Richelle Mead
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Hardback: 401 Pages
Publication: February 12, 2013
by Razorbill
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.
I am totally, shamelessly admitting that my reason for reading these books has been the epic romance between human and Moroi. It has to be when my reason for reading the first three books through The Indigo Spell has been to see Sydney and Adrian finally get together.
I can’t talk enough about how much I love them. I’m not usually one for going for the bad boy, and yet Adrian is one of my few everlasting book crushes. Okay, he’s not the stereotypical bad boy, but he does have his vices: smoking, drinking, and he has a bit of a playboy partyboy history. At the same time, he’s just so darn charming and full of witty remarks, he’s just irresistible. I love seeing the effect he has on straightlaced Sydney, who is struggling to reconcile her Alchemist beliefs and what her heart tells her. They’re just so cute and perfect together. It’s obvious they were meant to be. And I love the swoonworthy romantic scenes that The Indigo Spell delivers.
Plot-wise, The Indigo Spell fell short of my expectations. With all the anticipation build up regarding Marcus Finch—and with him featured on the cover—I was expecting to see more of him. However, he doesn’t really seem to play much of a role in this book except to provoke Sydney into investigating more deeply into Alchemist affairs. The witch plot failed for me as well. I think there’s just too much going on here for one book, and it’s been a struggle trying to bring the vampire and witch worlds together. With all these things going on, I don’t know how Sydney’s managed to stay sane. What I can say is that I like how she deals with things, and I approve of her decision at the end.
With all the plotlines competing for attention, many of the side characters lost out as well. Other than Sydney and Adrian, the other characters don’t get much page time, which was disappointing as I like a lot of them, excepting Marcus and co. I miss the “family time” from Bloodlines and The Golden Lily. All we really get to see here is that. . . well, it’s complicated, and Sydney is glaringly missing out on a lot of things.
Despite my feelings on the plot, I’m still very much in love with the VA world. I am feeling all sorts of feels and am desperately want to see a happy ending for Sydney and Adrian. As expected, Richelle Mead delivers a complicated turn of events at the end. I’m going oh no oh no oh no and am yearning to get started on The Fiery Heart so that I can find out what happens next. I’ve heard great things about the book and have high expectations for it!
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Favorite passage
There are some swoonworthy moments in this book. Some very swoonworthy elements. However, Adrian is just so full of charm, wit, and sarcasm. I don’t think anything can beat an Adrian retort.
Such as. . .
Oh, Adrian. . . you really know how to live on the positive side of life. I think his situation with Sydney may be even more complicated than with Rose, though it’s certainly easier to woo a lady when her heart isn’t taken already.
Now, I ask you. What are your favorite Adrian moments?
Author: Crystal
A story girl at heart, Crystal is a bibliophile who can easily spend the day immersed in a good read. She writes under the name Kristy Wang. You can follow her writing adventures on X and Instagram @_kristywang.
Brandi Kosiner says
Aw sorry the plot wasn't quite what you wanted but I do love the epic romance
Anonymous says
Haha… yeah, that's my ulterior motive for continuing this series – the epic romance.
Mary @ BookSwarm says
I haven't yet started this series but I think I'm going to read VA first (I know I don't have to but I *want* to…and need to. So many series, so little time!!).
Anonymous says
Honestly, I love VA a lot more than Bloodlines. That aside, I do recommend reading it first because it gives you so much context for the world of Bloodlines!!