Tuesday, June 19, 2012

In Her Shoes (12): Sydney from The Golden Lily

In Her Shoes is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Vanya at YA Story Teller. To participate, simply put yourself in the shoes of a heroine you've recently read about, and then talk about what you would do in her place, or what you've learned from her.




Featuring this week:
Sydney Sage from The Golden Lily






Sydney Sage is a main character in The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead which is the sequel to Bloodlines (a spin-off series of the amazing Vampire Academy). And if you haven't read Vampire Academy or Bloodlines yet, you need to. They are fabulous books that are so well-written that I can't even start to express the level and magnitudes of awesomeness that these books contain in their pages. The talent that Richelle Mead has when it comes to world-building and characterization is breathtaking. So good. But back to the Sydney Sage from The Golden Lily.

What I love about Sydney is that she is one of the most unique female characters I have encountered in Young Adult literature. Her personality traits are so rare in fact that many people like to cast her off as an 'unrealistic' character. Which, in all honesty, I can't say I'm surprised at since Sydney's personality is not the most common in literature and in real life for that matter. But girls like Sydney do exist. 

Sydney is an alchemist who is trained to hide the existence of the vampire world from humans. If I was to describe Sydney, I would say that she is an incredibly logical person, dedicated, responsible, selfless. Sydney is so logical, that she totally misses out on details like social cues/romantic cues because of how analytical her mind is. And what is fun about Sydney is that her blend of incredible smarts/logic and obliviousness to social interactions and situations make her trés adorable. I mean, you can't help but feel for her because of how she sees regular things and the fact that OH MY WORD this girl is so intelligent with everything she does, but put her on a date and it's like you just sent this girl to Mars on a date with a little green Martian :D

Would I change something about Sydney? The answer is: NO. I love Sydney. She is such a breath of fresh air amongst so many heroines that all seem to kinda resemble each other. Sydney's biggest asset is her mind and what I love about her in The Golden Lily is that she is starting to learn more about having friends, dating, questioning the strong beliefs that she has been raised with, accepting and learning to take more care of herself. Because thing is, Sydney is so responsible that she totally forgets about herself while helping everybody out and that can burn out a person. I can see her starting to notice that and her growing and developing. Also, I love that she is so sharp and that is she doesn't know something, she goes out to learn it. Sydney is no damsel in distress, that's for sure. No drama. She gets thing done. And I know she is fictional, but I'm jealous of her because she gets to hang around Adrian Ivashkov - so if I was in her shoes, id be happy. Adrian is hands down one of the funnest and best male characters out there right now in YA fiction.







14 comments:

  1. ...I haven't read any Richelle Mead books! *hides* I was always too daunted to start because there were so many out already. I guess it's a good thing it's Summer! :)

    "put her on a date and it's like you just sent this girl to Mars on a date with a little green Martian"

    ^Naww. Great post, Jen. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lauren, tell me it isn't so. These books are amazeballs. You need to read them, girl!

      Though, I hear you on being daunted. I read Vampire Academy at a time where everybody I knew had read them and I was skeptical because I wasn't sure I could handle one more vamp series but after I read the 1st book. My reading life has never been the same :D


      After Harry Potter, these are my babies. I hope that you decide to read them and like them as much as I did/do. And thank you :)

      Delete
  2. I STILL need to read Bloodlines!!! My goal is to read it this summer so I can catch up on the series lol! I have heard great things about it :-) I am so glad to hear that the characters are so interesting!!! Adrian sounds soooooooooooooo awesome!!!!!!! Great post :-) Thanks so much for sharing :-)


    Following your blog! Feel free to stop by my blog!
    SeeitORreadit

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you :)

      Gotcha. I hope you do get the chance to read thgem because it's such a good series!

      Oh, yea. Adrian is epic. Such a fun character and so full of personality. Love him to bits and pieces, haha!

      Delete
  3. I swear, I've started to look forward to your In Her Shoes posts. Sometimes, it's just the nudge I need to get on reading a book. I have Bloodlines and The Golden Lily. I think I might just tackle these books this weekend.

    Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay. That is the best compliment. Thank you & I'm so glad that you like them. That's just so awesome :)

      Well, I say YES to reading the Bloodlines series in the weekend. I may be biased because of my love for this series xD But to me, they are just SO good!

      Delete
  4. I love love LOVE how you picked Sydney for this week, Jen! I think that she's such a refreshing character in YA fiction too -- that's one reason why I love her! We certainly don't get as many heroines like Sydney, but I wholeheartedly agree that there actually are beautiful and brilliant and perfectionist girls out there just like her, and I love that Richelle Mead chose to write about this type instead of your average kick-butt or selfless heroine. Not that she isn't both of those anyways, because she totally is! ;)

    You couldn't have picked a better girl to look up to, Jen! Syd is definitely role model material :) <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm so glad that you agree with me, Mimi :) And yay for being a fellow fan of Sydney as a character & heroine, woohoo!

      And thank you, Mimi <3

      Delete
  5. Hmm, I haven't read either VA or Bloodlines.. And at first I thought you were talking about Tyger Lily, I totally get those two confused. But not anymore, thanks to you!

    Great post! I'm sorry I couldn't participate in my own meme this week, I just haven't read anything new, and had nothing to share :( Sad, isn't it...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vampire Academy is really good. Bloodlines is amazing as well. Such great books. Definitely check them out if you get the chance ;)

      Aw no. And no worries. No need to apologize at all, Vanya. I totally understand!

      Thank you for stopping by, girl :)

      Delete
  6. Really need to start reading this series.. I've got it on my kindle but I still haven't gotten round to it!
    Also those shoes are AMAZING, do you know where they're from? :)

    -Laura
    What's Hot?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I highly recommend this series, Laura. I just finished 'The Golden Lily' today and it was amazingg. I hope that you can read it soon :)

      And sadly I don't know where the shoes are from :( But I am, like you, totally in love with them!

      Thanks so much for stopping by :)

      Delete
  7. I LOVE Sydney! I don't know why she is called 'unrealistic' more than Rose, who I also loved of course. I find Sydney more realiable to myself, maybe that's why I like her so much, and of course, I absolutely envy any girl who gets to hang out with Adrian, and she manages to do so and not to lose any of her identity and personality. Thanks Jen :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, right? Same here, Rox. I loved Rose as a character, but could I relate to her personality? not really. But Sydney? that girl is my spirit animal, LOL.

      I hear you. I love that Sydney never looses her cool around Adrian and I also am jealous of her getting to hang out with him, hahaha!

      Thanks for stopping by, girl <3 Always love hearing from you :)

      Delete

I love comments so feel free to tell me what is on your mind :)

This is an award and tag free blog, though I am always incredibly flattered when someone thinks of me.

Thank you for stopping by and have an awesome day <3