Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Fantastic book by Stephenie Meyer
If anyone had any doubt about Stephenies ability to tell a story that is not related to shiny vampires, this book will prove she can! Fantastic story, unexpected plot twists and amazing people who can't help but love! Read her other book, the host, too! I'm a huge fan!
If anyone had any doubt about Stephenies ability to tell a story that is not related to shiny vampires, this book will prove she can! Fantastic story, unexpected plot twists and amazing people who can't help but love! Read her other book, the host, too! I'm a huge fan!
Aside from the forced love interest, I really enjoyed this book. And in the end I was fine with Alex's love interest, but at first it really put me off it just seemed so unrealistic, but it's a book after all.
I thought it was a really well thought out book with lots of action and suspense and not at all like the twilight saga! like a complete 180° in fact.
I thought it was a really well thought out book with lots of action and suspense and not at all like the twilight saga! like a complete 180° in fact.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
First & foremost: Stephenie Meyer is my favorite author so I might be a little bias, but at least I'm saying that before I begin the review.
If you're not a Stephenie Meyer or Twilight fan, I would actually recommend this book. Her usual genre is Fantasy, specifically Young Adult, but this is something very different from her usual forte. The Chemist is a Suspense Thriller. Some would call it a "Spy Novel" but our main character isn't specifically a spy so I don't think I would call it that.
When I first started this book, I couldn't get into it. I don't think I really started enjoying it until the fourth chapter, but that was because it's not the genre I read EVER. Stephenie Meyer's writing is absolutely beautiful as always & that's what kept me around. Once I met Daniel Beach, I was hooked. Stephenie has such a way of making you fall in love with characters. No one will ever compare to Edward Cullen for me, but if it's another male love interest created by her, I'm definitely captivated in some way.
If you're into "dangerous love" then read this book!! When I think about all of Meyer's books, I realize that she is SO talented about writing dangerous love. If you're not a romance fan: this could still be the book for you. Again, this book is a Suspense Thriller, not a Romance but it does involve romance. I would say the romance is about 30% of the book (just an estimate).
The reasons it's not five stars is because I had one or two setbacks. One: the book can be confusing at times especially in the beginning. There's a lot of words used that you would only know of if you had a specialty in things like guns or chemistry. Obviously those types of people would know what was going on, but since I know about neither of those things I found myself a little confused and would even google to understand what was being said. Two: a lot of the time, it is assumed that the reader knows what's going on like the upcoming plan or random character names that we know nothing about. There's two or three instances where the characters come up with a plan in order to stay alive. The only problem was, you don't know the plan until the characters are fulfilling it. I like having to guess what's going on in books sometimes, but this was a reoccurring theme that I did not enjoy as much.
For example, there were many pages where it is assumed the reader knows what the writer is talking about when in reality you wouldn't understand until chapters later. There are some characters whose names are said, but you never actually see them. I rarely have a problem with this, but for example, the main character talks about Joey Giancardi a lot, but you don't know who he was or why he was relevant until the end of the book. These are minor problems, but just know it is throughout the whole book.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were times I was really hooked and had to read five chapters at a time & others where I got stuck and didn't want to read that day for whatever reason. Again, I think this is because I don't read this genre normally, but if Stephenie Meyer were to come out with another Suspense Thriller, I would definitely get my hands on it!
If you're not a Stephenie Meyer or Twilight fan, I would actually recommend this book. Her usual genre is Fantasy, specifically Young Adult, but this is something very different from her usual forte. The Chemist is a Suspense Thriller. Some would call it a "Spy Novel" but our main character isn't specifically a spy so I don't think I would call it that.
When I first started this book, I couldn't get into it. I don't think I really started enjoying it until the fourth chapter, but that was because it's not the genre I read EVER. Stephenie Meyer's writing is absolutely beautiful as always & that's what kept me around. Once I met Daniel Beach, I was hooked. Stephenie has such a way of making you fall in love with characters. No one will ever compare to Edward Cullen for me, but if it's another male love interest created by her, I'm definitely captivated in some way.
If you're into "dangerous love" then read this book!! When I think about all of Meyer's books, I realize that she is SO talented about writing dangerous love. If you're not a romance fan: this could still be the book for you. Again, this book is a Suspense Thriller, not a Romance but it does involve romance. I would say the romance is about 30% of the book (just an estimate).
The reasons it's not five stars is because I had one or two setbacks. One: the book can be confusing at times especially in the beginning. There's a lot of words used that you would only know of if you had a specialty in things like guns or chemistry. Obviously those types of people would know what was going on, but since I know about neither of those things I found myself a little confused and would even google to understand what was being said. Two: a lot of the time, it is assumed that the reader knows what's going on like the upcoming plan or random character names that we know nothing about. There's two or three instances where the characters come up with a plan in order to stay alive. The only problem was, you don't know the plan until the characters are fulfilling it. I like having to guess what's going on in books sometimes, but this was a reoccurring theme that I did not enjoy as much.
For example, there were many pages where it is assumed the reader knows what the writer is talking about when in reality you wouldn't understand until chapters later. There are some characters whose names are said, but you never actually see them. I rarely have a problem with this, but for example, the main character talks about Joey Giancardi a lot, but you don't know who he was or why he was relevant until the end of the book. These are minor problems, but just know it is throughout the whole book.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. There were times I was really hooked and had to read five chapters at a time & others where I got stuck and didn't want to read that day for whatever reason. Again, I think this is because I don't read this genre normally, but if Stephenie Meyer were to come out with another Suspense Thriller, I would definitely get my hands on it!
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
When I saw Stephanie Meyer was writing another adult novel I was immediately interested. While I have mixed feelings about TWILIGHT, I actually really enjoyed THE HOST and this book seemed up a similar alley. However, my feelings for THE CHEMIST were closer to how I felt about TWILIGHT.
Suspension of Disbelief
While you could tell that Meyer put a lot of research into some of the more scientific aspects of what goes on in THE CHEMIST, some of the more obvious things just seemed really farfetched and out of the realm of normal possibility, which is hard to explain without spoilers. For example: easily drugging and kidnapping a grown man in broad daylight on a train. And
Couldn't Get Along With the Characters
The heroine, Juliana of Many Names, is immediately described to be somewhat of a badass who worked at a top secret agency SO SECRET IT DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A NAME *le gasp!* But we never really got to see Juliana in action that much, and it was more tell rather than show. She has to remember not to giggle or smile when she is torturing someone. The love interest was worse; he's basically the all around perfect Good Guy™ and
A Thriller that Wasn't Thrilling
For a suspense/espionage novel, THE CHEMIST doesn't exactly keep you on the edge of your seat. It describes a lot of menial tasks and goes into detail about things that might not have been totally relevant to the story or developing the characters. Action was sort of intermingled with the rest of the book, but nothing at the level I was expecting. I would definitely recommend THE HOST over THE CHEMIST.
Suspension of Disbelief
While you could tell that Meyer put a lot of research into some of the more scientific aspects of what goes on in THE CHEMIST, some of the more obvious things just seemed really farfetched and out of the realm of normal possibility, which is hard to explain without spoilers. For example: easily drugging and kidnapping a grown man in broad daylight on a train. And
Spoiler
the main character is looking for a criminal but when she finds him she can't understand why he is so innocent and insists that isn't him. It's the *drum roll* ... EVIL TWIN.Couldn't Get Along With the Characters
The heroine, Juliana of Many Names, is immediately described to be somewhat of a badass who worked at a top secret agency SO SECRET IT DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A NAME *le gasp!* But we never really got to see Juliana in action that much, and it was more tell rather than show. She has to remember not to giggle or smile when she is torturing someone. The love interest was worse; he's basically the all around perfect Good Guy™ and
Spoiler
he easily forgives the main character for torturing him for hours.A Thriller that Wasn't Thrilling
For a suspense/espionage novel, THE CHEMIST doesn't exactly keep you on the edge of your seat. It describes a lot of menial tasks and goes into detail about things that might not have been totally relevant to the story or developing the characters. Action was sort of intermingled with the rest of the book, but nothing at the level I was expecting. I would definitely recommend THE HOST over THE CHEMIST.
It was okay. I feel like the jump from Sci-Fi/Fantasy wasn't the best idea for Meyer. Even though The Host and Twilight are definitely brain candy reads, they have pretty compelling plots, and were fun to get through. The Chemist was hard....I had to force myself to get to the end, hoping I would like it more. Oh well. I give it 2 stars because some moments were exciting.
A solid 4.5 stars, worth rounding up. The characters were fun and it wasn't overly predictable. I enjoyed reading this book. It came with a few scenes worthy of a chuckle or a groan and even some emotional moments I needed to power through.
I like Meyer's ability to make the relationships part of the story so the reader is connected to the plot and the characters. It wasn't a clinical spy novel though it still had tons of action.
I like Meyer's ability to make the relationships part of the story so the reader is connected to the plot and the characters. It wasn't a clinical spy novel though it still had tons of action.