thus, expectations should be appropriate for what it is. No one should be expecting Jane Austen's writing. That being said I think that the VA books have done a really good job tackling genuine issues.
[I'm amused that the writing tropes readers love in fanfiction are apparently not cool in published fiction. Y'all love the shit out of slow burn romances, what exactly do you think is going to happen in Bloodlines?]
A weak point I'll agree upon is Jill. Her characterisation isn't so much inconsistent as I have trouble understanding anything other than her character's motivations. She wants to model for Lia, just like many normal teenage girls would, she feels like she's a burden to Lissa but what are her interests? What are her feelings towards Rose? Sydney? Christian? Does she like babies? What does she want to do with her life? What's her religious affiliation? I have no clue, really. I wish Jill had a friend the way Sydney has Trey or Kristin and Julia (and no, I don't mean Micah). I think that would open her up as more complex in a way the reader can actually see. (Also I like both Eddie and Jill and I feel for Eddie's painful I-don't-deserve-her unrequited feelings but them as a couple feels so bland and unnecessarily heterosexual, I really would prefer not to see the pair pushed together. I would have loved to see lesbian/bi/pan/queer Jill who is unapologetically into girls. Eddie and Angeline to me have a much more interesting dynamic. ('course I'm not naive, it's clear how that situation's gonna go)
Anyway, I /PERSONALLY/ love the story arc that Sydney is being given whereupon she is forced to confront and examine the beliefs she's being raised with but not because someone is actively trying to change her mind nor is she trying to change her own position but rather her world and her beliefs are being shaken up. That is my JAM. Some of you seem to have some trouble comprehending why this is so difficult for her, to which I really have nothing I can say.
Sydney is not Rose. Look at that sentence and read it again. Okay, got it? I love Rose but I love how different Sydney is from Rose. I can understand why some of you are having trouble adjusting to a new narrator but I'm quite glad we aren't getting just a watered down version of Rose. (Also I don't know what y'all were expecting since we met Sydney already in Blood Promise and Last Sacrifice.)
Look, I think Mead's writing has improved since Vampire Academy and Frostbite. However, let's be honest - this is a YA novel about vampires with magical powers and thus, expectations should be appropriate for what it is. No one should be expecting Jane Austen's writing. That being said I think that the VA books have done a really good job tackling genuine issues.
[I'm amused that the writing tropes readers love in fanfiction are apparently not cool in published fiction. Y'all love the shit out of slow burn romances, what exactly do you think is going to happen in Bloodlines?]
A weak point I'll agree upon is Jill. Her characterisation isn't so much inconsistent as I have trouble understanding anything other than her character's motivations. She wants to model for Lia, just like many normal teenage girls would, she feels like she's a burden to Lissa but what are her interests? What are her feelings towards Rose? Sydney? Christian? Does she like babies? What does she want to do with her life? What's her religious affiliation? I have no clue, really. I wish Jill had a friend the way Sydney has Trey or Kristin and Julia (and no, I don't mean Micah). I think that would open her up as more complex in a way the reader can actually see. (Also I like both Eddie and Jill and I feel for Eddie's painful I-don't-deserve-her unrequited feelings but them as a couple feels so bland and unnecessarily heterosexual, I really would prefer not to see the pair pushed together. I would have loved to see lesbian/bi/pan/queer Jill who is unapologetically into girls. Eddie and Angeline to me have a much more interesting dynamic. ('course I'm not naive, it's clear how that situation's gonna go)