The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

Hey everybody! Cassia here! Ugh, summer's almost over. Hope you all had a great summer of reading! That's basically what I did all summer. ;) Anyway, my friend just introduced me to manga, so I'll be reading that, too. Here's another review for you all!

The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

Sophie and Josh have always had normal lives as twins. As normal as they can get, anyway, being twins and all. Until Josh got a job at a bookstore. Nick Fleming is nice, but there’s something off about him. When a small man that smells like rotten eggs enters the bookstore and starts throwing...light at Nick, Josh knows there’s something more than off about the Flemings. He runs to his twin, Sophie (who just so happens to work across the street at a coffee shop), and tells her, but she doesn’t believe him. She does, though, when he shows her the wreckage. Nick tells them to follow him, and they’ll be safe from the odorous man. But will they?

There are six books in this series: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel. Yes, like Nicholas Flamel from Harry Potter. Now, I haven't read Harry Potter yet (don't hurt me), so I don't know if they're alike personality wise. These books bring every legend, myth, and story you've ever heard together in one simple explanation. And for spoiler reasons, I won't share that explanation.

This book is 400 pages. The whole thing takes place in two days. It is jam-packed with action. Even though it is, I was just a little bit bored. Maybe it's because I'm not a fan of Scott's writing style, maybe it's something else, I don't know. When I read a book, I want it to feel real, I want the author to pull me into the world they've created, make me feel everything. Unfortunately, this book didn’t. That doesn’t mean it was bad, though!

The protagonists in this series are Sophie and Josh, and they’re twins. I really like Sophie, but Josh kind of rubbed me the wrong way, if you know what I mean. He’s definitely not as smart as Sophie, and gets greedy, but that’s not entirely his fault. As for Nick Fleming (guess who he turns out to be!), he’s one of those that genuinely thinks what he’s doing is right, and it is, but what he does to get there can be taken the wrong way, even though he does it with good intentions. Overall, I quite liked this cast of characters. The thing that I liked the most from this book was the way Scott brings all the legends together. It was both interesting and amusing.

Scott keeps readers turning pages with back-to-back energy-filled events, fills those events with incredible detail, and ties all the myths up in one neat package.

Four stars!

Goodbye for now,

Cassia