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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
I really liked this book. Fast moving, interesting, and thankfully nothing like Twilight- no sparkly vampires here. Ending was a bit predictable, but still enjoyable.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I was excited about having a female protagonist that was smart, unapologetic and an unlikely hero. I think that the character was interesting but the story line was so far fetched that it made it tough to read. There are too many story lines that are going through without any real connection. I was disappointed by the ending and the lack of plot development.
This book was ok. I was interrupted with other projects several times during this read so it may have caused me to not enjoy the book as much.
...sigh... I had, well, hopes for this one. Not high hopes, mind you. But some kind of hope.
I'll give this book credit - there is a marked improvement in Meyer's prose, which can only be a good thing (and I quite liked The Host. Still a book that I'll go back and re-read from time to time).
But the minute the character called a McMillan .50-caliber sniper rifle an "assault rifle," and then claimed to be an expert in firearms in the next sentence, that was enough to take me out of the story and I just couldn't do it anymore. A sniper rifle can not be in ANY way considered an "assault rifle." Unless your definition of assault rifle is "Any big scary thing that goes boom." Then, please - don't claim to be an expert in such things (I wouldn't claim "expert" status in firearms for myself, but I know enough to realize something fishy was going on at that point).
That's before I even got to the inevitable love triangle. Evidently, the heroine has to choose between twin brothers - one of which was presumed dead, but randomly shows up to save his blissfully ignorant brother? Nope. Not even starting with that one (also - how do you fall in love with someone who kidnapped and tortured you? Never mind... I don't wanna know).
If you're a fan of Meyer's work, good for you. You'll enjoy this. I couldn't get past that one crucial detail. If I get a craving for a thriller in the near future, I'll read Brad Thor or the like.
I'll give this book credit - there is a marked improvement in Meyer's prose, which can only be a good thing (and I quite liked The Host. Still a book that I'll go back and re-read from time to time).
But the minute the character called a McMillan .50-caliber sniper rifle an "assault rifle," and then claimed to be an expert in firearms in the next sentence, that was enough to take me out of the story and I just couldn't do it anymore. A sniper rifle can not be in ANY way considered an "assault rifle." Unless your definition of assault rifle is "Any big scary thing that goes boom." Then, please - don't claim to be an expert in such things (I wouldn't claim "expert" status in firearms for myself, but I know enough to realize something fishy was going on at that point).
That's before I even got to the inevitable love triangle. Evidently, the heroine has to choose between twin brothers - one of which was presumed dead, but randomly shows up to save his blissfully ignorant brother? Nope. Not even starting with that one (also - how do you fall in love with someone who kidnapped and tortured you? Never mind... I don't wanna know).
If you're a fan of Meyer's work, good for you. You'll enjoy this. I couldn't get past that one crucial detail. If I get a craving for a thriller in the near future, I'll read Brad Thor or the like.
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'll be the first to say my relationship with Stephenie Meyer's work isn't the easiest one. I was twelve when Twilight made it big and had only gotten into reading a two years prior. Meyer's Twilight series helped me further my love of reading and introduced to me the paranormal genre. For that, I'm grateful I read those books. Re-reading them though when I was 14 and by then, a writer myself I couldn't ignore the glaring flaws of the series. I have a certain fondness for it, but more because I see what it *could* have been if Meyer had known what she was doing, rather than being a first-time writer. Her other book, The Host, I can say I truly did enjoy. It was far better than Twilight and Meyer definitely showed signs that she was improving.
So when The Chemist came out, I admit I was intrigued but I was cautious too. I'd been burned by Meyer before, so I wanted until the price dropped. When COVID-19 lock down hit, it seemed like as good a time as any to hit up this book and see if Meyer was becoming the storyteller I hoped she could be. And what was my answer? Well...Truly I don't know.I've never been so conflicted about a novel before. Why? Because I liked a lot of what she did here but also her low points were...well I'll explain that too. Now we get into spoiler-stuff so be warned!
What I liked:
I liked Alex's character a lot. She's the anti-Bella. She's not a macho, kung-fu master assassin. She's a small, plain woman with a very special skill set and she knows how to maximize her advantages to stay one step ahead. I *loved* the opening where we the readers got to see this all in full force-from her gadgets to her careful set up of her nightly trap, to how she used gender-neutral alias and even used her small figure to dress like a boy was great! Alex was a smart, capable heroine. She had her flaws though, she was naive when she trusted her agency, always justifying her work to torture as "greater good" without questioning if it truly was. She also had no people skills which made it harder for her to work with allies.
And when Meyer hit those actions scenes? She did them pretty damn well. From Alex's capture and torture of Daniel to fleeing the scene, fleeing the ranch and breaking into the lab to save Kevin (Daniel's twin brother) I devoured those parts. I was on the edge of my seat and I was impressed a woman with mostly non-violent stories prior to this managed those scenes so well. It also served as a reminder of Meyer's greatest talents as a writer; she *knows* how to pile on suspense and drag you into the story. She also really did her research here; the chemistry spiel made sense and sounded like real information instead of made-up science for the sake of the novel. But like I said, as high as the high points were some thing just.... well....
The whole sequence on the ranch with the highly-trained dogs. Hey, I am the first to say I love those small, furry companions. I have two and they're both smart as hell; one can even open doors! But that said, some of the things dogs did in this section, (like memorizing an escape route, leading humans to needed supplies and even knowing how to tell them 'stay down' with gestures) well I couldn't suspend my disbelief about it.
I also wasn't a fan of the romantic couple which is a first for me with Meyer books. She's usually good at that, even if the couple is super problematic. Alex and Daniel certainly weren't anywhere near as problematic as the infamous Edward and Bella, but their connection just didn't feel real to me. I saw no reason why they would be drawn to each other. The ones the narrative offered were just weak. Alex loved him because he was good and innocent? Daniel loved her because he was inexplicably drawn to her from the moment they met?
So yeah, didn't work for me there. That aside though, I didn't have a lot of my usual issues with Meyer's book. The prose wasn't bogged down by pointless details. The main characters actually had reasonable development and while the ending was a tad neat-this time I wasn't boiling mad about it. Probably because this time, she didn't spend an entire series building up the importance of sacrifice and then skip it when the time came.
So is she the storyteller I hoped she could be with time? I don't freaking know, there's too much good in this book to say she's awful, but some stuff still makes me go 'wtf is this here'? Guess I'll have to keep waiting to figure out a more concrete answer.
So when The Chemist came out, I admit I was intrigued but I was cautious too. I'd been burned by Meyer before, so I wanted until the price dropped. When COVID-19 lock down hit, it seemed like as good a time as any to hit up this book and see if Meyer was becoming the storyteller I hoped she could be. And what was my answer? Well...Truly I don't know.I've never been so conflicted about a novel before. Why? Because I liked a lot of what she did here but also her low points were...well I'll explain that too. Now we get into spoiler-stuff so be warned!
What I liked:
I liked Alex's character a lot. She's the anti-Bella. She's not a macho, kung-fu master assassin. She's a small, plain woman with a very special skill set and she knows how to maximize her advantages to stay one step ahead. I *loved* the opening where we the readers got to see this all in full force-from her gadgets to her careful set up of her nightly trap, to how she used gender-neutral alias and even used her small figure to dress like a boy was great! Alex was a smart, capable heroine. She had her flaws though, she was naive when she trusted her agency, always justifying her work to torture as "greater good" without questioning if it truly was. She also had no people skills which made it harder for her to work with allies.
And when Meyer hit those actions scenes? She did them pretty damn well. From Alex's capture and torture of Daniel to fleeing the scene, fleeing the ranch and breaking into the lab to save Kevin (Daniel's twin brother) I devoured those parts. I was on the edge of my seat and I was impressed a woman with mostly non-violent stories prior to this managed those scenes so well. It also served as a reminder of Meyer's greatest talents as a writer; she *knows* how to pile on suspense and drag you into the story. She also really did her research here; the chemistry spiel made sense and sounded like real information instead of made-up science for the sake of the novel. But like I said, as high as the high points were some thing just.... well....
The whole sequence on the ranch with the highly-trained dogs. Hey, I am the first to say I love those small, furry companions. I have two and they're both smart as hell; one can even open doors! But that said, some of the things dogs did in this section, (like memorizing an escape route, leading humans to needed supplies and even knowing how to tell them 'stay down' with gestures) well I couldn't suspend my disbelief about it.
I also wasn't a fan of the romantic couple which is a first for me with Meyer books. She's usually good at that, even if the couple is super problematic. Alex and Daniel certainly weren't anywhere near as problematic as the infamous Edward and Bella, but their connection just didn't feel real to me. I saw no reason why they would be drawn to each other. The ones the narrative offered were just weak. Alex loved him because he was good and innocent? Daniel loved her because he was inexplicably drawn to her from the moment they met?
So yeah, didn't work for me there. That aside though, I didn't have a lot of my usual issues with Meyer's book. The prose wasn't bogged down by pointless details. The main characters actually had reasonable development and while the ending was a tad neat-this time I wasn't boiling mad about it. Probably because this time, she didn't spend an entire series building up the importance of sacrifice and then skip it when the time came.
So is she the storyteller I hoped she could be with time? I don't freaking know, there's too much good in this book to say she's awful, but some stuff still makes me go 'wtf is this here'? Guess I'll have to keep waiting to figure out a more concrete answer.
I could have sworn I reviewed this already. Perhaps I'm just insane.
Either way, solid three stars. Meyer isn't the world's greatest writer, but she's not without talent. She just needed time to hone her skills. Mercifully, this book lacks purple prose and Alex, the main character has agency and interest and a very-specific set of skills (chemical torture and chemistry overall) and strong as that is, her people skills are just as weak. Meyer once again shows off her ability to pile on suspense and pull you in which made this a quick and entertaining read as well. Her use of third person limited (a first for her) is also well done.
Have to say though the bit with the pulled me out of the story several times. I love those four-legged furry pals, but I don't know of any in human history that have the ability to do the tasks presented in this story. Also, did not care for the romance in this book which is a first for Meyer, she's usually good at creating romantic tension. The love interest, Daniel was boring to me. Nothing really defined him as a character and I felt he had no chemistry with Alex.
Will I be reading more of her books in the future if she ever publishes more? Depends what she writes honestly. If it looks interesting, I may pick it up. If not, I'll leave it be. Only time can tell.
Either way, solid three stars. Meyer isn't the world's greatest writer, but she's not without talent. She just needed time to hone her skills. Mercifully, this book lacks purple prose and Alex, the main character has agency and interest and a very-specific set of skills (chemical torture and chemistry overall) and strong as that is, her people skills are just as weak. Meyer once again shows off her ability to pile on suspense and pull you in which made this a quick and entertaining read as well. Her use of third person limited (a first for her) is also well done.
Have to say though the bit with the
Spoiler
highly trained dogs on the ranchWill I be reading more of her books in the future if she ever publishes more? Depends what she writes honestly. If it looks interesting, I may pick it up. If not, I'll leave it be. Only time can tell.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes