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mx5421's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
atnea's review
3.0
Guess who loved this? I mean, I love the way Michael Scott added all this characters into the novel, real history characters. Characters you don't normally talk about. Characters that are latex down into forgiveness. He saved those characters. And all the beautiful things he tells along the book. And all of this in a teen novel! I mean, it's more than perfect. He teaches us all of this! And it's just so interesting. I really recommend this to anyone! Not only teenagers, but also young adults, adults and maybe even some kids with an open mind.
uutopicaa's review against another edition
4.0
Admito que el libro es bueno. Pero no era el momento para leerlo. Debido a mis previas lecturas, esta historia me pareción simplemente más de lo mismo. Empezó muy bien, interesante. Pero una vez que comenzó a relacionarse con mitología y dando explicaciones estúpidas sobre hechos del pasado, se convirtió en lo mismo que Percy Jackson.
Más allá de qué libro se escribió primero, estoy segura que habría disfrutado más de la novela si la hubiese leído en otro momento.
Más allá de qué libro se escribió primero, estoy segura que habría disfrutado más de la novela si la hubiese leído en otro momento.
rattledragons's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
christene_littlelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Alchemyst is a fantasy novel surrounding the story of Nicholas Flamel. I really enjoyed the story and the characters but ultimately the shoe-horning of SO MANY historical events and figures into the story just curbed my enjoyment of it. I get what the author was trying to do. Flamel was a real person who supposedly discovered the secret to immortality but the cramming in of all of the historical figures that he encountered along the way as well as the significant historical events just killed it. Could have been so much better but as it is...just average.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, and War
kabrown28's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
manoukreviews's review against another edition
3.0
I would give it a 3.5. I liked the refernces to the mythes and legend of the past and I am curious for the other books. Of the twins I like Sophie the best, somehow Josh annoys me.
smusie's review against another edition
2.0
This book is not by Paulo Coehlo!
My eight-year-old saw this book in the bookstore, and desperately wanted to read it. Since it was marked “Teens” I told him I wasn’t sure it would be appropriate for him. Then he wheedled, begged and pleaded until I said I would read it first to find out if it would be OK for him to read. What a sucker I am, I mean, what a good mother!
So I read it. It’s really not bad, but not the kind of book I would normally bother to read, at any age. For my kid, it might be too hard, but there’s nothing really inappropriate in there. It seemed very cinema-ready—the visual descriptions were vivid and intricately consistent. The story is also intricately planned out, but I was never drawn into the characters. But eight-year-old boys don’t really care that much about characters, do they?
It’s your basic good vs. evil story, with lots of magic, immortal good guys and bad guys, your race of Elders—pre-human beings with great powers, innocent teenage twins who have no idea they will soon hold the fate of the known world in their hands, that kind of thing. It’s also based on some real-life characters, namely John Dee, and Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel; the author has clearly done a lot of research to get the historical details right. None of that makes it a book I would ever read of my own accord—but I’m a grown-up. If my kid wants to read it (and can follow the narrative jumps), it’s fine with me.
My eight-year-old saw this book in the bookstore, and desperately wanted to read it. Since it was marked “Teens” I told him I wasn’t sure it would be appropriate for him. Then he wheedled, begged and pleaded until I said I would read it first to find out if it would be OK for him to read. What a sucker I am, I mean, what a good mother!
So I read it. It’s really not bad, but not the kind of book I would normally bother to read, at any age. For my kid, it might be too hard, but there’s nothing really inappropriate in there. It seemed very cinema-ready—the visual descriptions were vivid and intricately consistent. The story is also intricately planned out, but I was never drawn into the characters. But eight-year-old boys don’t really care that much about characters, do they?
It’s your basic good vs. evil story, with lots of magic, immortal good guys and bad guys, your race of Elders—pre-human beings with great powers, innocent teenage twins who have no idea they will soon hold the fate of the known world in their hands, that kind of thing. It’s also based on some real-life characters, namely John Dee, and Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel; the author has clearly done a lot of research to get the historical details right. None of that makes it a book I would ever read of my own accord—but I’m a grown-up. If my kid wants to read it (and can follow the narrative jumps), it’s fine with me.