Review: The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

The Indigo Spell
by Richelle Mead
Publisher: Penguin Australia

Release Date: February 12th, 2013

Format: Paperback, 448 pages

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. They protect vampire secrets - and human lives. 

 In the aftermath of a forbidden moment that rocked Sydney to her core, she struggles to draw the line between her Alchemist teachings and what her heart is urging her to do. Then she finally tracks down the elusive, enigmatic Marcus Finch – a former Alchemist who the organisation denies exists, and who lives in shadows, on the run. With Marcus's help, Sydney realises that the group she's been loyal to her whole life has been hiding the truth from her. Is it possible that her golden lily tattoo might have more power over her than she thinks? 

 As she struggles to come to terms with what that might mean, Sydney is compelled to use her growing magical powers to track down an evil magic user who is targeting powerful young witches. Using magic goes against everything she always thought she believed, but she realises that her only hope is to embrace her special blood – or else she might be next. 

 Forging her own way is harder than Sydney ever dreamed. Maybe by turning off her brain – and following her heart – she'll be able to finally figure out where she belongs. 

 The hotly anticipated third installment in the New York Times bestselling Bloodlines series.

Richelle Mead never fails to impress me. There’s something so addictive about everything she writes, and I always, without fail, read every single one of her books in one sitting because…I JUST CAN’T STOP READING. I say this again and again- no series can surpass the brilliance of the Vampire Academy series- but, I’m certainly enjoying her new spin-off series a lot more as each new book becomes released J

I’ve noticed Ms Mead is a master at crafting multiple complex plotlines in her books, and somehow seamlessly makes them work. Usually more than one storyline becomes confusing for me, but in The Indigo Spell, I didn’t mind it at all! Sydney (the poor girl!) has her hands full in every book; at this particular time, she’s being coerced into performing magic by her teacher and then has to set out to investigate and stop the perpetrator behind a series of mysterious magic-related occurrences where the victims are left comatose and decades older. (Which, she does with the help of our favourite Adrian Ivashkov<3) Then, there’s also the mystery of finding out who Marcus Finch is and Sydney’s own doubts about the Alchemists. It must’ve been difficult to keep a balance between the two core storylines, but I found it was executed wonderfully!

As for my favourite part of the book? SYDRIAN<3333 I LOVE THESE TWO! Adrian continues to entertain readers with his humour, wit and sarcasm. He’s cut back on drinking and smoking (all thanks to Sydney’s influence!) and of course, he’s deliciously sexy as ever. Meanwhile Sydney continues to fight her love rapidly developing feelings for Adrian, which was both amusing and a little...tiresome. I mean they have off the charts chemistry, so just GET TOGETHER ALREADY! That aside, I did like how Sydney finally started seeing the Alchemists from an objective perspective and believe it or not, our previously uptight and rule-abiding heroine may be a little rebellious after all! Anyway, some of my favourite moments involving these two include dancing, high-calory food terms of endearment, PAINT AND T-SHIRTS (*squeals and hyperventilate*), a Callistana annddddd a certain Greek and Roman art museum! Be sure to look out for those scenes when/if you read the book J

A small issue (well, not really an issue but I wasn’t very satisfied) I had was Marcus Finch’s character. You see, Marcus Finch was this unknown and to me, a highly respected mystery-character, and I had high expectations for him. Added to this, there’s been all these “Who Is Marcus Finch” posts on blogs almost every day, so you’d probably expect some huge twist when his character is revealed. Yet when he finally made an appearance, it seemed as easy as introducing all the other secondary characters who waltzed into the story…and honestly, Marcus Finch’s character isn’t exciting or extraordinary in any way. He just strikes me as conceited and a little…cowardly. *shrugs* But that’s just me.

I said this in my The Golden Lily review as well; I don’t want Eddie and Jill to be together. I still don’t like Jill and doubt I ever will. Here’s hoping I won’t dislike her anymore than I already do in the next few books….

All in all, this is another masterpiece from our beloved Richelle Mead! The Fiery Heart needs to be released. NOW.

 A massive thank you to Penguin Australia for providing a copy of  The Indigo Spell for review!