The Golden Lily (book 2 of the Bloodlines, Vampire Academy spin-off series) picks up where Bloodlines left off. Our characters are still attending school in Palm Springs in order to keep Jill safe so Lissa can continue to sit on the throne. Dimitri and Sonya have joined our group to conduct some experiments to try to figure out why Spirit will change Strigoi back to regular, and why it may be possible, after the events in the first book, to not be able to be turned back into a Strigoi once one has been returned to normal. 
 One night, on their way home, Sonya and Sydney are attacked by men who seem to believe that Sonya is still a Strigoi. This leads our characters on the mission of keeping Sonya safe and figuring out who exactly wants her dead. 
 I liked this book, and liked being back in this world. I really like Sydney as the lead character / narrator, almost more so than Rose from the original series. While I did enjoy the book, I found that there were a lot of storyline threads that were very obvious. Obvious to me, the reader, but not so much to the characters themselves. I can't tell if this is because it's already the natural progression of the book / series, but there were a couple of things that I wish Richelle Mead would have thrown us a curveball on. Such as the link with this mysterious group. I won't give anything away, but I wish it wouldn't have been so obvious who was involved. Also, the relationships. Certain character's actions were so obvious that I almost felt other characters were "playing dumb" when they didn't notice this fact. It was a little insulting when this character is supposed to be very intelligent and can acknowledge the same interests in others, but when it comes to herself she seems obilivious. 
 There are some very interesting myths introduced that will I'm sure play a bigger part in the next book. I like the subtle build up that Mead does. Giving the readers just a little bit at a time. I have to question if there will be any foundation to having to protect Jill at all. At this point it seems that they are in more danger just being in Palm Springs (sort of as a wrong place, wrong time scenario) than ever having to truly worry about Jill's specific safety. I can only assume this will be addressed at some point. Someone opposed to Lissa will have to eventually figure out that she's in hiding and where she is. Otherwise their trying to be proactive in her safety will be for nothing and I feel the original premise of the series (getting these characters on their own away from the "Vampire Academy" series) will be for nothing as well. 
 I liked the Sydney's opinion on the Alchemists and Moroi / dhampires is still being questioned. She started out (in the previous series) very dedicated to her teachings. I like that she's finding out that not everything is as it seems, and I am interested to see how her viewpoint will continue to be challenged. That there can be exceptions to the "rules" as the case may be. 
 I really like Adrian. I will admit I didn't really understand the extreme appeal of him in Vampire Academy. I think this is because with the series being told in Rose's POV and since she herself wasn't truly intereseted in Adrian (not like she was Dimitri) I wasn't as invested. But the Bloodlines series is clearly his series. He's really grown as a character. I can only hope he continues to fight for what he wants and doesn't start to give up. He really grew a lot in this book, even so much more than from Bloodlines. I want to see him become that "hero" the he thought he couldn't be the one that he thought Rose wanted but he couldn't be (only of course I want him to retain himself as well). I have faith the Mead will continue to do good by him. 
 Even though I had a few reservations about the book, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a good addtion to the series and it's important to read it in order to understand what will come next for our characters. I can't wait for the next book The Indigo Spell, but it will probably be until next year. Until Then!