The Legacies by Jesscia Goodman

Title: The Legacies

Author: Jesscia Goodman

Genre: YA Thriller

Series: N/A

Hardcover, 336 pages 

Publication: July 25, 2023 by Razorbill
Source: I received a review copy in exchange for a honest review.
Buy|AMAZON|B&N|

Old money. New secrets. One killer party.

Scoring an invitation for membership to the exclusive Legacy Club in New York City is more than an honor. It gives you a lifetime of access to power and wealth beyond any prep school doors and guaranteed safety and security as Legacy Club members always look out for their own. That is, after you make it through a rigorous week of events and the extravagant gala, the Legacy Ball.

So it’s not surprising when Excelsior Prep seniors Bernie Kaplan, Isobel Rothcroft, and Skyler Hawkins are nominated as Legacies; their family pedigrees have assured their membership since birth—even if they're all keeping secrets that could destroy their reputations. But scholarship kid from Queens Tori Tasso? She’s a surprise nominee, someone no one saw coming. Tori’s never fit in this world of designer bags, penthouse apartments, and million-dollar donations. So what did she do to secure her place?

The night of the Legacy Ball is supposed to be the best night of these seniors’ lives, a night of haute couture, endless champagne, and plenty of hushed gossip.

Everyone expects a night of luxury and excess. No one expects their secrets to come out. Or for someone to die trying to keep them hidden.

 MY THOUGHTS

The Legacies is a standalone YA mystery thriller with the perfect vibe of Gossip Girl. The story is centered around four Excelsior seniors leading up to the Legacy Club Ball, an event that will shape their entire future. The book jumps back and forth through time and multiple POV of the three main heroines, Bernie the “It” girl, Isobel the “sidekick best friend” and Tori the “scholarship girl”. The Legacies opened up with a murder that shook high society to its core, as readers discovers alongside the characters what transpired and the identity of the victim as they navigated: lies, betrayal, secrets, blackmail…all in the name of The Legacy Club.

I’m normally not a fan of multiple point-of-view but in the case of The Legacies, it worked and was integral to the story. Readers were able to see more depth and exactly what the characters were thinking because most of the time, what we think we see and know on the surface isn’t the entire story. The girls couldn’t be more different, all nominated to the club for different reasons but all with the same goal. The Legacy club is the key to opening doors that are only available for the select members. Because it's not how or what you do but who do you know.

I enjoyed The Legacies more than I expected to. The first page set the tone of the book and I was hooked right away. The story flashed back before the Legacy ball and after, sprinkled with interview snippets as we pieced the puzzle pieces on the victim’s identity and people’ motives. The mystery aspect had me on the edge of my seat with endless twists and turns I didn’t see coming! Goodman’s writing and storytelling kept me engaged the entire time, adding enough bread crumbs along the way to entice reader resulting in a satisfying conclusion. Its been awhile since I’ve read a standalone and I forgot how nice it was to reach the end with things all tied up and completed.

 

 

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Title: The Golden Lily 
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy
Series: Bloodlines #2

Paperback, 418 pages
Publication: January 8, 2013 by Razorbill

Source: Personal Library

Buy|Amazon|B&N|

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. Alchemists protect vampire secrets - and human lives.

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 her 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 Braydon, 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?

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.

I’m starting to really dig Adrian and Sydney as leads and possible couple. I’ve read many books where the secondary characters go off and become leads of their own novel but Adrian and Sydney are the only characters that I’ve seen that made it worked…they’re actually more interesting and likeable enough to carry a novel all on their own. In the first book, Bloodlines, we finds out hiding out in Palm Spring isn’t as boring or uneventful as everyone believed it to be. The Alchemists thought hiding Princess Jill in a desert oasis would ensure her safety but instead there were sightings of strigois and vampire hunters. Readers encountered strigois in the Bloodlines, and now in The Golden Lily, we delve deeper into the world of vampire hunters.

In my review of Bloodlines, I wrote that Rose is my all-time favorite YA heroine and no one can compare to her. While that is still true, the more I read about Sydney the more I like her. Rose is one of the most kick-ass heroines in the YA genre but Sydney can totally kick-ass in her own ways through hard work and smarts. And, in my opinion Sydney is way more relatable than Rose. Then there’s Adrian, the Moroi everyone loves. Underneath Adrian’s devil-may-care attitude is someone who’s sweet, caring, and intelligent...and surprisingly cares about what people think of him (to an extent). I really love Adrian, ever since he turned up in Frostbite…and now that I see another side to him…it’s like Dimitri who? LOL.

All in all, The Golden Lily is a solid addition to the Bloodline series. I love that I get to see more of Sydney, Adrian, Jill and Eddie who all played secondary or tertiary characters in the Vampire Academy series and meeting new characters like Trey and Angeline. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series, and can’t wait to see what Mead has in store for Sydney and Co.