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A review by seraphjewel
The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead
2.0
Update 9/22/24 2 stars
This book is a classic case of an idiot plot. In other words, the plot only works because all the characters are idiots. Angeline being in the story, Sonya getting kidnapped, Sydney's whole magic struggle, none of it works if the characters used one brain cell. A part of me wants to delete these books from my Kindle, but I'm such a sucker for friends-to-lovers.
I'll start with Angeline. You want Jill protected, fine. There are surely plenty of other female guardians you can send who will attract less notice. Also, why wasn't this the first option? The Alchemists are idiots, and the Moroi are idiots for not trying to provide another guardian. From what I remember of Vampire Academy, dhampir would jump at the chance to protect ANY Moroi. A new character is introduced later, so clearly there's no issue with making somebody up. Angeline should not be here; her presence is made worse by how she says and does things in a very stupid or reckless way.
Now for Sydney's magic problems. I said this in my first review, but it must be repeated: if Sydney is so against learning magic, why doesn't she just drop the class? Exactly what consequences will she face by doing this? It's not like the teacher can force her, and if she is failed for it, she can complain to the school that she was being forced to do something that was against her religion/principles. We're never given any stakes that could prevent Sydney from NOT doing the work. She needs to learn magic for plot reasons and the author couldn't think of how to do this without making Sydney into an idiot.
I saved Sonya for last because this one was the most easily preventable. She's accosted by some guy recognizing her from Kentucky. Neither she nor Sydney mention this, for some reason. You don't think it's important for others to know that she was recognized in Palm Springs by some random human? Then it gets worse when they're attacked and they don't do anything about it. No report filed, no immediately getting Sonya out of Palm Springs, nothing! Also, Dimitri was nowhere to be found until after they were attacked. He's a guardian; it's literally his job to protect Moroi, and he failed at it because he was taking a personal phone call. But then on top of all that, knowing that she's in danger, she goes off on her own. Dimitri doesn't go with her, doesn't check in with her for HOURS. This guy utterly sucks at his job. It's just frustrating, because previous narrative built these people as supposedly intelligent, reliable, and Dimitri is supposed to be one of the best guardians out there. But they were all given stupid/incompetent pills to make the plot work.
On a completely unrelated note, Brayden deserved better. I understand the intention (show that Adrian is her HEA), but did Brayden have to be treated so badly by Sydney and her gang? Trey was the only one who was nice to the poor guy.
Original review March 12, 2014 3 stars
All right, let me first say that I liked this book a little better than Bloodlines. There are things that I feel are lacking in this, but there was a lot more going on and I enjoyed all of the struggles Sydney endured. I'm sure a lot of fans were frustrated with Sydney's more intellectual and noncombatant approach, but I found that refreshing and very believable considering her background.
Again, the main thing that bothered me about this book is what tends to bother me in teen fiction as a whole: the romance. Which isn't to say that I didn't like Adrian and Sydney growing closer over the course of the book. What I didn't like was the constant need for there to be a love triangle of some sort going on. I may be as out of touch in the romance department as Sydney, but I find it difficult to really accept that aspect of the romances.
I won't touch upon Sydney's brief romance much, but I will say that despite how much I like her I was frustrated with her in many portions of the book. She claims to struggle against learning magic yet doesn't actually try to get out of it. I believe she could drop this independent study if she really tried hard enough, and she has shown herself willing to stand up against people. She knows that her becoming friendly with the vampires and dhampirs goes against the Alchemists' teachings, and her own personal distractions are taking her away from her duty, but I didn't see her agonize over that enough for my satisfaction. I just feel like there is a lot of lost potential with her as a character.
I really want to see more of her and for more to be done with her than has happened so far. As the main character and narrator, it's incredible to me that more isn't being developed. Then again, Sydney does focus on others more than herself so I can at least logically understand how this happened. Here's hoping that more will happen in the next installment.
This book is a classic case of an idiot plot. In other words, the plot only works because all the characters are idiots. Angeline being in the story, Sonya getting kidnapped, Sydney's whole magic struggle, none of it works if the characters used one brain cell. A part of me wants to delete these books from my Kindle, but I'm such a sucker for friends-to-lovers.
I'll start with Angeline. You want Jill protected, fine. There are surely plenty of other female guardians you can send who will attract less notice. Also, why wasn't this the first option? The Alchemists are idiots, and the Moroi are idiots for not trying to provide another guardian. From what I remember of Vampire Academy, dhampir would jump at the chance to protect ANY Moroi. A new character is introduced later, so clearly there's no issue with making somebody up. Angeline should not be here; her presence is made worse by how she says and does things in a very stupid or reckless way.
Now for Sydney's magic problems. I said this in my first review, but it must be repeated: if Sydney is so against learning magic, why doesn't she just drop the class? Exactly what consequences will she face by doing this? It's not like the teacher can force her, and if she is failed for it, she can complain to the school that she was being forced to do something that was against her religion/principles. We're never given any stakes that could prevent Sydney from NOT doing the work. She needs to learn magic for plot reasons and the author couldn't think of how to do this without making Sydney into an idiot.
I saved Sonya for last because this one was the most easily preventable. She's accosted by some guy recognizing her from Kentucky. Neither she nor Sydney mention this, for some reason. You don't think it's important for others to know that she was recognized in Palm Springs by some random human? Then it gets worse when they're attacked and they don't do anything about it. No report filed, no immediately getting Sonya out of Palm Springs, nothing! Also, Dimitri was nowhere to be found until after they were attacked. He's a guardian; it's literally his job to protect Moroi, and he failed at it because he was taking a personal phone call. But then on top of all that, knowing that she's in danger, she goes off on her own. Dimitri doesn't go with her, doesn't check in with her for HOURS. This guy utterly sucks at his job. It's just frustrating, because previous narrative built these people as supposedly intelligent, reliable, and Dimitri is supposed to be one of the best guardians out there. But they were all given stupid/incompetent pills to make the plot work.
On a completely unrelated note, Brayden deserved better. I understand the intention (show that Adrian is her HEA), but did Brayden have to be treated so badly by Sydney and her gang? Trey was the only one who was nice to the poor guy.
Original review March 12, 2014 3 stars
All right, let me first say that I liked this book a little better than Bloodlines. There are things that I feel are lacking in this, but there was a lot more going on and I enjoyed all of the struggles Sydney endured. I'm sure a lot of fans were frustrated with Sydney's more intellectual and noncombatant approach, but I found that refreshing and very believable considering her background.
Again, the main thing that bothered me about this book is what tends to bother me in teen fiction as a whole: the romance. Which isn't to say that I didn't like Adrian and Sydney growing closer over the course of the book. What I didn't like was the constant need for there to be a love triangle of some sort going on. I may be as out of touch in the romance department as Sydney, but I find it difficult to really accept that aspect of the romances.
I won't touch upon Sydney's brief romance much, but I will say that despite how much I like her I was frustrated with her in many portions of the book. She claims to struggle against learning magic yet doesn't actually try to get out of it. I believe she could drop this independent study if she really tried hard enough, and she has shown herself willing to stand up against people. She knows that her becoming friendly with the vampires and dhampirs goes against the Alchemists' teachings, and her own personal distractions are taking her away from her duty, but I didn't see her agonize over that enough for my satisfaction. I just feel like there is a lot of lost potential with her as a character.
I really want to see more of her and for more to be done with her than has happened so far. As the main character and narrator, it's incredible to me that more isn't being developed. Then again, Sydney does focus on others more than herself so I can at least logically understand how this happened. Here's hoping that more will happen in the next installment.