Lauren
Alchemy of Secrets is Stephanie Garber’s debut Adult novel which follows Holland as she races against the ticking clock to save her own life.
“But the problem with feelings is sometimes you don’t get to choose them.”
Obviously, by my rating, I really enjoyed this book. However, I can see why people do not. I’m going to try to be fair in my overall review of this book, because I actually think this is a really complicated one. Let’s start with the obvious: the reads exactly like every other Garber book. While this is a positive for me, I can see why someone would be disappointed by this. Holland very well could have even a few years younger and this would have been a YA book. That being said, I’m really not all that stressed about if a book is YA, NA, or Adult, so that really played no part in my rating.
Due to this reading like all of her other books (although set in present-day LA), this book reads like a fairytale. Sure, there are buildings and traffic and iconic stars mentioned, but honestly, I hardly clocked most of it. If you told me this took place in the same universe as Caraval, I’d believe it. There is this sense of found magic and dark whimsy that lives in all of Garber’s books, and this one is no exception.
I’ll be honest in that I realize there was something plot holes in this book (which I’ll get to) and maybe the mystery cannot be solved on your own (I can’t say as I was really just along for the ride on this one - the mystery might be the main plot but it’s not what I was interested in), but I thought this was fun. The twists were somewhat predictable, but a few of them took me by surprise, and some of them I’m still not sure what to think. This book really tries to make it impossible to know who to trust, which is what I was mostly focused on as I’m still not sure. I have seen some criticism that many people don’t believe they’d take time to indulge in stories and act as Holland did if they knew they may die soon, but honestly, to me, it always seemed like she was working toward an answer. She did better than I would have (aka cry and give up).
So here are my actual criticisms:
1. The word “Miscellanea” was used often enough that I noticed it being used. I read this a mix of audio and physical, so I can’t search the book for how many times, but it felt like too many. Saying there was “clutter” or “other items” would have gotten the point across. I don’t know why this bothered me so much, but it did.
2. At one point Holland understands she is going into a dangerous situation and she puts on heels. I know girlie has her head in the clouds, but this was a wild and ultimately unimportant decision (okay, I know why she does it from a story telling perspective, BUT this was already done/shown in a dozen different ways, so it wasn’t necessary).
3. I didn’t love the 2nd POV inserts. I understand they’re there to kind of set the mood, but they didn’t do it for me. I think 2nd POV can be good, but it’s really hard to make it work, and here I think it would have been just as compelling to write it in third or first person instead, and less jarring.
4. January and their mother (I’ll explain more below)
(spoilers beyond this point, unfortunately): . . . . . Let’s pick up where I left off. This was my biggest issue with the book if I’m honest. Holland tells us she loves her sister and appreciates her, and I know she’s outrunning death, but she doesn’t try all that hard to get in contact with her. I can believe she doesn’t know her number (I also don’t know my sister’s number off the top of my head) but January has no other means of communication? Email? Social media? Anything??? If I knew I was dying and I started uncovering all of these secrets about my sister and our family, I would not stop until I got in touch with her. If I was Holland, I would be thinking my sister is dead, especially since there is a small (very unlikely but still present) chance that she worked with or had contact with Adam. At the least, Adam knows about her. It wouldn’t be crazy if he killed her. Which is also why I have to ask, Holland, girl, why do you just trust anyone your sister “sent” without actual confirmation??? Like both people you trusted claimed were sent by your sister (who potentially lied to you and kept secrets), so what’s up with trusting and then not trusting both of them? Girl.
I also find it a little annoying her mother is so ignored. I get Holland loved her father (how old was she when he died? It felt unclear) and I get that her mother has this awful (maybe false, maybe not) reputation, but it felt like the book wanted us to forget she existed. This may have been intentional for something in book two, but I didn’t love all the love her father got and how little thought her mother received.
I also have some questions that I think are intentionally left unanswered for the next book (so really, this is just a reminder for future self):
1. What is up with Chance? He obviously knows something is up, and we got the information about no one remembering Adam, but that never really amounted to anything. I have to assume it will come back up later since at that point we already knew Adam’s power
2. I have a theory that Adam and the Watch Man are working together. I’m actually willing to bet the Watch Man doesn’t really know when people are going to die, but gives out sentences to those that Adam wants something from. From there they live is Adam gets what he wants and don’t if he doesn’t. I might be wrong on this, but it just kind of makes sense (especially because Jake died at his hands and Holland technically did a million times)
3. Another theory I have is that Holland’s ability will be to see diverging timelines, kind of like seeing into the future, but more direct and closer to the present. She basically already does this, so it makes sense.
4. I need to know the situation with Gabe. Obviously he isn’t to be more grey leaning than evil. On one hand, he did leave her with Adam and wanted the Alchemical Heart for himself (for a book 2 reason presumably), but I actually don’t think he’s evil. I might slot him into the Legend or Jacks category, honestly.
5. Did January actually send anyone? My theory is she did actually meet Adam and he did that brain washing thing since the last time she spoke with Holland she didn’t sound like herself. I’m curious if maybe Gabe knows Adam did that to her but can’t say for ~reasons~ and that’s his motivation? Not sure.
Alchemy of Secrets is Stephanie Garber’s debut Adult novel which follows Holland as she races against the ticking clock to save her own life.
“But the problem with feelings is sometimes you don’t get to choose them.”
Obviously, by my rating, I really enjoyed this book. However, I can see why people do not. I’m going to try to be fair in my overall review of this book, because I actually think this is a really complicated one. Let’s start with the obvious: the reads exactly like every other Garber book. While this is a positive for me, I can see why someone would be disappointed by this. Holland very well could have even a few years younger and this would have been a YA book. That being said, I’m really not all that stressed about if a book is YA, NA, or Adult, so that really played no part in my rating.
Due to this reading like all of her other books (although set in present-day LA), this book reads like a fairytale. Sure, there are buildings and traffic and iconic stars mentioned, but honestly, I hardly clocked most of it. If you told me this took place in the same universe as Caraval, I’d believe it. There is this sense of found magic and dark whimsy that lives in all of Garber’s books, and this one is no exception.
I’ll be honest in that I realize there was something plot holes in this book (which I’ll get to) and maybe the mystery cannot be solved on your own (I can’t say as I was really just along for the ride on this one - the mystery might be the main plot but it’s not what I was interested in), but I thought this was fun. The twists were somewhat predictable, but a few of them took me by surprise, and some of them I’m still not sure what to think. This book really tries to make it impossible to know who to trust, which is what I was mostly focused on as I’m still not sure. I have seen some criticism that many people don’t believe they’d take time to indulge in stories and act as Holland did if they knew they may die soon, but honestly, to me, it always seemed like she was working toward an answer. She did better than I would have (aka cry and give up).
So here are my actual criticisms:
1. The word “Miscellanea” was used often enough that I noticed it being used. I read this a mix of audio and physical, so I can’t search the book for how many times, but it felt like too many. Saying there was “clutter” or “other items” would have gotten the point across. I don’t know why this bothered me so much, but it did.
2. At one point Holland understands she is going into a dangerous situation and she puts on heels. I know girlie has her head in the clouds, but this was a wild and ultimately unimportant decision (okay, I know why she does it from a story telling perspective, BUT this was already done/shown in a dozen different ways, so it wasn’t necessary).
3. I didn’t love the 2nd POV inserts. I understand they’re there to kind of set the mood, but they didn’t do it for me. I think 2nd POV can be good, but it’s really hard to make it work, and here I think it would have been just as compelling to write it in third or first person instead, and less jarring.
4. January and their mother (I’ll explain more below)
(spoilers beyond this point, unfortunately): . . . . . Let’s pick up where I left off. This was my biggest issue with the book if I’m honest. Holland tells us she loves her sister and appreciates her, and I know she’s outrunning death, but she doesn’t try all that hard to get in contact with her. I can believe she doesn’t know her number (I also don’t know my sister’s number off the top of my head) but January has no other means of communication? Email? Social media? Anything??? If I knew I was dying and I started uncovering all of these secrets about my sister and our family, I would not stop until I got in touch with her. If I was Holland, I would be thinking my sister is dead, especially since there is a small (very unlikely but still present) chance that she worked with or had contact with Adam. At the least, Adam knows about her. It wouldn’t be crazy if he killed her. Which is also why I have to ask, Holland, girl, why do you just trust anyone your sister “sent” without actual confirmation??? Like both people you trusted claimed were sent by your sister (who potentially lied to you and kept secrets), so what’s up with trusting and then not trusting both of them? Girl.
I also find it a little annoying her mother is so ignored. I get Holland loved her father (how old was she when he died? It felt unclear) and I get that her mother has this awful (maybe false, maybe not) reputation, but it felt like the book wanted us to forget she existed. This may have been intentional for something in book two, but I didn’t love all the love her father got and how little thought her mother received.
I also have some questions that I think are intentionally left unanswered for the next book (so really, this is just a reminder for future self):
1. What is up with Chance? He obviously knows something is up, and we got the information about no one remembering Adam, but that never really amounted to anything. I have to assume it will come back up later since at that point we already knew Adam’s power
2. I have a theory that Adam and the Watch Man are working together. I’m actually willing to bet the Watch Man doesn’t really know when people are going to die, but gives out sentences to those that Adam wants something from. From there they live is Adam gets what he wants and don’t if he doesn’t. I might be wrong on this, but it just kind of makes sense (especially because Jake died at his hands and Holland technically did a million times)
3. Another theory I have is that Holland’s ability will be to see diverging timelines, kind of like seeing into the future, but more direct and closer to the present. She basically already does this, so it makes sense.
4. I need to know the situation with Gabe. Obviously he isn’t to be more grey leaning than evil. On one hand, he did leave her with Adam and wanted the Alchemical Heart for himself (for a book 2 reason presumably), but I actually don’t think he’s evil. I might slot him into the Legend or Jacks category, honestly.
5. Did January actually send anyone? My theory is she did actually meet Adam and he did that brain washing thing since the last time she spoke with Holland she didn’t sound like herself. I’m curious if maybe Gabe knows Adam did that to her but can’t say for ~reasons~ and that’s his motivation? Not sure.