I really loved this book! Indigo Springs is a Fantasy novel set in our world, but after magic has contaminated it. Magic is a powerful and poisonous force that causes people and plants to mutate, though it can also be channeled into objects that perform specific magic tasks. Astrid’s best friend Sahara has creates a cult around herself and the magic. The cult is causing destruction, including earthquakes, and just keeps growing. The government is desperately trying to get things under control, and is questioning Astrid in jail to try to find out Sahara’s weaknesses, and how it came to this. Meanwhile, the magic in Astrid’s body makes it hard for her to tell the past, present, and future apart.
I was so taken in by this book, and very grateful that I have the sequel to start right away! The book starts at the end, when everything has gone wrong, and then explains how it got to this point. Somehow, knowing the ending doesn’t make it any less dramatic. I was totally engrossed in the explanations of how magic works, how Astrid channels it, and the mysterious background of her father. Astrid is bisexual, which is not glossed over, but not made a big deal of, either. The love triangle in the novel actually makes sense to me, and wasn’t overly dramatic.
The writing is great, the story is compelling, and the characters are interesting. You can’t help feeling for Astrid as she pines over her love interest/best friend gone bad. I thought the backwards storytelling technique worked really well for the story. Also, because the novel is set in our world, I think Indigo Springs would be interesting to people who aren’t familiar with Fantasy novels as well as people who enjoy the genre. The concept of chantments, enchanted objects, is especially interesting. And, the magic is all balanced with drawbacks, which makes it seem believable.
I really recommend this one. It’s been a while since a book has completely drawn me in like this, so I keep thinking about it after I have to put it down. Indigo Springs is definitely going into my permanent collection.
