Reread Review: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #2
Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date:  June 12th 2012
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: My copy
Blurb (from Goodreads):

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. Alchemists 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 her 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 Braydon, 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 Bloodlines buddy reread with Jamsu @ Jamsudreams continues. I have to say that I'm happy for the fact that it feels like I'm reading these books for the first time all over again. Since I only read these books only once before, a lot of the stuff that happens is a shocker for me, so I get to be surprised by them again. The Golden Lily had a few elements that I remembered, but it was mostly about the smallest of details and not the important stuff. I did have as much fun now as I did the first time I read the book.

Reread Book Review: Bloodlines by Richelle Mead

Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Bloodlines #1
Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date:  August 23rd 2011
My Rating: 4 Cups
Source: My copy
Blurb (from Goodreads):

I wasn't free of my past, not yet.

Sydney's blood is special. That's because she's 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. But the last encounter Sydney had with vampires got her in deep trouble with the other alchemists. And now with her allegiences in question, her future is on the line.

When Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, at first she thinks she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. But what unfolds is far worse. Jill Dragomir - the sister of Moroi Queen Lissa Dragomir - is in mortal danger, and the Moroi must send her into hiding. To avoid a civil war, Sydney is called upon to act as Jill's guardian and protector, posing as her roommate in the unlikeliest of places: a human boarding school in Palm Springs, California. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one.

The Moroi court believe Jill and Sydney will be safe at Amberwood Prep, but threats, distractions, and forbidden romance lurk both outside - and within - the school grounds. Now that they're in hiding, the drama is only just beginning.

My buddy read with Jamsu @ Jamsudreams continues with Bloodlines by Richelle Mead. I've been dying to get to this series ever since Sydney was introduced in Blood Promise. As fun as it was revisiting Rose and Dimitri, Sydney and Adrian's story is the one I've been meaning to read for the past few years. I've always been afraid of reading the last 2 books in this series, but having Jamsu as a reading partner helps me get over my "reading the last book in a series" fear.

This is also my 3rd time rereading Bloodlines. Let me tell you what I saw differently this time.

Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra

I've never made it a secret that my love of books is only matched by my love of music. So today I am very happy to bring you the best of both things. Welcome, to the Bookshelf Symphony Orchestra!

Reread Book Review: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Author: Richelle Mead
Series: Vampire Academy #6
Audience: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date:  December 7th 2010
My Rating: 3 Cups
Source: My copy
Blurb (from Goodreads):

They come first.

My vision was growing dimmer, the blackness and ghosts closing in. I swore it was like I could hear Robert whispering in my ear: The world of the dead won't give you up a second time. Just before the light completely vanished, I saw Dimitri's face join Lissa's. I wanted to smile. I decided then that if the two people I loved most were safe, I could leave this world.

The dead could finally have me.

Rose Hathaway has always played by her own rules. She broke the law when she ran away from St. Vladimir's Academy with her best friend and last surviving Dragomir princess, Lissa. She broke the law when she fell in love with her gorgeous, off-limits instructor, Dimitri. And she dared to defy Queen Tatiana, leader of the Moroi world, risking her life and reputation to protect generations of dhampir guardians to come.

Now the law has finally caught up with Rose - for a crime she didn't even commit. She's in prison for the highest offense imaginable: the assassination of a monarch. She'll need help from both Dimitri and Adrian to find the one living person who can stall her execution and force the Moroi elite to acknowledge a shocking new candidate for the royal throne: Vasilisa Dragomir.

But the clock on Rose's life is running out. Rose knows in her heart the world of the dead wants her back...and this time she is truly out of second chances. The big question is, when your whole life is about saving others, who will save you?

Join Rose, Dimitri, Adrian, and Lissa in Last Sacrifice, the epic, unforgettable finale to Richelle Mead's international #1 bestselling Vampire Academy series.

The day has come, my dear fellow book lovers. Jamsu and I are finally at the end of our Vampire Academy buddy reread. I didn't imagine I'd be this happy to read the final book in a series that I love so much, but here we are. Here's the thing. This reread has made me realize once again that the way one feels about the book they're reading is influenced by a lot of things that are not related to the book itself. Let me tell you all about it.

Bookending Spring 2020: Who Am I?

Bookending Spring is an event hosted by Clo @ Cuppa Clo and Sam @ Fictionally Sam

Welcome to the third prompt of Bookending Spring my fellow book lovers! Sammy Sam's choice for this prompt fits me like a glove. I am a cover hoe lover and I will take any and all opportunities to stare at pretty covers. I have chosen my books in the past just because of the cover, as I've previously stated. Here's the prompt info:

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover the remix edition! Let’s see if you can accurately guess a book’s synopsis–solely on the cover alone.

Sounds awesome, right? Let's get started!

Bookending Spring 2020: The Wedding Tag

Bookending Spring is an event hosted by Clo @ Cuppa Clo and Sam @ Fictionally Sam

The second prompt of Bookending Spring is hosted yet again by out wonderful Sammy Sam, and this time she's come up with an original tag. Here's more about this prompt:

An Original tag that plays off the wedding phrase: “Something Old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”

Are you excited? Because I am. Let's get started!