The Indigo Spell (Bloodlines #3) Review

The Indigo Spell (Bloodline #3)

Richelle Mead

Publisher: Penguin

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.

What I loved about the Vampire Academy series was the action and the way Richelle Mead would pull the rug out from under you at least once a book. What I love about the Bloodlines series are the characters and relationships. Syndey has changed and grown so much since we first met her in Broken Promises. She was brought up to protect humans from vampires and other nasties by the Alchemists and to think all supernatural creatures are evil and unnatural. However, through her time helping to protect Moroi Princess Jill, she has become to think that not all them are evil, particularly a certain former playboy, called Adrian...

Sydney is great character – smart, brave and ready to do anything for her family and friends. I like her loads and her indecision over Adrian is completely understandable given her upbringing and Alchemist background. The dancing around each other throughout this book is a little frustrating at time but worth it in the end. They really do bring out the best in each other. The relationships are what kept me reading – not just Sydney and Adrian but Sydney’s friendship with Jill and Eddie and even the fractured relationship with her Dad and sister. That’s not to say there’s no action.  

At time it feels like a lot is happening here – with a renegade witch draining youth and magic from those with abilities, the deepening of the Alchemist conspiracy plus keeping Jill safe. The layers of stories build on each other but are separate with only Adrian and Sydney connect all the stories. There is some really cool magical action with Sydney finally embracing her natural aptitude. It is very different from the Moroi elemental magic but just as interesting.

Richelle’s writing is so readable and the world so detailed that it feels like coming home. This is one of my favourite YA series and I am so intrigued to find out what happens with the Alchemists and if Jill truly is safe. It will be a long wait for the next book!

Recommended for fans of Jennifer Estep and Kelley Armstrong. 8.5 out of 10

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)

The Golden Lily (Bloodlines #2)

-       Richelle Mead

Publisher: RazorBill

Tough, brainy alchemist Sydney Sage and doe-eyed Moroi princess Jill Dragomir are in hiding at a human boarding school in the sunny, glamorous world of Palm Springs, California. The students--children of the wealthy and powerful--carry on with their lives in blissful ignorance, while Sydney, Jill, Eddie, and Adrian must do everything in their power to keep their secret safe. But with forbidden romances, unexpected spirit bonds, and the threat of Strigoi moving ever closer, hiding the truth is harder than anyone thought.

I honestly can’t tell you how comfortable it is to fall back into Richelle Mead’s Moroi world – it’s like collapsing into a soft armchair at the end of a long day and putting your feet up. This time we follow alchemist, Sydney as she continues to protect humans from the knowledge of vampires while hiding Jill from those who would use her against Lissa, the Moroi queen.

Sydney isn’t a physical heroine like Rose – she can’t fight, but she does use her brain and knowledge a lot. She even starts taking some self defence lessons here so she won’t be as vulnerable and always waiting to let someone rescue her. I like that element of her character. Kick-ass heroines are always a lot of fun – but a brainy heroine who loves learning? That’s someone I can relate to! She is fairly clueless in the social arena and it was fun to follow her on dates and complete miss some social clues. Adrian as well appears to have finally started growing up. There is some heartbreaking insight into his family life – and it was good to see Adrian finally taking control of his own destiny at last. I loved seeing Dimitri away from Rose and from another perspective as well!

Again, I found this a rather slow burn – always appealing, but slow with some exciting action towards the end. There was some great relationship development and the last page had me feeling so much for our characters – I wanted to give them a big hug! Sydney continues to struggle to reconcile her alchemist upbringing insisting that all vampires are unnatural with her developing friendships with the Moroi and dhampires and I really want to see how this develops over further books.

Richelle Mead’s biggest strength is the ease at which it is to keep turning pages and how absorbing the world is – I want these books to be longer, despite being over 400 pages each. It’s going to be a long wait for the third book in this series.

Recommended for fans of Jennifer Estep and Lili St-Crow. 8.5 out of 10.

Bloodlines Review

Bloodlines (Bloodlines #1)

-       Richelle Mead

Publisher: RazorBill

Sydney protects vampire secrets - and human lives.
Sydney belongs to a secret group who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the world of humans and vampires. But when Sydney is torn from her bed in the middle of the night, she fears she's still being punished for her complicated alliance with dhampir Rose Hathaway. What unfolds is far worse. The sister of Moroi queen Lissa Dragomir is in mortal danger, and goes into hiding. Now Sydney must act as her protector. The last thing Sydney wants is to be accused of sympathizing with vampires. And now she has to live with one...

From the first page I was reminded how much I enjoyed Richelle Mead’s writing and the Moroi world she created with the Vampire Academy series. Sydney isn’t a vampire – she’s an alchemist, raised to believe all vampires and magic are unnatural and evil and that her duty is to protect the human world from both Moroi and Strigoi alike. When she is awakened in the middle of the night for a new duty to help protect the Moroi Princess Jill as she hides among humans, Sydney is torn between her upbringing and her growing respect for the Moroi and dhampir she now has to live with.

Most of the main characters here are ones we have run into before in the Vampire Academy series – Sydney, Adrian, Jill, Eddie and it is great to see such supporting characters getting more the spotlight. Adrian in particular is given much more time and development. I loved the relationship he and Sydney share considering their polar opposite viewpoints. Sydney is all about duty and responsibilities while Adrian is about instant gratification. They both rub off slightly on each other and I’m excited to see how this develops over the series. I really liked that even Adrian’s friends don’t hold a lot of expectation from him, while Sydney wants him to accept some responsibility.

I loved the characters and the different viewpoint – Sydney is a great heroine who has a similar need to protect as Rose had, but her focus is all on humans rather than Lissa. I liked her dislike of magic and how she sees the vampire world from the outside. However, I did feel there were a couple of issues with the story – the tattoo storyline was very obvious from early on and I can’t believe it took Sydney so long to figure it out. The whole books also had a large element of setting the scene and background rather than a fully coherent story on its own. Not necessarily a bad thing – the first Vampire Academy book was the same! I am excited about this series though and what Adrian, Sydney, Jill and the others will face in coming volumes! This was a great introduction to the world – readable even if you haven’t read the Vampire Academy series, but I would recommend reading them as well – just because they are well worth a read!

Recommended for fans Jeri Smith-Ready and Kelley Armstrong. 8 out of 10.