The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead
Bloodlines #3
Release Date: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Penguin
Source: Publisher
Goodreads Stars: 4
Rating: Essential
Buy the Book: Amazon UK

In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she finds herself struggling to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she meets alluring, rebellious Marcus Finch--a former Alchemist who escaped against all odds, and is now on the run. Marcus wants to teach Sydney the secrets he claims the Alchemists are hiding from her. But as he pushes her to rebel against the people who raised her, Sydney finds that breaking free is harder than she thought. There is an old and mysterious magic rooted deeply within her. And as she searches for an evil magic user targeting powerful young witches, she realizes that her only hope is to embrace her magical blood--or else she might be next.

Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood. - Goodreads

Struggling to write reviews has become a common thing for me when it comes to Richelle Mead's books. I love everything about them, and I cannot contain my gushy fangirling. Since this is my review, I decided not to contain myself this time. But I did try to at least make it mildly coherent, for your sake!

- A* to Sydney's character development. If you think back to how she was in Bloodlines - or even in the Vampire Academy series - you will immediately see that she has come such a long way already, and we're only halfway through this series. I didn't have any strong feelings towards her initially, especially since she was such a different character to Rose Hathaway, but I have actually come to adore her.

I love that Sydney is now more open to experimenting with magic. In The Indigo Spell we see her perform a lot more magic, both because it has become a necessity at this point, and also because she's not completely against it like she was in the beginning of the series. In addition to being more open to her magic, she is also more open to questioning the Alchemists, who we all know are not such goody-goodies as they seemed.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how Sydney progresses in the future, since she's already much less close-minded than before. What is she going to be like by the time we get to the final book in the series? Is she going to lead some sort of rebellion? Heh. I cannot wait to find out.

- Sydney and Adrian. *fans self* You guys, you don't understand. Their scenes!!!!1!1 After leaving the pair of them at a not-so-great place in The Golden Lily, I was happy to find that Adrian and Sydney aren't ignoring each other. They're together A LOT. Their connection is so lovely, and I loved their funny scenes as much as their emotional scenes. And as for the hawt ones... Whew. Two words: AYE and Tables.

- Marcus Finch. I don't know about you, but I'm a little disappointed by his character! I think this was meant to happen, though, since Sydney comes to the realisation that this guy might not be able to compare to all the hype that Sydney has built up in her head. I really liked being introduced to him, though, and I think he was extremely important to the storyline as well as Sydney's character growth.

- More magic! EEEEE! I've been loving all the magical stuff that's been going down in the past books in the series, and I was so happy to discover that magic is basically invading Sydney's life. Not because I want to torture her, but because it's natural to her AND it makes for a good story. The whole evil magic user thing was brilliantly done, and while I saw a twist coming, I didn't expect it to turn out the way it did. That was crazy! There is one epic fight scene at the end, which meant that Sydney had to use her magic. She was AWESOME.

- Hilarious. Brilliant writing, etc etc etc. Basically everything I always say about Richelle Mead's books! She manages to balance the drama and the humour and the romance and the action and everything so perfectly. Her books never have a dull moment, and while I am sometimes irritated, that doesn't mean I don't love what's going down. There is a particularly hilarious scene in which Sydney and Adrian inadvertently become parents (do with that what you will) and I laughed so hard I almost cried.

The fangirling wasn't too bad, was it? I think I did pretty well, if I do say so myself. Now I'm just going to sit here and twiddle my thumbs while I wait for Mead's next two books to come out later this year.

What did other bloggers think of The Indigo Spell?
- Renu @ The Page Turner (Rating: 5 stars)