The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead

Life has gotten complicated for Sydney Sage since Adrian confessed his love for her, so now she's avoiding him, trying to carry out her job for the Alchemists without any complications. But the longer Sydney works with the Moroi, the more she sees that certain things aren't adding up. The Alchemists are hiding something from her, and Sydney is sure that the elusive Marcus Finch holds the answers she's looking for. In between her search for answers and a new nemesis that possesses an awful lot of magical power, Sydney has a lot to handle—and she won't be able to get very far without Adrian's help.

In the third book in the Bloodlines series, Richelle Mead focuses a lot on Sydney's struggle to maintain balance between her two very different lives. Sydney is beyond the point of worrying about betraying the Alchemists, but she walks a fine line between maintaining the appearance of loyalty and investigating their actions while struggling with her magical identity. Spurred into action because of a threat from a powerful witch, Sydney makes great strides in her magical training with Ms. Terwillger, and gains a lot of confidence along the way. Finding Marcus Finch isn't what Sydney expects, which forces her to contemplate how she wants to play the game—does she sacrifice everything she's worked for, or does she stay loyal to her friends and find a way to help them, even if it means more danger? Longtime Mead readers will be rewarded in this book as Sydney continues to sort through the messy Moroi and Alchemist relationships with Adrian's very close help. The Indigo Spell has an ending that is promising and surprising, dredging up past family issues in the Sage family. As always, readers will be clamoring for another book at the last page.

Cover Comments: I'm not particularly crazy about the design of these covers--I think that the girl who is supposed to be Sydney looks a bit awkward--but this one is better than the first two! I like this shade of blue.

ARC provided by publisher.