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A review by mseyre13
The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian
4.0
First time reviewing a book, just thought I'd put that out there.
So I technically did not read this book, I listened to it on my boyfriends Audio App, while taking a long card ride south last year for Thanksgiving. It was four to five hour trip, and the book was not really that long, so we went through it in two car rides. So, as road trip entertainment, it wasn't bad.
I thought the plot was interesting, and the characters were alright, not very fleshed out, but that could be just because it's a first book in a series type problem, so I wouldn't dock points.
The story is this; Zoe Faust (okay the name is....problematic for me) is a 300+ year old alchemist from Salem, Massachusetts (uh oh), who has just moved to Portland, Oregon (or at least, Portlandia's idea of Portland, Oregon), where she plans to open a shop for her traveling antiques business, and set roots down for the first time in centuries. The only problem is a.) a century old, animated gargoyle, created and adopted by a famous French stage magician has stowed away in her stuff, and he needs her help, and b.) the contractor who she hired to help her with her fixer upper Victorian house, is found dead on her front porch, literally the day after she moves in.
Talk about bad luck. There are two plots to this, and both are connected, because some items are stolen from Zoe's house, including the one clue to helping her new roommate stay alive. The machination or magic that animated the gargoyle, is now starting to wear off, and he is turning back into a, well, an inanimate object. For him, that is about as good as dead, so Zoe decides to help him. Then there is the mystery of just who in the hell has it out for her fixer upper, and why they would leave a perfectly good contractor dead on a porch. I won't spoil it, but it wasn't who I was expected.
The mystery aspect was pretty good, the way the author wrote certain characters and their actions was subtle enough, that I was literally changing who I thought the killer could be every five seconds. Then again, I'm not much of a connoisseur of mystery, so I may just be a big dumb dumb. There were parts though, where I was genuinely on the edge of my car seat, trying to figure out the mystery. Especially in the end, when the killer is revealed, but not really. They aren't there at any point, until much later, when they are in lock up, but there is a sense of urgency, with all people involved. There were moments that were kind of hoaky, such as the dinner party scene, or the protagonists attempts at sleuthing at night, when she is physically, not able or strong enough to be up that late (there is a whole thing about her not being strong at night, because she is a plant-centric alchemist, as in she works with plants closely, so I guess she took on their traits???). I could have done without the teenagers, I really could have. The relationship with the gargoyle is nice, because he is the one being she is actually able to talk to about her true self with. The relationship with the cop needed to be built up more, but I can see the potential of the romance there. He spends most of the book suspicious of her, which she doesn't take to kindly too, but somehow at the end they work something out. It seems like he has something to hide as well, and, not gonna lie, I thought he might have been an alchemist too. Nothing is revealed yet, this is just some nerdy fan theory going on, but I had a total feeling about it. Hey, there are two books for me to read, anything could happen.
And now on to characters, mainly the protagonist. I did not entirely care for her, but I may be slightly biased, because the person they got to read that book (remember, it was an audio book) made this character sound pretentious as hell. See, Zoe is caught is a pretty strange predicament; she is a 300+ year old woman, inside the body of a 27 year old woman. Now, this could lead so some great story telling. Imagine vampire, only none of the blood lust and such. On the surface, this is the story of a woman out of time, someone who can't really connect with the wider world because of all the reasons that doesn't work, but also, imagine, what it would be like to be that age, and be treated like, your an almost 30 something year old woman. There are scenes where you kinda see that, like when she is talking to the "Town Gossip" (how there is a town gossip, in a major metropolitan area, idk), and she constantly condescends to her. Imagine that, but always.
The problem is, the voice over they got for this, just sounds like a 40 something year old woman, playing a 300 year old woman, trying to be 27. Essentially, what 40 something thinks or vaguely remembers what it was like to be 27. It's....about as confusing as what I just texted. Now obviously, the book series isn't done yet (for me at least) and voice overs are not the sole reason to hate a book, I just didn't like the voice over. The character has potential, as do the others, and I look forward to reading more, and learning more. The concept is interesting, and I'm looking forward to delving more into it. It's an Urban Fantasy, but not as heavy on the fantasy, so maybe people who don't get fantasy, could get into this book. The alchemy was interesting to read about (when things weren't being repeated, which is another issue I had, because it got a little grating after a while). It mostly reads like a cozy mystery, which was a nice change from the dark and gritty urban fantasies I have read. It followed the tropes of both genres, and somehow meshed quite well.
There is more I could say, but then I get into spoilers.
So I technically did not read this book, I listened to it on my boyfriends Audio App, while taking a long card ride south last year for Thanksgiving. It was four to five hour trip, and the book was not really that long, so we went through it in two car rides. So, as road trip entertainment, it wasn't bad.
I thought the plot was interesting, and the characters were alright, not very fleshed out, but that could be just because it's a first book in a series type problem, so I wouldn't dock points.
The story is this; Zoe Faust (okay the name is....problematic for me) is a 300+ year old alchemist from Salem, Massachusetts (uh oh), who has just moved to Portland, Oregon (or at least, Portlandia's idea of Portland, Oregon), where she plans to open a shop for her traveling antiques business, and set roots down for the first time in centuries. The only problem is a.) a century old, animated gargoyle, created and adopted by a famous French stage magician has stowed away in her stuff, and he needs her help, and b.) the contractor who she hired to help her with her fixer upper Victorian house, is found dead on her front porch, literally the day after she moves in.
Talk about bad luck. There are two plots to this, and both are connected, because some items are stolen from Zoe's house, including the one clue to helping her new roommate stay alive. The machination or magic that animated the gargoyle, is now starting to wear off, and he is turning back into a, well, an inanimate object. For him, that is about as good as dead, so Zoe decides to help him. Then there is the mystery of just who in the hell has it out for her fixer upper, and why they would leave a perfectly good contractor dead on a porch. I won't spoil it, but it wasn't who I was expected.
The mystery aspect was pretty good, the way the author wrote certain characters and their actions was subtle enough, that I was literally changing who I thought the killer could be every five seconds. Then again, I'm not much of a connoisseur of mystery, so I may just be a big dumb dumb. There were parts though, where I was genuinely on the edge of my car seat, trying to figure out the mystery. Especially in the end, when the killer is revealed, but not really. They aren't there at any point, until much later, when they are in lock up, but there is a sense of urgency, with all people involved. There were moments that were kind of hoaky, such as the dinner party scene, or the protagonists attempts at sleuthing at night, when she is physically, not able or strong enough to be up that late (there is a whole thing about her not being strong at night, because she is a plant-centric alchemist, as in she works with plants closely, so I guess she took on their traits???). I could have done without the teenagers, I really could have. The relationship with the gargoyle is nice, because he is the one being she is actually able to talk to about her true self with. The relationship with the cop needed to be built up more, but I can see the potential of the romance there. He spends most of the book suspicious of her, which she doesn't take to kindly too, but somehow at the end they work something out. It seems like he has something to hide as well, and, not gonna lie, I thought he might have been an alchemist too. Nothing is revealed yet, this is just some nerdy fan theory going on, but I had a total feeling about it. Hey, there are two books for me to read, anything could happen.
And now on to characters, mainly the protagonist. I did not entirely care for her, but I may be slightly biased, because the person they got to read that book (remember, it was an audio book) made this character sound pretentious as hell. See, Zoe is caught is a pretty strange predicament; she is a 300+ year old woman, inside the body of a 27 year old woman. Now, this could lead so some great story telling. Imagine vampire, only none of the blood lust and such. On the surface, this is the story of a woman out of time, someone who can't really connect with the wider world because of all the reasons that doesn't work, but also, imagine, what it would be like to be that age, and be treated like, your an almost 30 something year old woman. There are scenes where you kinda see that, like when she is talking to the "Town Gossip" (how there is a town gossip, in a major metropolitan area, idk), and she constantly condescends to her. Imagine that, but always.
The problem is, the voice over they got for this, just sounds like a 40 something year old woman, playing a 300 year old woman, trying to be 27. Essentially, what 40 something thinks or vaguely remembers what it was like to be 27. It's....about as confusing as what I just texted. Now obviously, the book series isn't done yet (for me at least) and voice overs are not the sole reason to hate a book, I just didn't like the voice over. The character has potential, as do the others, and I look forward to reading more, and learning more. The concept is interesting, and I'm looking forward to delving more into it. It's an Urban Fantasy, but not as heavy on the fantasy, so maybe people who don't get fantasy, could get into this book. The alchemy was interesting to read about (when things weren't being repeated, which is another issue I had, because it got a little grating after a while). It mostly reads like a cozy mystery, which was a nice change from the dark and gritty urban fantasies I have read. It followed the tropes of both genres, and somehow meshed quite well.
There is more I could say, but then I get into spoilers.