The Indigo Spell: A Bloodlines Novel (Bloodlines, #3)

by Richelle Mead

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 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.

• ISBN10: 159514613X
• ISBN13: 9781595146137
• Publish Date: 22 October 2013 (first published 1 February 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Razorbill
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 448
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781595146137

Reviews

[Angie]

With The Indigo Spell, I am finally fully invested in this series! There's non-stop action, secret reveals, and kissing! Although this time, Sydney isn't just investigating some weirdness that's possibly related to the Alchemists. Her teacher, Ms. Terwilliger, has a bit of a magical problem and needs Sydney's help. Her sister is back in town, stealing the magic and youth out of young, unpracticed witches. Obviously, Sydney fits this profile, so she must protect herself while also warning other girls, all on top of putting a stop to Veronica. Oh, and Sydney learns that her whole life might be a lie.

The Indigo Spell was great! I loved the witch plot! Sydney has always been anti-magic, but it's proven useful in saving her life, so she's less reluctant to perform spells now. Plus, she doesn't want to be put into a coma and have all of her youth sucked away! I do feel like witches stealing beauty from young girls is a bit cliche, but it was still fun to watch Sydney investigate and learn more about magic. There's also a pretty good twist in there!

As for Sydney learning that the Alchemists are full of liars, I was also really interested in this. She finds Marcus Finch and he tells her all kinds of things about their tattoo and organization secrets. I was shocked, but then again, I wasn't. It all makes perfect sense! There's a lot of explanation of why Sydney might be the way she is, other than just being raised with certain beliefs.

Kissing! The Indigo Spell has a lot of kissing! And not just little pecks. Full on passionate, making out! I know I hadn't been sold on Sydney and Adrian as a couple, but I think I am now. They have so many alone scenes together, and the chemistry was definitely there. Do I think they're in love? Not at all. In lust? Absolutely! Infatuated? Certainly. I am looking forward to seeing where this goes and how their feelings develop now that Sydney knows what she knows.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[KitsuneBae]

See an overall review in Ruby Circle.

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

4 ★ Audiobook⎮By the time I made it to this installment, I was beginning to get used to the leisurely pace of the series. There are bursts of action scattered throughout, but it always seems to return to that same leisurely pace in between them. This series is shaping up to be more of a sprint than a marathon and I'm okay with that now that I know what to expect. Although, I'm still not completely satisfied with the romance. It feels extremely forced, underdeveloped, and frankly, problematic. There are times when Adrian comes off as not understanding that "No means no" and gets rewarded for it. It only bothered me a little while reading, but in retrospect, I'm having a hard time viewing this relationship as "healthy". On the bright side, Sydney is now much more tolerable (since Adrian is the problem). I couldn't say I loved it, but I enjoyed reading it. However, I'm not sure I would still be reading this series if I weren't already a fan of Vampire Academy. To me, that series seems like the backbone of this one. Also, points deducted for a lack of Dimitri. ♣︎

[Katie King]

**3.5 Stars**

Have you ever read something that seemed like when the author started out she knew what she was writing about, but then somewhere along the way she kind of fell off the tracks and the book became about something different? That's how I would describe the Bloodlines series as of The Indigo Spell. When you start out with the first book, Bloodlines, you expect it's going to be about protecting Jill (and thereby Lissa's reign) because that's what the description says. Then you read it and realize it's sort of about that...but it's also a lot about just Sydney's life, which is okay but unexpected.

Then you get to The Golden Lily, a.k.a. book #2, and it's even more about Sydney and even less about Jill (who's honestly boring anyways). After The Indigo Spell I can say with 100% confidence that this series is solely about Sydney and, as a result, a little about protecting Jill (but not really). Jill, the whole reason why we're supposed to initially care about Sydney, is a complete afterthought at this point. That doesn't necessarily mean that the series is bad, it's just different from what I expected going into it.

Anyways, I enjoyed The Indigo Spell a bit more than its predecessors once I pretty much accepted that this series had just become about Sydney (and Adrian). Sydney really grows into her own in this book. She not only accepts that magic is a part of her, but she also starts to accept that being an Alchemist isn't who she is or wants to be anymore. Previously she struggled with being almost like an Alchemist robot that did everything that was asked of her without question. In The Golden Lily, Sydney started to break away and question what was being asked of her. In this book, she gathers intel AGAINST the Alchemists and deactivates the magic in her tattoo. I think it's pretty safe to say she's not going to remain part of them anymore.

Adrian is still basically Sydney's best friend and, as of the end of this book, her lover. I will say that they have some steamy scenes together! I really enjoyed the hot and cold Sydney was giving Adrian because it felt very realistic. Too often you get forbidden romances where the characters are 100% into it right away, but let's face it, most of us would STRUGGLE with that decision to go against what's expected. The back and forth also really helped build up the sexual tension between them, so when Sydney did kiss him, it felt explosive. I'm so invested in this relationship, guys!

The major plotline (aside from the stuff with Adrian) was good, but it still felt like just an aside, like Jill. Haha, just kidding (not really about Jill though)! But it really did feel like that, like the conflict was both introduced and resolved within just this book. Sydney embraces witches and magic, faces down an evil witch, plus meets some ex-Alchemists, steals information for them, and deactivates her tattoo. It SOUNDS like a lot went down, but it's all over really quickly. I would love to see some major conflict that spanned more than one book. Something that really has the potential for that is the whole defying the Alchemists/going against them thing, which has been present in every book but really lacks attention. It's always developed in each installment so far, but it's moving really slowly. I'd love something explosive to happen there!

One thing that bothered me was the lack of depth of the other characters. It wasn't until Sydney snuck out through her friend Julia's dorm window that I realized we literally haven't seen "her best friend Julia" since the first book, or the other girl. Why is Julia still friends with her, because clearly they don't ever talk or hang out at all. Same thing goes with Eddie, Jill, Angeline, Trey, Dimitri and Sonya (they just up and left), or anyone else. They pop in every now and then to further the plot or just fill pages with relationship drama, but they don't feel real. At least not as real as Sydney, Adrian, or Mrs. Terwilliger. I still enjoy their scenes, but it all feels kinda transparent to me.

[Chelsea]

Initial Thoughts

I’m in love with this series and everything about it. My expectations will stay high because I believe really hard that the author won’t mess it up. So far so good!

My New BFF

I really love Sydney. I find she’s an inspiring character. I love that she can think for herself even though she’s been conditioned not to. She’s not perfect in any way and sometimes she does some stupid things but she always makes up for it. It just feels like she’s a real person instead of a made up character in a book. She’s very realistic and I love that about all these characters. She never does anything for herself, always for her friends, and even the vampires she supposedly hates. She’s just a great person no matter what happens around her.

My Crush

It’s impossible to read this book and not fall in love with Adrian. I don’t even know what it is! He just has such an intense personality that you can’t help but laugh whenever he says something. I think it’s hilarious that he knows he’s good looking and lets other people know that he’s fantastic. All his little comments make the book so much better.

Writing Style

There’s nothing bad about this book at all. The plot is intense and doesn’t give you a chance to put the book down. All the characters have intense personalities that are always developing and changing. I like that the characters learn from their mistakes instead of doing the same thing over and over again. Basically this book is as close to perfection as you can get.

Closing Thoughts

My favourite part about this book was that they introduced some new characters. Now there’s a ton of characters to fall in love with! I like how all the new characters introduced are all important to the plot in some way. Not all the characters are good but I love seeing all the new personalities that the author has created. I think that’s why I love this series so much. When you read it you get attached to the characters and you feel everything they feel. I think that that’s the most important aspect of a book for me and that’s why I can’t put this series down.

[Sam@WLABB]

Loved it! My favorite Bloodlines book so far. Why? Because we finally get so many things we want.

My favorite thing about this book is the growth we see in Sydney. She has slowly been distancing herself from the Alchemist rhetoric and starting to think, and live, more for herself, but she just takes it to a whole new level in this book. And just when you think she has found her bliss, we get that little speed bump thrown in right at the end.

I cannot wait to see how all of this evolves.

Loved this!

[RoXXie]

Wow, I am totally amazed. Sure, I can somehow say I saw it coming. But I guess I was more hoping for this change. For Sidney Sage's change of believe and behavior.
So far The Indigo Spell was the best out of the Bloodlines-series. Richelle Mead totally got me with this one.

But of course, it is hard to tell from to beginning to the end if Sidney will give in and turn to love and friends, and away from the Alchemists. It's been hard on her to get on a trip to deceive the ones she grew up with, who educated her on almost everything she knows and to tell her what's right and wrong. But you can easily tell that it's eating on her, that there are those secrets the Alchemists keep from her. She wants to know the truth. She wants to right the wrong, even though if the wrong ones are the Alchemists.

Sidney's adventure continues. And her new little family grew on her, some closer than others. But she feels for every single one.
By the end you can tell, that Sidney will still have a lot of tasks upon her. And it's hard to wait for the next book.

[tellemonstar]

Cross-posted at Book Reviews With The Blog Monstar.

The Indigo Spell was really good. I got what I wanted, although there are certainly more questions to an answered by the time I finished. Especially with the way Richelle Mead finished the book. Holy cow!

I mostly didn’t want to punch Sydney during this, which is good, because unless they are supposed to be awful, I don’t really like feeling violence towards the protagonists in novels. I understood why she was so hesitant to be around Adrian after what happened at the end of The Golden Lily having being raised by the Alchemists. I still wanted her to get over it already, but I understood that she needed to figure it out for herself.

The wedding was a lovely touch. I think it showed Sydney just how two-faced the Alchemists are, and how they would throw one of their people into the fire without so much as a backwards glance if it meant they didn’t have to touch the icky vampires. Also that Ian guy seems just a little bit ‘Hulk-Angry!’ for my tastes. It’s probably why he has been stuck in the library – the Alchemists don’t want him causing problems.

I really didn’t like Marcus. I thought he was smarmy and full of himself – I enjoyed it when he was honestly surprised by Sydney’s lack of reaction to his ‘charms’. Take that smarmy boy! I also didn’t like the absolute adoration of Marcus by all of the others. In fact it was kind of creepy. Which obviously meant it worked well as a plot device. I did find it quite telling too that although he talked the talk about taking on the Alchemists, he certainly didn’t walk the walk, and was confused as to why Sydney wanted too. Well duh!

The whole magic thing with Miss Terwillinger was really well done. I liked how Sydney managed to find her own beliefs under those she had been raised with – that the lives of innocent people are worth doing something about as opposed to just sitting back and then cleaning the mess up later. I was glad she found her backbone and decided to do what needed to be done. She’s a damn good witch too, even if she is still uncomfortable about it.

My jaw fell open after reading the last few pages of The Indigo Spell though. I mean, woah! I need the next book like I need air. Mostly because I can’t wait to see how Sydney is going to handle her sister being around, and that new guy but also we get Adrian’s perspective this time, which I imagine will be very interesting. Not to mention funny, given Adrian’s view of the world.

[Hixxup]

ok so I'm soooo dying for the next book to come out!!!! This book has been the best yet, I just loved all the twist and turns and revelations revealed in it. I'm also glad that Sydney is pulling the stick out of her butt, and growing up and outwards to more possibilities.