Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber Feels Familiar (book review)

GENRE: Adult Urban Fantasy

LENGTH: 322 pages

PLOT

Holland St. James has always believed in magic and myths. When she finds the mythical Watch Man who predicts the time you will die, he informs her that she is going to die at midnight tomorrow. Her only hope of survival is to find the Alchemical Heart. Holland embarks on a scavenger hunt adventure to save her own life.

CHARACTERS

There are three main characters in the novel: Holland, Gabe Cabral, and Adam Bishop. There are also a number of side characters consisting of Holland’s various friends and her professor (literally referred to as the Professor) who is her mentor.

The whole mechanism driving this story is that none of the characters are who they appear to be. No one is trustworthy, not the people Holland has known for years nor the new ones she meets. While I liked Holland’s character and was rooting for her to find the Heart, she was also sooo frustrating. She must be colorblind, because she breezed past every red flag. She was way too naive and trusting for someone in her position and she never seemed to learn.

Garber’s YA books are all what I would classify as romantasy. So, readers may be expecting that her adult debut falls into that same vein (and maybe even assuming it would be a spicy romance given this is adult vs. YA). The main male characters were reminiscent of the ones from her YA series, but this book isn’t something I’d consider a romantasy. There’s very little romance – only one chaste kiss. That didn’t disappoint me personally, but I figured it was worth mentioning for those who do read Garber for her romantasy specifically.

WRITING

The novel is told primarily via Holland’s third person POV. However, there are also chapters in the second person POV – all of which revolve around the Professor’s classes. This is one of the first times I’ve encountered a second person POV. I obviously cannot be inside of the author’s head to know what her intentions with using second person were. In my opinion, though, it is because a core aspect of Holland’s character is that she believes there is real magic in the world somewhere and seeks to be a part of it. This novel appeals to readers like me who also wish magic was real like Holland. It allows us to step into that world, if only briefly.

I have been a fan of Garber for a few years now and have read both of her interconnected YA trilogies. I imagine it is a daunting prospect for an author to go from her comfort zone where she has experienced immense success to trying to appeal to another audience. In addition to this being her adult debut, it’s also her first urban fantasy. I want to preface this here with I enjoyed my reading experience with this novel. I was entertained the entire time and loved the elements of mystery and thriller alongside the fantasy. Some of my favorite characters are ones who are morally gray and untrustworthy. I also had fun with the scavenger hunt plot.

All that being said, this book feels like Garber was replicating her YA novels’ plots and characters and just putting them in a different setting. I know Garber is a talented writer, so I really wish she’d branched out more and taken some risks. I know I’m not the only person who noticed the similarities to her YA books, as I read other reviews which confirmed this. If I hadn’t read her YA books and this was my introduction to her, I probably would have rated this book higher (somewhere around 4 stars). Having read her previous books, however, I have to downgrade my rating because I know Garber is capable of more than what she’s given us.

FINAL THOUGHTS

            I do intend to continue on with this series when the subsequent books are published. If you like thrillers and are trying to get into the fantasy genre, then I think this could be a great launching pad for that. This book was a fun read, but hopefully Garber will make the story and characters deviate more from her YA books as this series continues.

FINAL RATING: 3.5⭐️