Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Review: The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead


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?


Well, where to begin?

I guess I should start with the fact that Sydney is a lot like me. No, I'm not a super genius or religious like her. I mean, I like to be informed in all subjects, like her. She catches onto things easily, and so do I. We both question things subtly, without making a scene. This is why I love this character.

Okay, in the summary, it says she has a "new romance with Brayden, a cute.." Stop there. I didn't like this guy. Maybe he was cute. Idunno. He was pretentious and a jerk and no matter how smart he is, I would NEVER go out with him.

The writing in this was amazing. How Richelle created suspense and foreshadowing. Pure epicness.

My favorite part was Adrian's growth. Yeah, y'all remember Adrian? The immature drunk? He's a lot better know. Could this be because of someone else? Hmmm.. Read and find out ;)

But the end... Wow. That has me wanting the third book NOW. I can't believe it ended like that and how Sydney acted. I hope everything works out later in the series.



Sunday, June 17, 2012

Update (2)

So I haven't been posting, like, at all. I don't even remember when the last I reviewed anything was. There's just been way too much going on with me lately. I haven't felt like reading at all. But I miss the blogosphere and hopefully I'll be back soon.

 Here are some pictures for your enjoyment:


I just finished Fated by Alyson Noel. Took me 3 weeks. I'm thinking it was just me not feeling so great, because I really enjoyed this one, especially towards the end. Can't wait for the sequel. And then, I got The Golden Lily. That's my current read. Absolutely loving it.


Cute cat, because...who doesn't like cute cat photos??


And Doctor Who photos... I. Love. Doctor. Who.




Monday, June 4, 2012

Review: The Substitute by Holly Barrington



“The Substitute” is set in an alternate Britain, where Vampires and Mortals co-exist more or less in harmony. However, that may soon be about to change . . .

Emily Brown starts her new job at Pathway Software, and at first everything goes well. She makes new friends there and her bosses are impressed so things are really looking up for Emily. Until her friend is killed. Murdered. The official account said it was a gang hit gone bad, and rumours suggest she had drugs in her possession.

However another, unofficial, report suggests that the bullet wounds were all post-mortem, and the drugs were planted on her in the morgue. It also says that she suffered multiple broken bones, cuts, contusions and…vampire bites. Everything suggests that her friend died a brutal and vicious death at the hands of a number of vampires.

Vampire and Mortal relations are, on the whole, very good. Ever since The Compact, there have been eighty five years of unprecedented peace between the two worlds. But there are some dissenters, the foremost of which are the sinister Circle of Ixiom. And Emily is about to become their bitterest enemy . .


The Substitute was absolutely one of my favorite books of 2012. So unique and funny. I want more ;)
Emily is such a quirky character. She talks to herself and makes hilarious jokes. I loved her so much. And it’s so easy for everyone else to underestimate her, then we as the reader see what she’s really capable of and it’s like “Whoa!” That girl is majorly BA.
There was a lot of confusion throughout the book. Not bad confusion! No no no. Definitely NOT bad. It was the kind that kept you guessing and made you want to read more. There was this one piece of information that I was waiting for until the very last page, and when I finally got to the point, my exact thought was “Aha! I KNEW IT!!!”
I have to point out that there was homosexuality involved. I don’t know, I guess some people are uncomfortable with that so I feel like I should warn them. I wasn’t uncomfortable with it. Honestly, I want to applaud Holly for writing about it. (*begins a slow clap*) Really, the whole issue with sexuality is such a tip-toed-around subject so it’s very commendable when someone has the guts to write about it.
**For you Doctor Who fans out there: well, this book is for you. There were a ton of Doctor Who quotes…that I totally didn’t get. I’ve never seen the show so obviously I had no idea what a “tardis” is. Anywho, I went to the public library and put season one on hold. I’ll be tweeting about how that goes.
I really have nothing bad to say about this. I loved it so much. Like I said, I want more!! This is something I’d recommend to anyone. If you get the chance to read it, let me know what you think (:

**Update: Ohmygoodness. After I read this series, I had an increased interest in Doctor Who. So, I went to my library and picked up season one. A few months later, and I've read every episode at least twice. Oh, and Tardis stands for "time and relative dimension in space". After watching seasons 1-6, I went back and skimmed through the book and totally understand all. the. references. I was so happy. :)