First point of order: Go Pre-Order this book. No “buts”, go pre-order this book. And then you can thank me later after you’ve read it in October 2022. Links: Barnes and Noble, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Indigo, IndieBound, Kobo.

Second point of order: This is one of my favourite books I have read so far.

Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria, as I pointed out in my very quick book review on Goodreads before being able to write out a whole review, is like a “warm hug” and I describe it as such because it really did feel like a warm hug, one I definitely needed amidst all the chaos in my student life and in the world in general.

The book follows Shad (this is the moment of dramatic gasps please) who is a 12-year-old Lebanese-American who never seemed to fit in (*sobs in first-gen immigrant because same*). So, to cope with this and the periodical bullying, he cooks and bakes for his Teta, and hangs out at the local Lebanese bakery, dreaming of opening his own.

All is well, as well as it could be, until one day Shad is attacked by a shadow, a necromancer to be exact. After being saved by the baker Kahem, Shad learns that he is descended from a long line of alchemists and that Kahem can teach him.

“Mila, what on earth is an alchemist?”

Well, it’s a scientific magician who uses things like spices and flowers and such to create spells and mixtures. I know saying “scientific magician” might be seen as a juxtaposition (my HS English teacher would be so proud) but trust me, it works.

So, Shad learns alchemy and then he gets whisked away to the magical Alexandria Academy in order to truly hone his alchemist skills. Weirdly enough, no one knows what alchemy is, he still has to put up with lessons of math and chemistry (which Shad isn’t great at) and whenever he does demonstrate his alchemy, no one seems to remember it the next day.

When Shad discovers a sinister plot with his friends, and he sees several familiar faces (much to his disdain), he needs to get all the help he can find, even if that means teaming up with someone he was not particularly stoked to see.

That’s all I can say, as far as the synopsis goes. As for my review, here it is:

I read this book in a matter of about 4 hours, maybe even less. Usually, I tend to drag books, especially ARCs till the release date but I was just so sucked into this world, and the writing, that I couldn’t focus on anything else. Yes, I did drop all my current reads just to read this book. Jrieje’s writing is so refreshing, especially the descriptions of food (it made me want baklava even if I am not a big fan of it) and his characters are so well-written. Shad is not your typical protagonist, he is fiercely protective of his family and friends and extremely quick on his feet. And he’s a very talented baker (and alchemist or something) His friends, Donny, Rey, and Hayati were super fun to read about! I honestly laughed when I saw how Donny was always asleep (this was me in like 11th and 12th grade a lot of the time because I was so tired). I also really loved the bond Shad had with his Teta, it was very sweet and reminded me of me and my grandmother. Kahem was a really cool character as well, I love how he just took Shad on as an apprentice and the way he became so protective of him, it truly warmed my heart. The plot! The reveals! The characters! Honestly, this book was truly so, so much fun and a great pick me up in between the incredibly heavy and long fantasy books I have been reading.

GO! Pre-Order! Otherwise, I will send necromancers after you. (lol, kidding. Or am I?)

Yeah, I am definitely going to get my brother to read this one as well.

Love,

Mila

The Magi Menagerie by Kale Lawrence

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Listen, I definitely know that this series is intimidating because of the whole “oh my gosh, there are literally 14 books and each one is like over 500 pages, Ahhh”. But hey, Lord of the Rings is also slightly intimidating and there are only 3 books. I think it comes down to how much the story captures your interest and attention as well as the time you can set aside to read the 3 (or 14) books and other factors. I am listening to The Hobbit audiobook (which is fantastic and I have almost finished it) but then again, there is a difference between The Hobbit being literally a Middle Grade and Lord of the Rings being adult fantasy (with a more descriptive and…dense, for lack of better word, writing style that takes quite a bit to get into. From personal experience).

Either way, let’s get onto the review for the book and leave Tolkien and the World of Middle-Earth for another post :)

First off, a lot of plot points are probably very reminiscent of LOTR and The Hobbit. We follow ordinary characters (farmers and shepherds specifically) named Rand, Matt and Perrin (a.k.a my fave so far) who live in a very detached place called The Two Rivers (very reminiscent of The Shire) and inevitably get attacked after a celebration (Bel Tine for EoTW and Bilbo’s birthday party for LOTR). There are other aspects (keep in mind that the LOTR aspects I am taking from the generally known plot as well as from the movies. Horrible I know but I will read LOTR one day, hopefully) that I will not get into because I don’t want to put out spoilers but I highly recommend trying out Eye of the World if Fellowship of the Ring seems intimidating.

Continuing on…

Second off, the world-building. One thing that is so, so great about this book is the glossary! Honestly, all big fantasy books need glossaries, especially if they use made-up words. Seriously. I would be reading, see a word and be confused then go to the glossary at the back and bam! word has been found and I could continue with the story. The good thing is that the glossary does not spoil any part of the book which is always nice. I do, however, have to hold myself back from searching characters up on Google in fear of spoilers because I truly do want to continue reading the series knowing the littlest amount of information possible. I really like how much importance women are given and how they are the powerful beings rather than men which isn’t something I really expected since so many powerful, magical characters are often men (an example being Gandalf. I do realize Galadriel is incredibly powerful as well but she is outnumbered by the likes of Elrond, Saruman and Gandalf.)

Third off, the characters! My favourite, as I have finished the first book is definitely Perrin. I am also a huge fan of Rand (as most farmer girls are apparently because I do live…around farms and honestly, if I were to say what the Amazon show did right, I would say it was the casting of Rand al’Thor that they did right. But then again, I can’t form much of an opinion because I did only watch like the first 20 min of the show. MOVING on). I am genuinely feeling quite neutral about Nynaeve and Egwene. At first I didn’t really like Nynaeve but liked Egwene but now I just feel more neutral about them both. I can see that they’re definitely good characters and there is definitely room for more character development! I am really excited to get to the second book (not to mention the other 12 after…what a fun adventure THAT is going to be)

Well, this was a really fun read, much to my pleasant surprise and of course, my first 5 star of the year!

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alexandrian_arxhives's reviews 78 reviews

alexandrian_arxhives's reviews
78 reviews