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A review by celsius273
The Apprentices by Maile Meloy
2.0
Can we cue second book syndrome please? Seriously, romance took a front seat in this book and it was awfully played out.
The Apothecary was wonderful in how all the parts were woven together, all the characters maxed out, filled to the brim with suspense and action. The Apprentices fails on almost all of these counts. A lot of random new characters were introduced, and they’re all pretty shallow and are barely there leaving me rather confused while reading. The narration jumps all around the world and there’s a lot of overlapping narration due to this pesky phenomena (more on that later) and needless to say, that gets pretty confusing too. Finally, the book at once felt too short and too long. The plot is basically an episode of The Amazing Race with no safety measures in place. Too straightforward, predictable, and messily executed.
The main character is still Janie, but she’s grown two years since the last book. The beginning of the book and the whole incident at her new school was very well done actually, I thought I was going to really be able to empathize with her through this book. But then it’s pointed out to her that her sciency mind is a weakness and then she goes into full housewife mode lamenting that she needs to love her parents and her guy more. I loved the chemistry and science part of the first book, and there was so much potential in Janie’s projects but it was all wasted.
The science part is kind of moving in Benjamin’s narration. He and his father are stuck in Vietnam (during the war ofc) treating the injured and it’s obvious that neither of them are happy with what they’re doing. Benjamin wants to be working on more alchemical stuff while his father is being bogged down by the stress of being in the jungle and seeing all these sick people. Anyways, Benjamin manages to get in contact with Janie with some magical alchemical concoction and that kind of sets off the whole book.
See, Janie’s roommate, Opal, has been told she’s stupid all her life by her father - the same father who wants to take Janie’s research. Long story short, she ends up on this Malay island and somehow becomes this SOS beacon that attracts literally everyone of importance. Seriously. Benjamin, his father, Jin Lo, and their whole entourage of people (they pick up like 5 extra people on the way to rescue Janie), Pip (who basically was the third wheel that disappeared from the world) and his party of accomplices, and the Count along with all the villains of the last book convene on this island in the middle of nowhere as if someone called and Apothecary reunion. It’s so ridiculous that Janie is that important to them all.
Then there’s the romance in this book. God, it is so so so so cringe worthy and is so much like a second book. Benjamin throws a hissy fit when he finds out that Janie kissed another guy and I’m like “dude, you literally tossed her out at the end of the last book… get over it asshat.” And then the ending, which I’m guessing is supposed to be cute, just comes off forced. Janie has this sudden epiphany that Benjamin is the one and then he gets super possessive of her and I’m like “children, ya’ll are still like 16. Chill” I was not a fan of how Janie and Benjamin literally flip flop in a blink at the end of the book. No thank you.
Everything I’ve written so far seems pretty ranty, but the thing is that while the whole plot is so dumb, I liked each moment that was written. If only everything could have been tied together in a way that wasn’t so basic and choppy, then I think I could have enjoyed this book much more.
The Apothecary was wonderful in how all the parts were woven together, all the characters maxed out, filled to the brim with suspense and action. The Apprentices fails on almost all of these counts. A lot of random new characters were introduced, and they’re all pretty shallow and are barely there leaving me rather confused while reading. The narration jumps all around the world and there’s a lot of overlapping narration due to this pesky phenomena (more on that later) and needless to say, that gets pretty confusing too. Finally, the book at once felt too short and too long. The plot is basically an episode of The Amazing Race with no safety measures in place. Too straightforward, predictable, and messily executed.
The main character is still Janie, but she’s grown two years since the last book. The beginning of the book and the whole incident at her new school was very well done actually, I thought I was going to really be able to empathize with her through this book. But then it’s pointed out to her that her sciency mind is a weakness and then she goes into full housewife mode lamenting that she needs to love her parents and her guy more. I loved the chemistry and science part of the first book, and there was so much potential in Janie’s projects but it was all wasted.
The science part is kind of moving in Benjamin’s narration. He and his father are stuck in Vietnam (during the war ofc) treating the injured and it’s obvious that neither of them are happy with what they’re doing. Benjamin wants to be working on more alchemical stuff while his father is being bogged down by the stress of being in the jungle and seeing all these sick people. Anyways, Benjamin manages to get in contact with Janie with some magical alchemical concoction and that kind of sets off the whole book.
See, Janie’s roommate, Opal, has been told she’s stupid all her life by her father - the same father who wants to take Janie’s research. Long story short,
Spoiler
he kidnaps herThen there’s the romance in this book. God, it is so so so so cringe worthy and is so much like a second book. Benjamin throws a hissy fit when he finds out that Janie kissed another guy and I’m like “dude, you literally tossed her out at the end of the last book… get over it asshat.” And then the ending, which I’m guessing is supposed to be cute, just comes off forced. Janie has this sudden epiphany that Benjamin is the one and then he gets super possessive of her and I’m like “children, ya’ll are still like 16. Chill” I was not a fan of how Janie and Benjamin literally flip flop in a blink at the end of the book. No thank you.
Everything I’ve written so far seems pretty ranty, but the thing is that while the whole plot is so dumb, I liked each moment that was written. If only everything could have been tied together in a way that wasn’t so basic and choppy, then I think I could have enjoyed this book much more.