Review: The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

title: The Alchemyst

written by: Michael Scott

series: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel #1

genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy

page count: 375

publication date: May 20th, 2007

publisher: Delacorte Press

rating: 4/5

He holds the secret that can end the world.
The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.
The records show that he died in 1418.
But his tomb is empty.
The legend: Nicholas Flamel lives. But only because he has been making the elixir of life for centuries. The secret of eternal life is hidden within the book he protects—the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed. In the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. That's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. Humankind won't know what's happening until it's too late. And if the prophecy is right, Sophie and Josh Newman are the only ones with the power to save the world as we know it.
Sometimes legends are true.
And Sophie and Josh Newman are about to find themselves in the middle of the greatest legend of all time.

The Alchemyst was a book I was really looking forward to. I had heard amazing things about it from lots of friends, so I was sure I'd love it before I even started reading. And as always, high expectations only lead to enormous disappointment. I was expecting this would be one of my favorite books of all-time. But it surely wasn't...! I still liked it, it just didn't have that 'wow' effect on me.

The story begins with a short introduction to the normal life of Sophie and Josh Newman, just 2 ordinary twins living a normal life. But of course, as always when books start like that, there are some major changes about to take place. They find out who the owner of the book shop (Josh's boss) really is, and they discover both of them are special. They have pure aura's, one gold, the other silver. They set out on an epic adventure.

Scott's writing style was very pleasant to read. I can't really comment on the choice of vocab and all of that because I read the entire novel in Dutch. However, all events described in this book took place in only 2 days, which seems kind of incredible to me. Still, the novel was very fast-paced!

The plot of this novel was not as interesting as I expected it to be. Ever since I read the first Harry Potter novel, Nicholas Flamel  has beenone of the most interesting people in history to me, so I was hoping for a lot of Nicholas Flamel. I didn't get it, and to me that was the biggest disappointment of this entire novel. Too much of the twins. I have not many problems with the twins, I just prefer Nicholas Flamel... Still, the plot was really interesting, and this novel was a page-turner. I really liked it and think people slightly younger than I am will enjoy this one thoroughly!

I rate this book 4 stars and will recommend it to everyone who is looking for something like Harry Potter, 'cause I really feel like those two are very much alike. This novel was full of suspense and magic, two amazing things.

Love,

Mar

The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane by Jocelyn Nora Moore

title: The Metaphysical Double Life of Eri Lane
written by: Jocelyn Nora Moore
genres: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy
page count: 173 (ebook)
publisher: Self-Pub
publication date: March 18th, 2012

Everyone knows that fourteen-year-old Eri Lane is different. She is too intense, always tells the truth, and she somehow knows things she shouldn’t. Her confused teachers know she’s different. The means kids know. Her hardworking single mother knows. The cute, nerdy senior that she loves knows. There is just something about Eri Lane. But none of them know just how different, because absolutely none of them know that there are actually two worlds, the world of Dream and the world of Wake. Only Eri Lane and her best friend Malcolm Harris know that.

Eri and Malcolm never sleep, since they were twelve they have been among the special guardians of the boundary between the two worlds, known among themselves as the Awake. Now it’s November of their sophomore year, and Eri has been having a hard enough time trying to repair psychic leaks all night, and then navigate the ups and downs of being the black sheep of Marchland High School for the Gifted every day, (not to mention protecting Malcolm, who is openly gay, and their other best friend Ashley, who is too nice, from bullies), when a strange new creature shows up in the world of Dream, wreaking havoc and possibly even attempting to tear open the barrier between the two worlds. Now, Eri has to figure out how to stop it/him, how to save the world, and most importantly, whether or not the world is worth saving. 

The wonderful author of this novel, Jocelyn Nora Moore, provided me with a ecopy of her book in exchange for a honest review. 

The Metaphysical life of Eri Lane was a very unique book. I had quite a hard time getting into it and understanding it, but when I did it was awesome!

A book about 2 worlds always interests me, no matter if it's something like Narnia, or something like Wake and Dream. And I have no idea why, but the more fantastic world always interests me more. So that's why I prefered Dream over Wake. Wake was just so full of crazy things and still seemed real. I could easily believe that a world like Dream actually exsists.

The main characters of this book, Eri and Malcolm, both were very fun characters. They were very likeable, and they weren't boring to read about at all. However, I couldn't fully connect myself to either of them, which I really would have loved to be able to.

The plot of the novel was interesting, full of mystery and random things, but there were also some serious things discussed, although that wasn't very obvious. I really like it when a book is discussing more than you realise most of the times. Just like I love to get to know some random things when I'm not in school :)

Moore's writing style is pleasant, but not very special. There was one particular thing about it that fascinated me; there were no chapters. It was just wake-dream-wake-dream-... And I thing that was a good thing, bacause it kept it all very clear and made it easier to understand it. There weren't a lot of difficult words used, and the dialogue was kind of childish talk, which sometimes annoyed me.

Altogether I give this book 3 stars for being an extremely unique and awesome book. I didn't have high expectations of it, so when I liked it I was positively surprised :) And you should read it, too. You can read it for free @ goodreads. Check it out!

Love,
Mar

Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver

title: Liesl & Po
written by: Lauren Oliver
genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
page count: 307
publication date: October 4th, 2011
rating: 5/5 stars!

Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice,until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.


That same night, an alchemist's apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.


Will's mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

Liesl & Po is one of the cutest books I have read in a while! Lauren Oliver is one of my favorite authors, and I absolutely love all of her books. Delirium is great, Before I fall is one of my favorites of all time, and Liesl & Po can be added to that list of all-time favorites. 

The story starts when Liesl meets Po, a ghost that just appears in her 'bedroom' together with its cat/dog. Po has forgotten about his/her former life. Even if it was a boy or girl! Po's stuck between life and death, unable to move on. Then we get to know about Liesl's life. She lives alone in a tower, imprisoned by her stephmother (this reminded me of 'the cupboard under the stairs') and is never allowed to go outside. Her father died and Liesl wasn't even allowed to see him when he was dying. After meeting the 2 title characters you meet Will, the alchemist's apprentice. He is a cute, brave boy who is always looking at the mysterious girl in the tower.


When the story really started I found myself mesmerized by it. It was so cute, all characters were extremely funny and very likeable, and the writing style was amazing. As the reader you already knew what happened before the characters found out. It was kind of special, as usually you find out what happens when the character finds out what's happening. 


As the story proceeded I started to like it even more. I could really relate to Liesl, and Po was such a cute ghost. It contained lots of things my inner younger me thoroughly enjoyed. It felt like the first time I was reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone! 


Altogether I would recommend this book to everyone! This book fits every age group! The story is uncomplicated, hilarious and touching. The characters are all relateable and cute and all of it was amazing. I give this book 5 stars and I added it to my list of all-time favorites!


Love,
Mar

The lightning thief by Rick Riordan

book: The lightning thief
written by: Rick Riordan
series: Percy Jackson #1
genre: Middle Grade, mythology
pages: 377
publication date: June 1st, 2005
publisher: Miramax Books

Percy Jackson is about to be kicked out of boarding school... again. And that's the least of his troubles. Lately, mythological monsters and the gods of Mount Olympus seem to be walking straight out of the pages of Percy's Greek mythology textbook and into his life. And worse, he's angered a few of them. Zeus' master lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect.


Now Percy and his friends have just ten days to find and return Zeus' stolen property and bring peace to a warring Mount Olympus. But to succeed on his quest, Percy will have to do more than catch the true thief: he must come to terms with the father who abandoned him; solve the riddle of the Oracle, which warns him of betrayal by a friend; and unravel a treachery more powerful than the gods themselves.

first thoughts:

I wish I had counted the massive number of people who have recommended this book to me, because it is immensely huge! And they all were right. I haven't seen the movie, mainly because people said it disappointed them after reading the book. Have you read it and have you seen the movie? Should I watch it? Put it in the comments, please :)


full review:
Oh my, why haven't I read this book earlier?! I absolutely love this book with all my heart, and never want to return it to the library. I need my own copy of this book!
Even though this book is oficially a middle grade book, and I usually don't like MG books, this book will be one of my forever-favourites! The humorous way Riordan writes made me smile all the time, and I thoroughly enjoyed it from the first word till the end.
Riordan's way of mixing mythology and contemporary life is amazing. I love Greek mythology, and it was so amazing to first see normal-day situations and then recognise some myth in it, the characters, that were actually gods, and of course, the whole plot.
Percy's character is amazing, and he uses hilarious oneliners. He somehow reminded me of a stereotype best friends' little brother. He is full of anger, but can also be sweet. He makes friends as easy and quick as enemies. Then he figures out that he is a demi-god *which most readers of this book already know before opening it, the ones that look at the cover...* and that he is the most powerful demi-god of all. His normal life just continues. He doesn't get evil and he didn't brag about his powers, but still he kicks ass, like a boss :D
When Percy has to go on an amazing but super dangerous quest to save the world from WWIII, he encounters lots of monsters, gods and other mythical creatures, even some of my favourites *including Medusa* and it gets more epic by the page.
Riordans writing style seemed pretty easy to me, but I don't really care, since this book is classified as a Middle Grade book. It would actually bother me more if the book was super difficult to read... :S


A must read for everyone that can reads, no matter which age, gender, or preferences, you will love this!


rating:
5 stars <3


xo Mar