Komal Mikaelson

Prior to finishing this book
Adrian, baby, please don't disappoint me in this one too. Please?


After finishing the book

Oh my god. Oh. My. God.
OH MY GOD!!

Initial Reaction after reading





*This reaction was solely due to that bitch Sydney. Don't let that fool you in believing that I didn't like The Golden Lily.*

Ok, so let's get this shit on the road.
What can I say? The book blew me away. Blew. Me. Away. I can't hep but fall in love with Ms Mead. Hats off to you lady.


After been started off with the disappointment that was Bloodlines, the book picked up pretty fast. Amazingly fast and well.
All the complaints that I had with Bloodlines, all of them, were so meticulously eliminated in this one that I can't help but gush about the book.

High Points
Sydney. Adrian. Eddie. Unrequited love. Runaway models. Mustang. Self defense classes. Low-on-carb diets. Honesty. Love. Friendship. Textile museums. Aura. Lia Distafano. Red dresses. Brayden/Hayden/Brandon or any other names they come up with. Ms Terwilliger. Khaki-R-Us. The last 5 fucking pages. Adrian. Adrian. Adrian.
Ok, I've got to stop or I'll end up copying the whole book.

Low points
Sydney's inept social skills(more on this later).The last 5 fucking pages.

So the book started right where Bloodlines left off. With Lee killed and Keith out of the way, Sydney's life becomes easier, marginally. Dimitri Belikov and Sonya Karp arrive to experiment on difference between Belikov's and Adrian's spirit and blablabla. You can read all that shit by yourself, I'll tell you what's awesome about this book.

Firstly, the humour and romance that were completely ignored in Bloodlines are abundantly present here. I even enjoyed Sydney's monologue that I found so drab in the previous installment. Her characterization had improved so much from the boring-responsible-dutiful Sydney to still-responsible-dutiful-but-now-interesting Sydney.
She was awfully smart and really spouted some wise and inspiring stuff.

There are no victims here. We all have the power to choose what we want.

The part, the only part, that bugged me she was very selfless and understanding. Emphasis on very. Too much. Unrealistic.
The second part, ok scratch only, for such a brilliant girl, she is just plain dumb naive about guys. No one is that oblivious.

*This happens after Sydney and Brayden's second date when he gets her flowers*

“Brayden got me flowers,” I declared.
“And?”
“And, why’d he do it?”
“Because he likes you, Melbourne. That’s what guys do. They buy dinner and gifts, hoping that in return you’ll—um, like them back.”

The girl is really asking why her boyfriend, who was completely jazzed by her knowledge, brought her flowers?
Huh.

And then, even if I can understand accept her dearth of social skills, she is pretty sharp in picking up Eddie's and Angeline's feelings. What is that about?

So, accept the few 2 above points, I loved it!

Adrian
Yes, he deserves his own paragraph.
I'd just like to quotes Augustus Waters here-


He was everything he lacked in Bloodlines. No more moping, no more idiotic quips, no more yearning for Rose.
He was perfect. The book had more of his protectiveness, witty quips, love, snarkiness and everything that altogether makes Adrian, Adrian Ivashkov!



Conclusion
All those disappointed by Bloodlines, hang on guys, the shit gets better.

Spoilers ahead. And I mean major ones, that'll probably ruin the book for ya and you'll end up cursing me. Don't read if you haven't completed the book.

Ok, so I was trying so hard, so fucking hard, to not to write this, but I can't resist. THAT ENDING.
Really? You had to do that? Are we on some lets-make-Adrian-suffer bandwagon? I mean, Jeez, why can't he fall for someone whose first instinct is to NOT to throw his love right back at his face? Do we really need to be that cruel? Please, please give him a break. He. Fucking. Deserves. It.
Stop it. Seriously stop.

And since, I'm a sucker for cheesy lines, I had to post this:

You make me want to become something greater than myself. I want to excel. You inspire me in every act, every word, every glance. I look at you, and you’re like… like light made into flesh. I said it on Halloween and meant every word: you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen walking this earth. And you don’t even know it. You have no clue how beautiful you are or how brightly you shine.

Thanks to Basuhi, Liz, Aimen, Sacrlet and Jerry! Guys, you were right. So right. Thanks for making me read this. You are awesome!