Mad Musings On: 'The Indigo Spell' By Richelle Mead

THE BLURB:

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.


Populated with new faces as well as familiar ones, the Bloodlines series explores all the friendship, romance, battles, and betrayals that made the #1 New York Times bestselling Vampire Academy series so addictive—this time in a part-vampire, part-human setting where the stakes are even higher and everyone’s out for blood.

MAD MUSINGS:

Being a fan of Richelle Mead, and knowing her writing style, I was all set to read The Indigo Spell: the third book in the Bloodlines series.  I had my cup of tea, box of Kleenex, and Prozac prescription ready to go.  Richelle's #3 books are known to be heartwrenchingly traumatic to the extent that you are thinking about things for weeks afterwards.  For example, after reading Shadow Kiss, #3 of the Vampire Academy series (and the series that this sequel series is based on) , I was screaming at the book and was in a funk for at least a week - that's how much I'd come to love the characters.   And same thing with reading Succubus Dreams (#3 of the Georgia Kincade books).  Soooooo good......  

So I was expecting some really drastic wrench to be thrown down at the end of this book too.   Was I right?  Well, I'm happy to report that the prescription was not necessary this time around *WHEW*  but there were moments that had me squirming in my seat - some of it was good, and some of it was because poor Adrian doesn't seem to catch a break! 

Adriannnnnnnnn........ AD-RI-AAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNN  (Ahem-I just had to get that out)

I-LOVED-THIS-BOOK.  Richelle, you have done it again.  I'm so glad you have given us, the fans, a chance to love Adrian - because it was a really hard choice when he was 'the-one-who-got-away' in Vampire Academy.   Now, we don't have to make that choice.  And Sydney, poor little Sydney.  She's going to be unstoppable and I can't wait to see her kick some major Alchemist butt.... 

And thank you for not making us wait another year for The Fiery Heart ( Bloodlines #4) - waiting for the fall will be torturous enough!  Oh well, at least I'll have Gameboard of the Gods (Richelle's new Age of X series) to fall in love with verrrrry soon. :)

I can't gush about this enough....

***** 5+Stars

Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters Release Date Confirmed

Release day is FEBRUARY 14, 2014!!!!!  Sweeeeeeetttttt.  I know what we are doing for Valentine's Day next year :D   Can't wait to see Dimitri and Rose in action, and meet the rest of the cast......

Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters Cast!!

Ok, I need a little moment for a fan-girly freak out!!  I'm very, VERY excited to see who they've cast for the upcoming movie adaption to Richelle Mead's Vampire Academy.  I have two tiers of favourite books in my head: There's the books-I-adore favs and then there's the BOOKS-I-OBSESS-ON favs.  And Vampire Academy is near the top of that list!  So I was hoping that I would be happy with the casting....

I present, Danila Kozlovskiy as Dimitry , Zoey Deutch as Rose, and Lucy Fry as Lissa

I'm very happy with these picks from the team doing the casting (although, Lucy is not how I pictured Lissa in my head, I'm ok with that)  Just the fact that they've cast a hot Russian actor for our Dimka is enough to give me faith that this is going to be a great movie.  I can't wait for a movie premiere party at my local theater :)

Drop me a word if you are a fan of Vampire Academy too - it's more fun to obsess with other like minded peeps :)  Bring on that love charm scene......

Obsessions of a Bad Blogger

Hey, I'm here!  I haven't really gone away - just been doing summer-y type things, and lots of reading.  Added a few reviews to Goodreads - but nothing really reallllllly interesting.  But now that all the fall shows are starting promotions, or, like GLEE,  have actually started their new season..... my focus will shift from books, to TV. I'll still be reading things ( I'm always reading) I just won't have the time to keep up the pace I've enjoyed over the summer

This was my fav reading spot of the summer - our cabin in Valemont, BC

How can this setting NOT be inspiring?

Yes, I am still obsessing on Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness.  In fact I'm almost finished doing up the pinterest page read-along.  I've been enjoying chatting with fellow addicts over on the All Souls Trilogy Discussion Group (or ASTDG) on facebook who have brought many new depths to the discussion than I could've ever figured out on my own!(Philippe is Hercules?? Really??? WOW!) We collectively pool our thoughts, and who knows how many 'eggs' we've discovered together?  This is probably the reason why the SON pinterest page is twice as big as the ADOW one.... I'm just going to have to go back to that page afterwards, because there's many things to add to it!  That's a future re-obsession.... 

Check that out here - leave comments! Vote  for your fantasy ADOW cast...  

http://pinterest.com/tlmfarmgirl/a-discovery-of-witches-read-along/

http://pinterest.com/tlmfarmgirl/shadow-of-night-read-along/

I also have a few favorite books I've discovered over the last few months:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10215349-the-immortal-rules

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13157446-rift

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12880428-the-wolf-gift

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12716010-rapture

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8755776-city-of-lost-souls

YES! You know it's a comin'...... 

IT'S THE FIRST OFFICIAL BREAKING DAWN 2 TRAILER!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xOSoONDpY4

And you know what that means?  I get to annoy the c#@p outta my facebook friends one last time by posting BD2 quotes three times a day  BWWAHAHAHAHAHA - You have been warned.... it starts ONE MONTH FROM TODAY (October 16) 

I'm also thinking of the final Twilight DVD party - how will I ever top wedding cake, champagne and feather fascinators?  I don't know yet, but I'm pretty sure there will be imprinting involved....  ;)

A new thang I'm a part of is The Edmonton Book Bloggers group.  We've discovered that there several bloggers in Edmonchuk here, so we decided to have a meet and greet and get to know each other. We are a fabulous group of bloggers who seem to mostly read YA, and have a varying age range.  Our latest meeting was for the Smart Chicks Kick It tour, and we had front row seats to meet Kelley Armstrong, Veronica Roth, Beth Revis, Ally Condie, Charles De Lint, Melissa Marr, and Margaret Stohl! I'm doing another post on that, but it was fantastic!  I don't know how we're going to top that one... anyways, check out the link on the side bar ----->  We are up to 15 members! :)

And I have to mention something that's been buzzing in my brain.... Doodling!! I feel the need to break out the colorful markers and color, color color!  I got to the point where I just happened to be in Staples last week, and I was drooling over all the markers on sale - I had to get them!  Look at all those pretty greens.... and blues... and purple!  And........  

now I want to do these:

*YES that last one is a 'color famous works of art' page of Van Gogh's Starry Night - squeeeee!!!!

Mad Musings on: 'Shadow of Night' by Deborah Harkness

This series is beyond anything I've ever read! I've been totally drawn into this world since March - It consumes me! It probably doesn't help (or does it?) that I'm a part of a great All Souls group that are all just as obsessed as I am. Deborah packs so many 'Easter Eggs" into her books, we will probably never find them all, but we are sure up to the challenge of trying! I've learned, from this book, so much about Elizabethan England and Europe, than I never knew before. I feel like the main characters, Diana and Matthew, are personal friends of mine!

So anyways, Shadow of Night is #2 of the All Souls Trilogy (#3 title has yet to be announced...)and it continues right where the first story left off - with our friends literally stepping into the year 1590. Deborah weaves a wonderful spell with her attention to history, and her hidden eggs of information that you can research to find (hint: Google everything! All the names, anything that is particularly described... EVERYTHING!) One shining strand, which is the historical characters we meet (Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlowe, Henry Percy and Thomas Harriot are just the first of a long line up...) is cleverly intertwined with original threads of a paranormal, romantic, adventure timetravelling, bodice-ripper that happens to include strings of witches, vampires and daemons. And they are bound together in a knot so complex, I had to read the book twice in a row to 'get' it all!! 

I am in the process, just like I did for A Discovery of Witches, of building a pinterest board of many of the hidden eggs that I and others have found, and I'm also including many other links to places and objects that are found in the book - just because I wanted to actually see what, for example, a farthingale bum roll was, or what the streets of Elizabethan London looked like in 1590... Visit my pinterest page here :)

http://pinterest.com/tlmfarmgirl/shad...

- Did I mention the Deborah Harkness drops in every once in a while to leave me comments and hints or to tell me if I'm off track? I'd love to hear your comments on pinterest.... See you there!!

Here's the official book blurb:

"Together we lifted our feet and stepped into the unknown"—the thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller A Discovery of Witches

Deborah Harkness exploded onto the literary scene with her debut novel,A Discovery of Witches, Book One of the magical All Souls Trilogy and an international publishing phenomenon. The novel introduced Diana Bishop, Oxford scholar and reluctant witch, and the handsome geneticist and vampire Matthew Clairmont; together they found themselves at the center of a supernatural battle over an enchanted manuscript known as Ashmole 782.

Now, picking up from A Discovery of Witches’ cliffhanger ending,Shadow of Night plunges Diana and Matthew into Elizabethan London, a world of spies, subterfuge, and a coterie of Matthew’s old friends, the mysterious School of Night that includes Christopher Marlowe and Walter Raleigh. Here, Diana must locate a witch to tutor her in magic, Matthew is forced to confront a past he thought he had put to rest, and the mystery of Ashmole 782 deepens.

Deborah Harkness has crafted a gripping journey through a world of alchemy, time travel, and magical discoveries, delivering one of the most hotly anticipated novels of the season.  -