The Golden Lily discussion

hi, i have some problems with Bloodlines series.
I really love the Vampire Academy series, it's my favorite series.
I really like the characters and the story. Thought Sydney was an okay character. And I liked alchemist thing.
when I heard that there was a spin-off series of Vampire Academy, which was about Sydney and alchemists. Then I thought that this series sounded exciting and could think of to read it. Which I do not usually do often with the spin-off series.
I thought the first book was okay. Liked that some of the old characters came back. Ex. Adrian, Eddie and Jill. Had a little problem with that Sydney was still an okay character, but I liked how the first book left off, so I started the other.
This is where my "problems" begins with the series.
Firstly, The Golden Lily made me so that I understood Sydney better( thats good), but I still think there is nothing really special about her, she's still okay for me.
I really want to like her, like I did with Rose, but i just cant.
The second problem is about Sydrian. I really like Adrian in Vampire Academy and felt sorry for how it ended for him in Last Sacrifice.I liked that he was talking to Sydney about how everything ended with Rose and what he feels / felt for her. I really wanted to not think he would be sorry for her forever, but he would go ahead and maybe be friends with her again.
But not with the Sydney ...
I really can not see Adrian and Sydney together as a couple. Being friends is okay but not together as a couple.
I can see Sydney like Adrian but not vice versa. and it feels as if "Sydrian" will take a big place in the story.

The only thing that interests me to read further in the series, is the secret of her blood and meet old characters. And I think it really should not pursue me to continue reading a series.

Do not really know what to do,do the series get better or should I just quit reading it? Should i give The Indigo Spell a chance?

you should defenetly continue yes the storie has a slow start but it gets better don't give up on this storie its really good

Cecilia wrote: "you should defenetly continue yes the storie has a slow start but it gets better don't give up on this storie its really good"


ok, finished reading The Indigo Spell and something happened when I read it.
I have never directly liked Sydney, has just thought that she is an okay character.
But after this book, I realized that I am a lot like her. I understood her. The things she did, I had made and etc. So now I like her a lot more than I did before.
You are right that the series begins slowly and it is the third book series begins to take off.
But I still have a problem ....... Sydrian.
I can not see them as a couple, it's something that does not click with me when I think of them together.
I really liked Adrian in Vampire Academy and felt sorry for him in the Last Sacrifice. Really wanted him to move on from Rose.
Do not really know what to do with them ...
Thought begin reading The Fiery Heart and see what happens.

What do you think about Sydrian?

I think that Sydrian gets better especially with the newest book. I now understand and like Sydrian!!

ok, I'll try to read The Fiery Heart and hope that Sydrian gets better. Will certainly take a long time, because at every "Sydrian" scene takes a long time for me to read. I stop reading and thinking "no, no, no, this can not happen" and it becomes like a kind of chaos in my head. I do not hate them together but I do not like them ... I like them separately but not together as a couple.

It feels like I'm the only one who has read the Vampire Academy and is reading Bloodlines who do not like Sydrian ....

I have to say something to you, I have finished reading the Silver Shadows ....
Now, I like Sydrian and you were right, the series gets better and better with each book. now I can not understand that I did not like Adrian and Sydney together as a couple, but after reading both The fiery heart and silver shadows, how can you not like them?
they are so cute and perfect for each other.

Amanda wrote: "hi, i have some problems with Bloodlines series.
I really love the Vampire Academy series, it's my favorite series...."

I read Bloodlines and The Fiery Heart but the other books I couldn't finish. Sydrian for me is forced,I don't like the person that adrian became when he is with Sydney. I'm not talking about the drinks and drugs, I'm talking about how he is imature with her.
I have and I see a lot of problems at Bloodlines series, so, I couldn't agree more with you, Amanda.

"The only thing that interests me to read further in the series, is the secret of her blood and meet old characters. And I think it really should not pursue me to continue reading a series."

Annie wrote: "Amanda wrote: "hi, i have some problems with Bloodlines series.
I really love the Vampire Academy series, it's my favorite series...."

I read Bloodlines and The Fiery Heart but the other books I c..." ok, know i actually likes(maybe not love) Sydney and Adrian, after reading Silver Shadows. i like how we get to see more of Eddie(and how he has dealt with Masons death) and how Adrian develops as a person.

trust me, the fiery heart and silver shadows are the best out of the lot, keep reading guys! sydrian gets so much better and it becomes more clear how they click and why they are so good for each other. it just makes sense. the books, although i loved them all, were a little "slow" to begin with but you just have too keep reading! and all the main characters come back in the last book and second last book so i'm really excited! just push through! i promise you won't be sorry!!!!

Continue with the series is all I can say

Amanda wrote: "I have to say something to you, I have finished reading the Silver Shadows ....
Now, I like Sydrian and you were right, the series gets better and better with each book. now I can not understand th..."

I knew you would lol

I loved it. I actually prefered that it took Adrian and Sydney forever to get together- because really, there are so many books where the hero and heroine get together uber fast and it just doesn't seem like it could really happen.
"Oh, hot muscled guy who helped me save whoever!"
"Love me!"
"Well, if the author insists..."

Kenna wrote: "I loved it. I actually prefered that it took Adrian and Sydney forever to get together- because really, there are so many books where the hero and heroine get together uber fast and it just doesn't..."

so true.

know what you mean, the books are so good, can´t wait for book 6!

Annie wrote: Sydrian for me is forced,I don't like the person that adrian became when he is with Sydney. I'm not talking about the drinks and drugs, I'm talking about how he is imature with her.

Couldn't agree more. Up until Adrian's line about Sydney's eyes at the end of Bloodlines, Adrian was a great character. Then he turned into this mushy Sydney-infatuated mess that got worse with each book, especially after they got together as a couple. It's like his core character was completely changed to make Sydney the alpha in their relationship and make him 'fit' better with Sydney. Not to mention suddenly out of the blue, he has such dire spirit problems that he became a problem for Sydney to fix. (Say whaaaaaaaaaaaat?) Sydney talks to him like he's a child and he in turns acts like a pouty five year old. It's ridiculous.

This is seriously the only fictional couple that makes my stomach do disagreeable flip flops when I so much think of them together, and I've disagreed with a lot of pairings in things I've watched/read. (Lincoln/Olivia from Fringe, Elijah/Katherine from Vampire Diaries, Elijah/Hayley from the Originals, Georgina/Seth from Richelle's Succubus series, Sam/Harrison from Popular, Lana/Clark from Smallville... I have a long list.)

Amanda wrote: "hi, i have some problems with Bloodlines series.
I really love the Vampire Academy series, it's my favorite series.
I really like the characters and the story. Thought Sydney was an okay character...."

I guess it's just a matter of preference. Personally, I couldn't really stand Rose. I didn't like her at all. I found her selfish, prejudicial, and her tendency to consciously and un-apologetically use people to her own ends really bothered me. Dimitri was also too much of a Prince Charming-archetype, flat character to me. I found him completely uninteresting, and I found it difficult to care about him one way or the other...which made Blood Promise a hard read for me, because I really didn't care what happened to him. The overall plot and side characters were interesting enough to keep me reading, but, in fact, a big reason why I kept reading is because a friend of mine insisted that Bloodlines was a lot better. Once I read Bloodlines, I definitely found myself of this opinion as well.

So it seems to me like if you were very attached to VA and Rose, you might not like Bloodlines as much, whereas if you were iffy about VA and Rose, you may like it a lot. I liked Sydney infinitely more than Rose. There's just no comparison for me. I adore Sydney, and she is pretty much my favorite YA heroine. I find her witty and relateable and really just a better character/person overall than Rose. Similarly, I found Rose and Dimitri's relationship to be forced, whereas Sydney and Adrian's dynamic seemed more organic and interesting to me.

But this is all just a matter of preference. I don't think you can say, objectively, that Sydney is better than Rose or vice versa - it's just a matter of who you as a reader like better, and then I think this is the main factor that shapes how you'll enjoy either VA or Bloodlines. I didn't like Rose, and was iffy about VA. I loved Sydney, therefore, I love Bloodlines!

Kenna wrote: "I loved it. I actually prefered that it took Adrian and Sydney forever to get together- because really, there are so many books where the hero and heroine get together uber fast and it just doesn't..."

Yes! I loved Adrian and Sydney's progression. Speaking from experience, the sorta of insta-love we see with Rose and Dimitri and a lot of YA couples just doesn't happen in real life. Insta-attraction, sure! And Sydney had that with Adrian too - she thought he was hot. She says as much pretty plainly. But for Sydney, physical attraction isn't enough to justify pursuing a relationship, so she needed to form a genuine connection with Adrian first, and realistically, it takes a lot of time for this to happen - it has to be a culmination of a lot of different, little things, which we see with Sydrian in the first three books, and I love that.

Emily wrote: "Amanda wrote: "hi, i have some problems with Bloodlines series.
I really love the Vampire Academy series, it's my favorite series.
I really like the characters and the story. Thought Sydney was an ..."
ok. now I love both VA and Bloodlines.

I have to say I liked the 3rd book the most. But then again I prefered the bloodlines series than the Vampire Academy one, and also I prefer Adrian and Sydney as a couple than Rose and Dimitri. I always thought Dimitri was really dull and didn't relly care that much about rose and him as a couple either, whereas I think Adrian and Sydney have much better chemistry... So if you don't really agree you shouldn't read it 'cause the Indigo Spell pretty much centers to Adrian and Sydney's chemistry.

Ugh... For some reason, I just can't stand this series. It actually started off okay for me though. I liked Sydney as a character - she was a lot like me. But then, as more Sydrian was introduced and the focus moved off of the plot and off of the side characters, I began to hate the series. The Fiery Heart is literally one of the worst books I've ever read, and it's so disapointing coming from an author I loved sooooo much.