Crosspost: Bloodlines #3 - The Indigo Spell
Written January 13, 2016, posted on Feminist Quill
Title: The Indigo Spell
Author: Richelle Mead
Year of Publication: 2013
Series: Bloodlines
#: 3
Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.43
Goodreads Rating (Mine): 4
Spoiler Warning
Plot Description: Having kissed Adrian once, Sydney is now struggling with the realization that she might perhaps return his feelings, even as she continues to follow up on leads that hint towards corruption within her organization, the Alchemists. She also finds herself in danger thanks to a mysterious serial killer witch who is tracking down young magic users and draining them of life and power.
The Indigo Spell begins on a hilarious note:
This wasn't the first time I'd been pulled out of bed for a crucial mission. It was, however, the first time I'd been subjected to such a personal line of questioning."Are you a virgin?"
"Huh?" I rubbed my sleepy eyes, just in case this was all some sort of bizarre dream that would disappear. An urgent phone call had dragged me out of bed five minutes ago, and I was having a little trouble adjusting.
My history teacher, Ms. Terwilliger, leaned closer and repeated the question in a stage whisper: "I said, are you a virgin?"
"Um, yes. . ."
I was fully awake now and glanced uneasily around my dorm's lobby, making sure no one was around to witness this crazy exchange.
Sydney's proficiency in spellwork is improving, as is her willingness to engage with her potential for magic. These are two reasons why Jaclyn Terwilliger pulled her out of bed in the middle of the night to help her with a spell. The third reason is her virginity.
This is possibly due to my own personal hang ups, but I hate the idea of virginity holding any special kind of power. It's a theme that's inescapable however, turning up in a wide range of subjects from historical virgin sacrifices to modern society's obsession with virginity.
For one thing, the concept of virginity is highly subjective. We're given to understand that the historical definition of virginity centres around the heteronormativity of sex - (i.e. where a man, a woman and their respective private parts are involved). This sucks for a lot of reasons - anything that's not heterosexual is not included, for starters. Even within this narrow definition of sex, one still runs into problems, because people have been using the hymen as the designated virginity marker. And the hymen often... doesn't exist. Or is lost in ways other than through sex. Or can remain unbroken despite intercourse due to incredible elasticity. In young women, it even shows remarkable healing qualities.
A theory I like more these days is that virginity is more psychological than physiological. If you feel like you're a virgin, then you're a virgin.
Whoa, I've gotten slightly off track. Bloodlines is not the first universe to attribute magical qualities to virginity, and I don't doubt that it won't be the last. Even Terry Pratchett's Discworld makes allusions to this trope by contrasting the unmarried and virginal Granny Weatherwax against the thrice married and happily promiscuous Nanny Ogg. But yes, the idea still makes me uncomfortable - partly because of the horrendous mess 'virginity culture' has become, and partly because I'm afraid it might be true.
Ms. Terwilliger's spell reveals the location of a powerful witch - one who she worries is going after young witches for their youth and power. Once again, she's pushing for Sydney to actively learn more magic - for her own protection if nothing else.
On a much lighter note, Bloodlines provides us with happy Vampire Academy cameos in the form of a Royal Wedding (Sheesh. Does there have to be so many of those?) Queen Vasilisa Dragomir is getting married to longtime boyfriend Christian Ozera, and it's all very cute. Of course, the Queen is still in college, but when you're a monarch, I'm guessing such mortal concerns go out the window. Sydney is attending the wedding as part of an Alchemist contingent who are there to ensure that they don't accidentally insult the Moroi by not turning up. Adrian manages to create quite a lot of controversy by asking her to dance - a proposition that horrifies the Alchemists, and shocks many of the Moroi (including - get this - Abe Mazur).
Ha! Got you, old man.
Sydney's boss implies that she's got to take one for the team because they don't want to look ungracious (or repulsed) by declining. And so we get our first Sydrian dance.
Told you it was cute.
He was unconcerned. "You'll make it work. You'll change clothes or something. But I'm telling you, if you want to get a guy to do something that might be difficult, then the best way is to distract him so that he can't devote his full brainpower to the consequences.""You don't have a lot of faith in your own gender."
"Hey, I'm telling you the truth. I've been distracted by sexy dresses a lot."
I didn't really know if that was a valid argument, seeing as Adrian was distracted by a lot of things. Fondue. T-shirts. Kittens. "And so, what then? I show some skin, and the world is mine?"
The Sydrian plotline converges neatly with the rogue witch plotline as Sydney and Adrian go roadtripping. Their objective? Track down young women in the neighbourhood who might be in danger and ask them to be on their guard.
Sydney finally manages to track down Marcus Finch, an ex-Alchemist who rebelled and has been in hiding from his former employees ever since. Marcus is the one that finally reveals the secret behind the golden lily tattoos worn by all the Alchemists. The tattoos are made with Moroi blood and have bits of compulsion infused into them, making it impossible for the Alchemists to reveal the secret of their occupation to anyone not already in the know. It also makes them compliant and unquestioning, and might even promote the revulsion for vampires that they all seem to share. The good news is, Marcus has found a way to break the compulsion in his tattoo by means of an indigo coloured ink.
The teenager subplot drags alongside the main plot, being neither so interesting as to catch my attention, nor so boring that I'd completely skip over those parts (which is what happens to me every time something romantic turns up in a James Patterson novel). A love triangle turns into a love quadrangle and eventually resolves itself to mutual satisfaction. Sort of like in A Midsummer Night's Dream, but with gender roles reversed.
Mead's humour and comic timing is as ever on point, which makes the occasional hiccup in her writing style so much more bearable.
It was hard for me to talk. "It's instinct. Or something. You're a Moroi. I'm an Alchemist. Of course I'd have a response. You think I'd be indifferent?"
"Most Alchemist responses would involve disgust, revulsion, and holy water."
The overarching story line continues to be paced off well, with Sydney and Adrian finally taking their friendship to the level of a tentative relationship, and with the appearance of a new antagonist more powerful than any Sydney has faced up until now.
"Are we going to run off to the Keepers?" he suggested."Of course not," I scoffed. "That'd be cowardly and immature. And you'd never survive without hair gel - though you might like their moonshine."
The Indigo Spell is a comfortable middle ground for a series - ferocious action combined with cheesy and heart warming romance and serious character development. And my favourite parts about the Bloodlines series are yet to come.
Comments
Post a Comment
Leave an opinion!