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kribu's review
3.0
Not the sort of book to blow me away in sheer awe, but not a bad one by any means.
I thought the "fannish teenager" side of the main character was pretty well captured, and the plot was okay enough, although a little thin at times.
I thought the "fannish teenager" side of the main character was pretty well captured, and the plot was okay enough, although a little thin at times.
laurafalls's review
3.0
Roanoke is one of those great mysteries of the United States' history. We know very little about the people that sailed over to start the colony, and, to this day, we still don't know exactly what happened to the same colonists some months later. Honestly, we'll probably never know. But Gwenda Bond and doesn't let that stop her.
Bond has created a mash-up of history and fiction in her debut novel Blackwood/ The current Roanoke community, in modern times, deals with the weird and unexplained as two of their younger brethren, Miranda and Phillips, try to learn exactly what's going on, and how they can stop it.
The world that Bond created was new and exciting. I do have to admit, however, that I was somewhat confused as I read through the story. In the end, though, everything snapped into place and I felt that things were drawn up in a nice, tight bow. The plot moved quickly, and there was little downtime. I felt like the last 3/4 of the book were a constant thrill ride, one that I had to get my breath back from.
Bond's characters were believable, which was nice, considering the different subject matter. Phillips was a troubled teen, who masked his confusion behind a bad-boy persona. Miranda was the girl that never had close ties to anyone, mainly because no one wanted to get near her "bad luck."
I don't want to give much away about the plot, but I thought the new spin on alchemy and those who practiced it was clever and new.
I suggest you read this book. When you do, though, be prepared to go slow and steady (and don't rush, like I did...) so you can truly grasp everything that happens as the book goes along.
I received an e-galley courtesy of Strange Chemistry and NetGalley. This in no way impacted my review of the book.
Bond has created a mash-up of history and fiction in her debut novel Blackwood/ The current Roanoke community, in modern times, deals with the weird and unexplained as two of their younger brethren, Miranda and Phillips, try to learn exactly what's going on, and how they can stop it.
The world that Bond created was new and exciting. I do have to admit, however, that I was somewhat confused as I read through the story. In the end, though, everything snapped into place and I felt that things were drawn up in a nice, tight bow. The plot moved quickly, and there was little downtime. I felt like the last 3/4 of the book were a constant thrill ride, one that I had to get my breath back from.
Bond's characters were believable, which was nice, considering the different subject matter. Phillips was a troubled teen, who masked his confusion behind a bad-boy persona. Miranda was the girl that never had close ties to anyone, mainly because no one wanted to get near her "bad luck."
I don't want to give much away about the plot, but I thought the new spin on alchemy and those who practiced it was clever and new.
I suggest you read this book. When you do, though, be prepared to go slow and steady (and don't rush, like I did...) so you can truly grasp everything that happens as the book goes along.
I received an e-galley courtesy of Strange Chemistry and NetGalley. This in no way impacted my review of the book.
tsana's review
5.0
Blackwood is Gwenda Bond’s début novel, out from Strange Chemistry, the YA imprint of Angry Robot, on the 4th of September.
I loved it.
It’s a dark fantasy story about mysterious events on Roanoak Island. After the original colonists had come from England to settle Roanoak Island, all 114 of them mysteriously disappeared (and that part is actually true, more or less). Now, in the present day, Miranda Blackwood and Phillips are caught up in events surrounding a second disappearance of exactly the same number of people. To top it all off, Miranda is cursed and Phillips hears voices.
I really loved both the main characters in this book. They work well together, playing off each other as equals. Rather than having one be the damsel in distress, both had different talents which together help them save the day. At the start, the transition from wariness to friendship is a bit rapid but I think given the circumstances (and especially since we actually get to see what’s going through both of their heads) it was justified. Both characters are sensible and both keep trying to trick the other into letting them keep them safe, which was endearing.
The other thing that made me happy in this book were the pop culture references. Often when (US) authors are trying to be “now” or whatnot, the references to non-universal brands go meaninglessly over my head, sometimes leaving behind confusion. Bond, however, has both her characters be a bit geeky so their references are to things like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly. Obviously, as a geek, I appreciated that, but I also thought they were grounded enough that if you hadn’t seen Firefly, you’d still get the point.
The ending of Blackwood was a bit heavy but all the more meaningful for it. No spoilers of course, but the difficult situation presented and the way it was dealt with is what pushed this book from an excellent 4.5 stars to one of my favourites of the year with 5 stars. The difficult obstacle was handled in a non-superficial way that I haven’t seen that often in YA.
All in all, I enjoyed Blackwood a lot and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Bond’s future works. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys spec fic YA or wants a short fantasy read.
5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog, Tsana's Reads.
I loved it.
It’s a dark fantasy story about mysterious events on Roanoak Island. After the original colonists had come from England to settle Roanoak Island, all 114 of them mysteriously disappeared (and that part is actually true, more or less). Now, in the present day, Miranda Blackwood and Phillips are caught up in events surrounding a second disappearance of exactly the same number of people. To top it all off, Miranda is cursed and Phillips hears voices.
I really loved both the main characters in this book. They work well together, playing off each other as equals. Rather than having one be the damsel in distress, both had different talents which together help them save the day. At the start, the transition from wariness to friendship is a bit rapid but I think given the circumstances (and especially since we actually get to see what’s going through both of their heads) it was justified. Both characters are sensible and both keep trying to trick the other into letting them keep them safe, which was endearing.
The other thing that made me happy in this book were the pop culture references. Often when (US) authors are trying to be “now” or whatnot, the references to non-universal brands go meaninglessly over my head, sometimes leaving behind confusion. Bond, however, has both her characters be a bit geeky so their references are to things like Battlestar Galactica and Firefly. Obviously, as a geek, I appreciated that, but I also thought they were grounded enough that if you hadn’t seen Firefly, you’d still get the point.
The ending of Blackwood was a bit heavy but all the more meaningful for it. No spoilers of course, but the difficult situation presented and the way it was dealt with is what pushed this book from an excellent 4.5 stars to one of my favourites of the year with 5 stars. The difficult obstacle was handled in a non-superficial way that I haven’t seen that often in YA.
All in all, I enjoyed Blackwood a lot and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Bond’s future works. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys spec fic YA or wants a short fantasy read.
5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog, Tsana's Reads.
tachyondecay's review
3.0
The Roanoke Colony was in trouble, and when its governor returned from an expedition to secure more help from England, he discovered the entire population had disappeared: all 114 people, including his grandaughter, Virginia Dare, the first English colonist born in the Americas. To this day, there is no definitive explanation for the colonists’ disappearance, making it the perfect fodder for the literary imagination.
In Blackwood, Gwenda Bond takes some liberties with another Elizabethan contemporary, Dr. John Dee. Positing that the colonists were in fact members of a cult led by Dee, Bond uses this expanded mythology to bring the Lost Colony mystery into the present day. The eponymous Miranda Blackwood is a teenager who has spent her whole life on the island. Her father has turned to the bottle since the death of her mother, and Miranda lives her life at the edges of society—more responsible than her father but out of touch with most people her age. But when her father and 114 other people go missing one day in the summer, Miranda finds herself drawn into a modern-day repeat of the Lost Colony.
Bond immediately makes Miranda an endearing, sympathetic protagonist. She has been forced to become more responsible, shouldering more of the burden of running a household than a teenager should have to. (In this respect, she reminded me a lot of Atlanta Burns in Chuck Wendig’s Bait Dog/Shotgun Gravy, although Miranda is a much less broken character.) Miranda is a very practical, focused person who does not like to rely on others. But this latest mystery is too much for her to handle alone.
Enter the love interest (because, alas, Blackwood is both young adult and a “romance”, so boys). Phillips (not Phillip, Phillips) is the son of the Roanoke Island police chief. Thanks to his inheritance from his grandmother, the “witch” of Roanoke Island, Phillips hears voices of the island’s dead. He returns from self-imposed exile because he senses that the island needs him. Despite a rocky past, Philips and Miranda begin working together as John Dee is revealed as the mastermind behind the disappearance of all these people.
As far as romantic subplots go, Blackwood’s is tolerable. Bond portrays Miranda and Phillips’ changing relationship with subtlety and realism: she is still mad at him for how he treated her when they were younger, but they recognize the need to work together during this present crisis. They have different skill sets (Phillips is remarkably good at sneaking around and breaking and entering, for example) that complement each other and allow both characters to shine at different moments. As with Poltergeeks, another YA title from Strange Chemistry that I read recently, I’m heartened to see a young woman as the protagonist in a dynamic, complex role.
I also enjoyed the slang and cultural allusions Bond works into Miranda’s characterization. The casual mentions of shows like Firefly and Battlestar Galactica both establish Miranda’s interests and feel timely—these are the sorts of things that a teenager interested in science-fiction and fantasy would be watching, definitely through torrents and cheap eBay DVDs.
Bond advances the plot at a fast pace, with few lulls in the action. She doesn’t pause too often to provide belaboured exposition on a certain point, trusting the reader instead to keep up and fill in the blanks with new information as it becomes apparent. This is great, and definitely refreshing to see in fiction aimed at younger adults in particular.
I was very enthusiastic about the first half of the book, both intrigued by the mystery and interested in the characters. As the mystery deepened, I had a little bit of trouble following exactly what was going on, and my enthusiasm dimmed. Since I was reading this during a transatlantic flight, though, that might have been down more to fatigue than a problem with the book—your mileage may vary.
In the end, Blackwood provides a good balance between history and mystery, romance and action. It is all of these things, but it’s none of these things in excess. I’m also glad that Bond’s next book, which I’m looking forward to reading, is not a sequel—it’s nice to see a simple, standalone fantasy novel! (I wouldn’t begrudge a sequel to Blackwood at some point, but I appreciate the acknowledgement that not every young adult book needs to be in a trilogy.)
Definitely something I’d recommend, even if, like me, you aren’t particularly interested in the Lost Colony of Roanoke.
In Blackwood, Gwenda Bond takes some liberties with another Elizabethan contemporary, Dr. John Dee. Positing that the colonists were in fact members of a cult led by Dee, Bond uses this expanded mythology to bring the Lost Colony mystery into the present day. The eponymous Miranda Blackwood is a teenager who has spent her whole life on the island. Her father has turned to the bottle since the death of her mother, and Miranda lives her life at the edges of society—more responsible than her father but out of touch with most people her age. But when her father and 114 other people go missing one day in the summer, Miranda finds herself drawn into a modern-day repeat of the Lost Colony.
Bond immediately makes Miranda an endearing, sympathetic protagonist. She has been forced to become more responsible, shouldering more of the burden of running a household than a teenager should have to. (In this respect, she reminded me a lot of Atlanta Burns in Chuck Wendig’s Bait Dog/Shotgun Gravy, although Miranda is a much less broken character.) Miranda is a very practical, focused person who does not like to rely on others. But this latest mystery is too much for her to handle alone.
Enter the love interest (because, alas, Blackwood is both young adult and a “romance”, so boys). Phillips (not Phillip, Phillips) is the son of the Roanoke Island police chief. Thanks to his inheritance from his grandmother, the “witch” of Roanoke Island, Phillips hears voices of the island’s dead. He returns from self-imposed exile because he senses that the island needs him. Despite a rocky past, Philips and Miranda begin working together as John Dee is revealed as the mastermind behind the disappearance of all these people.
As far as romantic subplots go, Blackwood’s is tolerable. Bond portrays Miranda and Phillips’ changing relationship with subtlety and realism: she is still mad at him for how he treated her when they were younger, but they recognize the need to work together during this present crisis. They have different skill sets (Phillips is remarkably good at sneaking around and breaking and entering, for example) that complement each other and allow both characters to shine at different moments. As with Poltergeeks, another YA title from Strange Chemistry that I read recently, I’m heartened to see a young woman as the protagonist in a dynamic, complex role.
I also enjoyed the slang and cultural allusions Bond works into Miranda’s characterization. The casual mentions of shows like Firefly and Battlestar Galactica both establish Miranda’s interests and feel timely—these are the sorts of things that a teenager interested in science-fiction and fantasy would be watching, definitely through torrents and cheap eBay DVDs.
Bond advances the plot at a fast pace, with few lulls in the action. She doesn’t pause too often to provide belaboured exposition on a certain point, trusting the reader instead to keep up and fill in the blanks with new information as it becomes apparent. This is great, and definitely refreshing to see in fiction aimed at younger adults in particular.
I was very enthusiastic about the first half of the book, both intrigued by the mystery and interested in the characters. As the mystery deepened, I had a little bit of trouble following exactly what was going on, and my enthusiasm dimmed. Since I was reading this during a transatlantic flight, though, that might have been down more to fatigue than a problem with the book—your mileage may vary.
In the end, Blackwood provides a good balance between history and mystery, romance and action. It is all of these things, but it’s none of these things in excess. I’m also glad that Bond’s next book, which I’m looking forward to reading, is not a sequel—it’s nice to see a simple, standalone fantasy novel! (I wouldn’t begrudge a sequel to Blackwood at some point, but I appreciate the acknowledgement that not every young adult book needs to be in a trilogy.)
Definitely something I’d recommend, even if, like me, you aren’t particularly interested in the Lost Colony of Roanoke.
bethkemp's review
5.0
I was initially attracted to this title by the element of mystery surrounding the real-life unexplained disappearance of the Roanoke settlers. The blurb also promises a hint of magic and the supernatural with a reference to 'long-dead alchemists' and Phillips' ability to hear the voices of the dead. All of that added up to a big draw for me. I was not disappointed. I picked the book up to have a quick flick through the beginning and rapidly found myself deep enough in to need to finish it (ahead of other review books that had arrived sooner - argh!). Thank goodness books don't feel jealousy!
This is an assured debut. I've seen some Goodreads reviews criticising its execution, but I genuinely don't see what they do. I would also say that if you worry about how likely and realistic events in your reading matter are, you might want to consider a different genre than fantasy...
It's narrated in the third person, allowing the author to present the action from both protagonists' perspective at different times. I appreciated the insight into both Miranda and Phillips that this gave us, and also enjoyed seeing them through each other's eyes. Both are great characters, damaged and rebellious in their own ways. Miranda is no simpering heroine provoked into action - she's already developed personal strength and mechanisms for coping with her less-than-perfect life before the plot's major events contrive to challenge her further. And Phillips is no simple swoon-worthy boy. Yes, he's got a history as a bad boy and is clearly 'troubled', but not in a straightforward bully-boy way. Nor does he fit the annoyingly common stereotype of the nasty-yet-intriguing-boy-who-can-be-saved-by-love. Hurrah! I also found their developing relationship convincing, in its intensity while they're really in the thick of things contrasting their more usual awkwardness with one another. That aspect has an emotional truth to it, I feel.
The plot is fab, blending elements of magic and mystery with solid historical research. I don't know much about Roanoke, but the history of magic is something I've been interested in for a while, and I was thrilled to find a familiar name appear in the story. I like how Gwenda Bond has painted a picture of Roanoke as a place invested with its mysterious history, through the play that Miranda is involved in. In her version of the place, it is impossible to escape the past. The setting has a definite 'small town' feel, with everyone knowing everyone else's business; the kind of place where what your Great-Grandfather did affects how people treat you.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. It isn't quite like anything else I've read, combining history, magic and mystery but in a contemporary setting.
This is an assured debut. I've seen some Goodreads reviews criticising its execution, but I genuinely don't see what they do. I would also say that if you worry about how likely and realistic events in your reading matter are, you might want to consider a different genre than fantasy...
It's narrated in the third person, allowing the author to present the action from both protagonists' perspective at different times. I appreciated the insight into both Miranda and Phillips that this gave us, and also enjoyed seeing them through each other's eyes. Both are great characters, damaged and rebellious in their own ways. Miranda is no simpering heroine provoked into action - she's already developed personal strength and mechanisms for coping with her less-than-perfect life before the plot's major events contrive to challenge her further. And Phillips is no simple swoon-worthy boy. Yes, he's got a history as a bad boy and is clearly 'troubled', but not in a straightforward bully-boy way. Nor does he fit the annoyingly common stereotype of the nasty-yet-intriguing-boy-who-can-be-saved-by-love. Hurrah! I also found their developing relationship convincing, in its intensity while they're really in the thick of things contrasting their more usual awkwardness with one another. That aspect has an emotional truth to it, I feel.
The plot is fab, blending elements of magic and mystery with solid historical research. I don't know much about Roanoke, but the history of magic is something I've been interested in for a while, and I was thrilled to find a familiar name appear in the story. I like how Gwenda Bond has painted a picture of Roanoke as a place invested with its mysterious history, through the play that Miranda is involved in. In her version of the place, it is impossible to escape the past. The setting has a definite 'small town' feel, with everyone knowing everyone else's business; the kind of place where what your Great-Grandfather did affects how people treat you.
Overall, I really enjoyed this. It isn't quite like anything else I've read, combining history, magic and mystery but in a contemporary setting.
nicolewolverton's review
4.0
This is about 3.5 for me. I like the idea of using the mystery of Croatoan mystery for the backdrop. Bond has come up with an interesting theory for the disappearance and the genetic legacy of fate connected to it.
bibliotropic's review
4.0
As much as I read YA novels, I can be extraordinarily picky about them. Too much romance, too much stereoptypically girly stuff, too many cases of teenagers outsmarting adults, and I just get turned right off. I can accept that the writing in those books can be good, but they’re really just not for me.
And as much as I was willing to take a chance on it, I feared that Blackwood would be the same. Full of stuff I couldn’t relate to and had little interest in.
Imagine my surprise when it wasn’t.
There is romance (there are precious few YA paranormal novels that don’t involve romance), but it wasn’t of the sappy “one true love” variety that’s saturating the market these days. You’ve got two people in a tense and dangerous situation who appear to understand each other better than anyone else they’ve come across. True, atfirst the romance did seem a little bit contrived (here’s a boy and a girl, and they’re important to the plot, so they have to get together), but as we read more and discover more about their personalities, they do turn out to be quite a good fit for each other.
I was expecting the story to be a somewhat lackluster paranormal setting, too. It seemed that way from the book’s synopsis (though as I said, it was intriguing enough for me to read the book anyway). However, what I got was more than a bargained for. Not just a bunch of people disappearing, but also centuries-old alchemists, spiritual transference, psychic abilities, and a pair of teenager outcasts at the centre of it all. It may sound a little cheesy, but it worked, and it was plain to see that the author did some solid research in writing this story.
As characters, Miranda and Phillips were fun to read about. Miranda is a misfit from a so-called cursed family, her father is an alcoholic, and she seems to find her comfort in current geek media. Many references were made to TV shows that are in the geek mainstream, and that alone made me relate to Miranda a little bit more. Phillips was less geeky, more of the kind of guy who ignored authority, but he certainly had a smooth and wicked sense of humour, and wasn’t afraid to take risks. He had a devil-may-care attitude without being the sort of person who only rebels for rebellion’s sake. Put together, the pair made for interesting reading.
They were a little too in tune with each other, though, especially when it came to leaps of logic. More than once, I found scenes in which one character would jump to a conclusion based on gut instinct or a sudden revelation, and not only were they always right, but when they were tell only a brief amount to the other, they were suddenly both on the same page, with the same agreements and same understanding of the situation as though they had both been connected at the brain. If Phillips had the ability to hear the thoughts of the living instead of just the dead, that would have been easier to forgive. Instead, it came across more as though the author didn’t want to spend a few pages of writing the two characters catching up.
And I can’t say I blame her, really, in some cases. From the perspective of a reader, we don’t always want to hear the same thing repeated 10 times as all the characters finally get something. But on the other hand, when you combine it with the occasional leap of logic, it seemed a little bit odd that they would both instantly grasp the same conclusion on nothing more than knowing the other person thought it.
While the pacing of the novel was certainly good, the tone made me feel distanced from the characters on more than one occasion. The opening scene, for one. We’re supposed to be getting a feel for Miranda, and I know that it’s supposed to feel as though we’re sitting on her shoulder to be a part of the action, but it feels very removed, almost more like we’re watching the scene from a distance rather than being in the middle of it. That cleared up later on, but sometimes that sense of removal from the scene returned for brief moments.
Also, I would like to take a spoilerific moment and say that the dog did not die! I get worried whenever I watch or read anything where a main character has a beloved pet, because all too often, that pet is there for no other purpose than to tug at your heartstrings when they die later on. And I thought for a moment that Bond was going to succumb to that trope, and I was going to be mightily disappointed. Angry, even, because as sad as those deaths are, it’s getting painfully obvious why they’re there, and it’s ceased to be anything but a gimmick. But I was thrilled to find out that no, Sidekick did not die, and I could celebrate seeing a happy subversion to a really annoying trope. Kudos to you for that, Gwenda Bond!
Ultimately, in spite of its flaws, Blackwood was a good YA novel that pleasantly surprised me on more than one occasion, and dealt with an old American legend that had nothing to do with vampires or werewolves. I’m definitely interested in reading more of Bond’s work, which is good, because I hear she’s currenly working on a second novel. If you’re a fan of creative and geeky YA paranormal tales, this is definitely one to check out.
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
And as much as I was willing to take a chance on it, I feared that Blackwood would be the same. Full of stuff I couldn’t relate to and had little interest in.
Imagine my surprise when it wasn’t.
There is romance (there are precious few YA paranormal novels that don’t involve romance), but it wasn’t of the sappy “one true love” variety that’s saturating the market these days. You’ve got two people in a tense and dangerous situation who appear to understand each other better than anyone else they’ve come across. True, atfirst the romance did seem a little bit contrived (here’s a boy and a girl, and they’re important to the plot, so they have to get together), but as we read more and discover more about their personalities, they do turn out to be quite a good fit for each other.
I was expecting the story to be a somewhat lackluster paranormal setting, too. It seemed that way from the book’s synopsis (though as I said, it was intriguing enough for me to read the book anyway). However, what I got was more than a bargained for. Not just a bunch of people disappearing, but also centuries-old alchemists, spiritual transference, psychic abilities, and a pair of teenager outcasts at the centre of it all. It may sound a little cheesy, but it worked, and it was plain to see that the author did some solid research in writing this story.
As characters, Miranda and Phillips were fun to read about. Miranda is a misfit from a so-called cursed family, her father is an alcoholic, and she seems to find her comfort in current geek media. Many references were made to TV shows that are in the geek mainstream, and that alone made me relate to Miranda a little bit more. Phillips was less geeky, more of the kind of guy who ignored authority, but he certainly had a smooth and wicked sense of humour, and wasn’t afraid to take risks. He had a devil-may-care attitude without being the sort of person who only rebels for rebellion’s sake. Put together, the pair made for interesting reading.
They were a little too in tune with each other, though, especially when it came to leaps of logic. More than once, I found scenes in which one character would jump to a conclusion based on gut instinct or a sudden revelation, and not only were they always right, but when they were tell only a brief amount to the other, they were suddenly both on the same page, with the same agreements and same understanding of the situation as though they had both been connected at the brain. If Phillips had the ability to hear the thoughts of the living instead of just the dead, that would have been easier to forgive. Instead, it came across more as though the author didn’t want to spend a few pages of writing the two characters catching up.
And I can’t say I blame her, really, in some cases. From the perspective of a reader, we don’t always want to hear the same thing repeated 10 times as all the characters finally get something. But on the other hand, when you combine it with the occasional leap of logic, it seemed a little bit odd that they would both instantly grasp the same conclusion on nothing more than knowing the other person thought it.
While the pacing of the novel was certainly good, the tone made me feel distanced from the characters on more than one occasion. The opening scene, for one. We’re supposed to be getting a feel for Miranda, and I know that it’s supposed to feel as though we’re sitting on her shoulder to be a part of the action, but it feels very removed, almost more like we’re watching the scene from a distance rather than being in the middle of it. That cleared up later on, but sometimes that sense of removal from the scene returned for brief moments.
Also, I would like to take a spoilerific moment and say that the dog did not die! I get worried whenever I watch or read anything where a main character has a beloved pet, because all too often, that pet is there for no other purpose than to tug at your heartstrings when they die later on. And I thought for a moment that Bond was going to succumb to that trope, and I was going to be mightily disappointed. Angry, even, because as sad as those deaths are, it’s getting painfully obvious why they’re there, and it’s ceased to be anything but a gimmick. But I was thrilled to find out that no, Sidekick did not die, and I could celebrate seeing a happy subversion to a really annoying trope. Kudos to you for that, Gwenda Bond!
Ultimately, in spite of its flaws, Blackwood was a good YA novel that pleasantly surprised me on more than one occasion, and dealt with an old American legend that had nothing to do with vampires or werewolves. I’m definitely interested in reading more of Bond’s work, which is good, because I hear she’s currenly working on a second novel. If you’re a fan of creative and geeky YA paranormal tales, this is definitely one to check out.
(Book received in exchange for an honest review.)
aasplund's review
3.0
This was a 2.5 in my book, but I'm rounding up because I did genuinely enjoy it (even though I did struggle with many parts of this book).
Miranda Blackwood lives in the shadow of the family curse and is widely regarded as the Roanoke Island's town freak. Grant Rawley is haunted by the voices of past islanders and is desperate to leave the island and escape from the neverending whispers. When strange things begin to happen on the island, these two must band together to get to the bottom of the town's mysterious past - and to save their own future.
Strange Alchemy was fun in a lot of ways. I really enjoyed the interesting take on the Roanoke Island mystery. The first half of the story was kind of fun and not too serious and I really had fun reading it.
The second half was less fun. It was just so bogged down with fleeing from the police and thenall the weird spirits coming back to inhabit the bodies of the islanders and John Dee is suddenly all-powerful and can possess everyone and control everyone? That part wasn't really explained and it felt a little contrived. Is John Dee the devil? Is he possessed by a devil? Why does he suddenly have all these powers that he didn't have before? As the story went on, it just seemed like a lot of unnecessary drama that wasn't fleshed out well enough to be a big part of the story, and yet wasn't small enough to completely dismiss. And that was pretty annoying. Also, Grant and Miranda are trying to pursue their relationship in the weirdest moments. Like right after they go look at Miranda's dad's body. That was weird. Or making out while they're trying to figure out how to stop Dee. Just weird.
Overall, this was a fun book that I probably won't be raving about anytime soon.
Miranda Blackwood lives in the shadow of the family curse and is widely regarded as the Roanoke Island's town freak. Grant Rawley is haunted by the voices of past islanders and is desperate to leave the island and escape from the neverending whispers. When strange things begin to happen on the island, these two must band together to get to the bottom of the town's mysterious past - and to save their own future.
Strange Alchemy was fun in a lot of ways. I really enjoyed the interesting take on the Roanoke Island mystery. The first half of the story was kind of fun and not too serious and I really had fun reading it.
The second half was less fun. It was just so bogged down with fleeing from the police and then
Overall, this was a fun book that I probably won't be raving about anytime soon.