Tuesday, July 2, 2013

**Review** Becoming Indigo by Tara Taylor ~Tour Stop~





High school is finally over, and Indigo Russell is living with two of her best friends in the Glebe, an artsy, bohemian area in downtown Ottawa. It’s summertime, which means humid, restless nights. The apartment is making strange noises at all hours. Is it just her imagination, or is something more sinister at play?

Meanwhile, Indie has no idea what she wants to do with her life. As close friends and classmates prepare to head off to university, she’s left wondering where to go—a task made all the more difficult as her thoughts are interrupted by weird voices. Who are these voices that keep talking to her? Angels, or villains? Is the apartment haunted . . . or is she?

As she searches for answers, and attempts to control her supernatural abilities, Indie forms a close bond with nice-boy Paul. Not long after, Indie’s first love, John, comes back into her life, complicating everything. Fate leads her to Annabelle, a woman who shares her psychic gift and who may be the one to help her figure it all out.

In the face of danger and heartache, Indie must learn to follow her intuition, listen to her inner guide, and discover who she should trust, to become the person she is meant to be.


Release Date:  July 1, 2013
Published By: Hay House, Inc.
Review Copy: Mobi.
**provided by publisher for tour
Buy It


Review


  The excitement that I had for Through Indigo's Eyes was not lost on this novel.  Indigo is a character that just stands out and I couldn't wait to read more on.  Moving away from 
home and graduating from high school may be a big change but it doesn't change who this beautifully written character is and it certainly doesn't change what she is.  Life keeps moving and it seems it doesn't matter if Indigo likes it or not there is a plan for her but she has to step up herself and accept it.

  With a better grasp on who Indigo is this novel starts off a lot differently than Through Indigo's Eyes.  As planned she has moved out but as expected it's not as easy as that.  She lives in an apartment with two other girls and works at a horrible minimum wage job just to make rent.  Even with three of them living in the apartment Ottawa is not a cheap place to live.   I enjoyed getting to know the little slice of Ottawa that Indigo has started to make home.  However it doesn't seem to matter where she goes, the visions and happenings just follow her around.

  I think that Indigo has only become stronger since the last book.  She still tries to hide who/what she really is because she fears rejection but she is only just learning exactly what it is she truly is and what she is meant to do.  I was so happy that she had started to become accepting of what her calling was, she wasn't just jumping into believing but she was trying but fate seemed to have other things in mind for her.  When something happens that she doesn't foresee and her voice doesn't warn her of, Indigo starts loosing all of the ground that she had gained.  I can't say that I completely blame her but I was sad to see a character I loved so much beaten down.  Everything happens for a reason though and it does kind of work out.  This girl has great realistic responses and can hold her own, she's the kind of characters you love from the start.

  I liked the romance so much more in this installment.  It is far from the main focus as everything is more focused on the growth of Indigo.  Paul was a pleasant surprise and I was so relieved when he was nothing like John.  Paul was basically the polar opposite of John and was so good for Indigo but unfortunately John was not completely out of the picture and brought nothing good with him.  Indigo is sadly pulled into what John feeds her and there was a serious part of me that feared Paul would be gone but as I said Paul is so different.  Paul is a big reason for a lot of good in Indigo's life and I hope if this series continues he will be a bigger part of both the story and Indigo's life.

  This was another learning experience for me and I love experiencing it through Indigo. Becoming Indigo answered many of the questions that had built up within me from Through Indigo's Eyes.  There was the same brilliant writing that I had come to expect.  Lorna and Tara are a creative team that are perfectly matched and I'm sure I could enjoy anything that they produce.  Hopefully this is not the end as I now have new questions that need to be answered, especially with how it all ended.  Not that it is a cliff hanger and I guess if it ended here I could live with it but there is more I want to know.  I can't get enough of this series and recommend it to anyone that is a fan of the paranormal, visions or just wants something a little different.



About Indigo Russell and 
her Intuitive Abilities

Becoming Indigo, while a work of fiction, is loosely based on the life of intuitive Tara Taylor. To further clarify some of the situations in the book, the writer of the novel has asked Tara Taylor to answer questions about the character of Indie.

Lorna. How does Indigo see things?
Tara. There are three ways that Indie can see things:
1) She can physically see with her eyes, and in this book it would be like Green Lady. She can see her in a body, even though she is a lost spirit, and that is because she is in the in between and hasn’t gone to the light yet. She also saw Isaiah on the bus.
2) Indie can also see snapshots that come to her, and they are just pictures, like a still camera shot, or sometimes they flash and then they disappear. So it is like a photograph. In the novel, she heard liver and onions but she also saw a photo of Juanita with her grandson.
3) The third way that Indie can see is similar to a movie reel. What happens here is that she watches the scene play out, like she is watching a movie. When she was reading for the girls at Queen’s University, she saw the eggs and the hollow egg with nothing in it. And it was moving and bouncing, but here was nothing inside of it. But she did see it moving, and it wasn’t just a snapshot.

L. What exactly is a past life?
T. A past life is the life you may have had before you were in this body. So in other words, most of us have had other lifetimes. You could have been male, female, or of a different nationality. Have you ever had that instant connection with someone? Where when you meet with them for the first time, you feel as if you have known them before? You could have been with them in another life. Some of us have had many past lives, some have had a few, and others may be here for the first time. Some people may think of this as reincarnation.

L. What is cord cutting?
T. Cord cutting is when you cut energetic cords between you and another person or spirit. With every person you meet, you exchange energy. Sometimes this energy is balanced, and sometimes it isn’t balanced. Indie’s energy with John was not balanced. She often felt drained of energy when she was with him. There are energy givers and energy takers. One is not right or wrong. So in essence, cord cutting means that you cut yourself off from someone’s energy so your energy isn’t being drained from the situation. This doesn’t mean you can’t be in the person’s presence, because you can. You are just learning not to take on their energy. There are different theories of how to cut cords. Indie prefers an old Japanese method, which is where she mimics cutting cords with her hands at the same time as she takes deep breaths. She also combines this Japanese method with asking Archangel Michael to cut any cords that are physically or emotionally draining her.

L. Why did Annabelle teach Indie to use oracle cards instead of tarot cards?
T. Annabelle taught Indie to use oracle cards because it made her use more of her own natural abilities, such as seeing and hearing. The tarot cards, which are also great, are more black and white, and tend to have predetermined answers. Annabelle didn’t want Indie to rely on the cards and wanted her to use her abilities.

L. What are lower-level beings?
T. The example in Becoming Indigo of a lower-level being is Green Lady. She hasn’t gone to the light yet and is in limbo because she had a traumatic experience. Other lower-level beings could also be in limbo because they are hanging on to something physical from their lives as humans. Eventually they will all go to the light, but some need assistance like Green Lady did in the novel.

L. What exactly is manifestation?
T. In the novel, Indie manifested her trip to Scotland by writing it down over and over. The repetition helped her to stay focused on what she wanted and to manifest this dream. It could have also brought the fruition of her dream to her more quickly. So instead of going to Scotland when she was 25, she went when she was 18. Your thoughts can become reality. And you can create your own destiny, so keep your thoughts aligned to what you want and to your goals and dreams. To practice this, get a notebook, and every day write out three to seven times: “I am so happy and grateful that I am now . . .” You fill in the blank, and even if you haven’t reached the goal, you must write it as if you had. This way you can attract your goal and make it come true.

L. Can you really cleanse a house of lower-level beings like Indie, Sarah, and Natalie did with Green Lady?
T. Absolutely! The lower-level spirits don’t realize that they have passed over, and they still think they are human, so they try to get attention. Annabelle taught Indie some tools to try and get rid of Green Lady to encourage her to cross over. The tools they used, sage and crystals, helped to tell Green Lady that they knew she was there. This was good because she got some of the attention she needed. Sage is an ancient native tradition, and crystals absorb the energy of the being. Please do not attempt this on your own. Get help first, like Indie did, before ever trying any of this.

L. What is the purpose behind crystals?
T. Crystals are energy, and they have been used for centuries for healing rituals in all sorts of faiths and traditions. Before electricity, we used stones for heat and power. They act as absorbers for us, and as much as they are pretty and look nice, they also have energetic healing qualities.
Here are three examples of crystal energy:
1) A clear quartz crystal is good for sleeping and grounding.
2) Rose quartz is great for cleaning any emotional issues and is a great love protector.
3) Amethyst is good for intuition and spiritual connection. It helps you listen to your own spirits, your guides.
There are many, many more crystals, and if you want information on them, there are some really wonderful books that you can read.

L. What is the difference between the light and the dark?
T. The book was set up in three parts so we could raise this topic. There are angels and good spirits on the other side who want to help you. You have a divine team that wants to look out for your best interest. But there are also spirits that are lower energies that you can connect with through things like the Ouija board. These are self-serving and want only to help themselves. They will do anything to make their pain go away, and they could work through you for their own personal fulfillment. Indie opened herself up in the novel by not protecting herself, and some lower-level spirits latched on to her energy, which is why she was experiencing mixed emotions.

L. What is the mean voice/ego voice that Indie has in the book?

T. I don’t want you to think that this voice is all bad. It does serve its purpose and can help you with drive and can help you succeed in life. But you have to be careful, because if you let it control your thoughts completely, then it can overpower your intuitive voice. You have two voices. Your ego voice often thinks in problems and not in solutions. It can have words like how (how are you going to do that?), and also should, would, could. For example: You get invited to a party, and you know it’s in your best interest to stay home, but your ego voice may say, “You should go!” If you really listen, your intuitive voice will speak first and the ego voice will speak second. The intuitive voice works on your deepest truth and the ego on assumption. In the novel, Indie allowed her ego voice to control her. She knew it wasn’t in her best interest to go with John, but she felt she “should” go to be a good friend. The situation did not work for the best.



About the Authors




Tara Taylor is an internationally known intuitive counselor, spiritual teacher, and motivational speaker. She is president and CEO of Whitelight Wellness and co-founder of the Just Say Yes seminars. Tara counsels people of all ages and guides professional intuitives and children with clairvoyant gifts, as well
as friends and family who need help understanding these special children.
Visit: www.tarataylor.ca and www.throughindigoseyes.com

Lorna Schultz Nicholson is a full-time writer who has published over 20 award-winning books, including Roughing and Northern Star. Her nonfiction book, Home Ice, was on the Globe and Mail bestseller list for many months and was a top selling sports book during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Lorna divides her time between Calgary and Penticton, where she and her husband share their homes with their crazy golden retriever, Snowball, and whiny bichon-shih tzu, Molly.
Visit: www.lornaschultznicholson.com and www.throughindigoseyes.com




1 comment:

  1. Sounds like something I'd like to read :D

    ReplyDelete

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