clumsypenguin 's review for:

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

2.0

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While I didn't hate this book, I still didn't like it, and it felt as though the story was trying its damndest to get me to hate it with every page. I have my gripes with some story beats, mainly with how some characters would wait until the last possible second to pull out some useful tool or plot device without any discernable reason as to their delayed timing, but more than anything the aspect that ground my gears the most were the two main characters. Both Sophie and Josh (mainly Josh) had incredibly inconsistent characterizations for the entirety of the book. Sometimes Josh was the well-meaning jock, and other times he was a computer-savvy nerd. The teens' inner monologues would shift wildly between constant suspicion of Flamel and awe over the magic around them, and it became a pretty tired cycle of reading them retread old ground during every major story beat. Worst of all, a character suddenly becomes tempted to leave and betray their companions without any good reason besides simply progressing the plot. The main characters are teenagers which could explain their nonsensical decision-making as they're young and are more susceptible to impulse choices. But then again, this entire book takes place over the course of 2 days and makes their poor choices even harder to understand and frustrating to read. They know what the stakes are and how the entire world's fate rests on their shoulders, yet the main two siblings still make snap decisions at every turn.

The only reason this is a 2-star review and not a 1-star is because the world the book built was so compelling. I'm always a sucker for some good urban fantasy, and I couldn't help but fall into this modern world where magic is everywhere around us and mythical figures and creatures were real all along. Unfortunately, all that is severely hampered by the aforementioned main characters, but I have to give kudos where it's due.