Title: The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3)
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires, magic
Publisher: Razorbill (an imprint of Penguin)
Publication Date: 12 February 2013
Pages: 432 pages
Rating: 5 stars

Synopsis (from goodreads):
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.

My Review:

This book has the Palm Springs crew back in action. Jill is still in danger and had Eddie and Angeline being ever vigilant to any possible attack. Adrian is snarky and spirited as ever and then there’s Sydney. She’s conflicted. With her relationships with the vampires strengthening as she spends more time with them, she’s not sure her Alchemist training and beliefs are the same as her own any more. Ms Terwilliger and her magic is now firmly a part of Sydney’s life – and a deadly threat is now hanging over Sydney’s head because of it. Marcus Finch with his mysterious Indigo tattoo is complicating things further not to mention that Sydney has Adrian constantly on her mind…

I love how there’s so much going on in these books. There’s action and romance with relationships being constantly tested and adventure around every corner. Sydney is steadily growing on me. She’s becoming a strong independent woman who is a far cry from the Alchemist from we met in Russia. I was impressed with her bag of tricks and spy skills! Her quirky banter with Adrian remains one of my favourite parts of the book. The two of them together – even when they’re apart – amuse me and make me smile. They’re gorgeous.

The only downside to this story is I’m not too sure how Sydney managed to be everywhere at once – Mead has kept her so very busy in this novel. There’s the Alchemist plot, her friends at school to keep in line, Adrian, the rebel Alliance, Adrian (I felt like he needed to be mentioned twice), her witchly magic… and there’s probably some I’m missing. I felt it was a little unlikely that even someone as awesome as Sydney wouldn’t be able to be on top of everything.

The supernatural aspect of this novel was interesting. Ms. Terwilliger and the witch storyline let us see Sydney in a new light – as a powerful person in her own right. Marcus Finch was a fascinating new addition. The charismatic rebel is the kind of character that I can see winning many fans. Interesting, mysterious and a rebel with a cause – I can’t wait to see what the future brings in terms of his storyline.

Seeing the zany Malachi Wolfe again was a highlight even if he didn’t exactly add all that much to the story.

I can not wait (but unfortunately will have to) until the fourth book in the Bloodlines series comes out. I love where this series is going and have high expectations for the future!

Many thanks to Penguin Teen Australia and NetGalley for the digital review copy!

Purchase the novel from:

Amazon / Book Depository