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clairereviews's review against another edition
5.0
Review: The Secret Fire (The Alchemist Chronicles #1) by C.J. Daugherty & Carina Rozenfeld Publisher: Bookouture (September 3rd, 2015)
ISBN: 978-0349002194
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 5*
Synopsis:
Taylor Montclair is a regular girl from the quiet backwater of Woodbury, England.
Sacha Winters is a darkly mysterious boy from the City of Lights - Paris, France.
While Taylor's focussed on her dream of attending Oxford University, school couldn't be further from Sacha's mind . . .
Sacha knows exactly when he's going to die. Because he's done it before.
On the appointed day, Sacha's time will run out. And his death will fulfil an ancient destiny that could unleash chaos and catastrophe.
Taylor is the only person who can save him.
Neither of them knows that yet.
Because they haven't even met.
Hundreds of miles and a body of water separate them.
Deadly forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart.
They have eight weeks to find each other and unravel an ancient web of mystery and danger.
The clock starts NOW.
Review:
I was drawn in from the very first page and kept on reading until the very end. The Secret Fire is an utterly compelling read - I just couldn't put it down.
I found Taylor and Sacha to be likeable and believable and the fantasy/alchemy elements are well written. I've read books before in which the characters have magical powers or similar and some can feel a little silly and predictable, but not so with Taylor's or Sacha's.
Their struggles to discover the secrets of their destinies, how they are tied up within history, and their need to meet each other makes fascinating reading. The authors clearly have great talent for storytelling and being able to weave a spell around the reader - I was helpless to resist.
Although The Secret Fire is aimed at the Young Adult market, adult readers will enjoy it too as it has maturity that I did not expect from this type of novel. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next book in The Alchemist Chronicles series.
I'm really glad I decided to read it, and I'd like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for sending me an advanced reader's copy for review.
ISBN: 978-0349002194
Source: Netgalley
Rating: 5*
Synopsis:
Taylor Montclair is a regular girl from the quiet backwater of Woodbury, England.
Sacha Winters is a darkly mysterious boy from the City of Lights - Paris, France.
While Taylor's focussed on her dream of attending Oxford University, school couldn't be further from Sacha's mind . . .
Sacha knows exactly when he's going to die. Because he's done it before.
On the appointed day, Sacha's time will run out. And his death will fulfil an ancient destiny that could unleash chaos and catastrophe.
Taylor is the only person who can save him.
Neither of them knows that yet.
Because they haven't even met.
Hundreds of miles and a body of water separate them.
Deadly forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart.
They have eight weeks to find each other and unravel an ancient web of mystery and danger.
The clock starts NOW.
Review:
I was drawn in from the very first page and kept on reading until the very end. The Secret Fire is an utterly compelling read - I just couldn't put it down.
I found Taylor and Sacha to be likeable and believable and the fantasy/alchemy elements are well written. I've read books before in which the characters have magical powers or similar and some can feel a little silly and predictable, but not so with Taylor's or Sacha's.
Their struggles to discover the secrets of their destinies, how they are tied up within history, and their need to meet each other makes fascinating reading. The authors clearly have great talent for storytelling and being able to weave a spell around the reader - I was helpless to resist.
Although The Secret Fire is aimed at the Young Adult market, adult readers will enjoy it too as it has maturity that I did not expect from this type of novel. I'll be eagerly awaiting the next book in The Alchemist Chronicles series.
I'm really glad I decided to read it, and I'd like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for sending me an advanced reader's copy for review.
lynxthepuss's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
lavanderdetergent's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
it might be because im a bit older than the audience is supposed to be for this type of series but it was okay. i know 15 year old me would’ve loved it and it has a compelling premise overall
blok_sera_szwajcarskiego's review against another edition
3.0
Dość nieplanowany reread po 7 latach, absolutnie nic nie pamiętałam fabularnie, więc trochę nurkowałam na nowo. Nie było źle, bywa bardzo wciągające, ale na przemian z wolniejszymi, nieco nudnymi fragmentami, niemniej ocieka klimatem książek z tamtego okresu młodzieżówek i takie też tempo posiada.
lady_sun's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Der Schreibstil war nicht so meins, aber die Story und Gestaltung war wirklich wunderschön.
justanothernerdling's review against another edition
4.0
I received this book as an eARC from the publishers through NetGalley. This does not affect my review.
The Secret Fire is about two teenagers - Sacha, a Parisian boy who cannot die until the day he turns 18, and Taylor, a nerdy british girl who discovers that she is an Alchemist, someone who can control molecules and bend them into what she wants (electricity into fire, water into air, etc...) Their teachers make them meet online through the excuse of tutoring. It turns out that Taylor is the only person in the world who can save Sacha’s life. However, they have never met, and they only have 8 weeks to change Sacha’s fate for the sake of humanity.
I love this book! It was really great! I’ve always loved books that include Alchemy as its major fantasy core, I just think that it’s such a fascinating ‘science’!
I read the first chapter, and I was completely swept into this amazing world! It started off with Sacha ‘dying’, and coming back to life, but through a super tense situation that had me think that this person was going to die 10 pages into the book. When he came back to life, I thought that this unique character peculiarity was so great! Sacha is a real daredevil, but with a purpose of making money for his poor family. I loved his character. He’s very sarcastic and daring, and a bit immature at times, but will always stand up for those he loves.
Taylor is also a really nice character, (although I did like Sacha better :) ) She grows a lot throughout the book, giving her more and more personality as the story progressed. She is a bit of a typical YA book girl though, but her abilities pull her away from that typicallness, which worked very well in the end.
Their relationship is sweet! Although it is strange that they basically fall in love like that *snaps fingers*, they are really protective about each other, which I found to be really cute :)
The bad guys were great! The “Bringers” are basically 3 guys who are meant to bring Sacha to his fate. They were everything that baddies need to be - creepy, dark, mysterious, and just plain bad. Awesome!
The only thing that disappointed me was the ending. I went like this:
It had such an open end! I want to know what happened next!
Overall, can’t wait until the second book comes out, and to continue exploring this amazing story!
The Secret Fire is about two teenagers - Sacha, a Parisian boy who cannot die until the day he turns 18, and Taylor, a nerdy british girl who discovers that she is an Alchemist, someone who can control molecules and bend them into what she wants (electricity into fire, water into air, etc...) Their teachers make them meet online through the excuse of tutoring. It turns out that Taylor is the only person in the world who can save Sacha’s life. However, they have never met, and they only have 8 weeks to change Sacha’s fate for the sake of humanity.
I love this book! It was really great! I’ve always loved books that include Alchemy as its major fantasy core, I just think that it’s such a fascinating ‘science’!
I read the first chapter, and I was completely swept into this amazing world! It started off with Sacha ‘dying’, and coming back to life, but through a super tense situation that had me think that this person was going to die 10 pages into the book. When he came back to life, I thought that this unique character peculiarity was so great! Sacha is a real daredevil, but with a purpose of making money for his poor family. I loved his character. He’s very sarcastic and daring, and a bit immature at times, but will always stand up for those he loves.
Taylor is also a really nice character, (although I did like Sacha better :) ) She grows a lot throughout the book, giving her more and more personality as the story progressed. She is a bit of a typical YA book girl though, but her abilities pull her away from that typicallness, which worked very well in the end.
Their relationship is sweet! Although it is strange that they basically fall in love like that *snaps fingers*, they are really protective about each other, which I found to be really cute :)
The bad guys were great! The “Bringers” are basically 3 guys who are meant to bring Sacha to his fate. They were everything that baddies need to be - creepy, dark, mysterious, and just plain bad. Awesome!
The only thing that disappointed me was the ending. I went like this:
It had such an open end! I want to know what happened next!
Overall, can’t wait until the second book comes out, and to continue exploring this amazing story!
alcame's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
dani_bugz's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't think this one was all that great, but I can see why some people would love it. In that way, it kind of reminded me of Red Queen - but, you know, totally different.
First up, I couldn't stand Daugherty's writing. It was sluggish, badly paced, overly detailed, had a whiney voice and a Mary Sue MC. So I pretty much kept skipping through Taylor's sections.
Rozenfeld on the other hand, did a pretty bang up job, especially considering she is a french author writing her first novel in English! Kudos! I also loved her writing style and the emotions Sacha displayed.
Secondly, this book was filled qith tropes and stereotyps and so many thinga I have seen a hundred times before. Of course its about a goody two shoes english girl who doesn't know how beautiful and wonderful and goddamn special she is. Of course she falls for the bad boy with history who actually has a heart of gold AND happened to be french. Like, of course. And all the secondary characters were flat. It was like they tried to fit as many of the tried and tested YA aspects in there as possible, and let me tell you, it did not work.
So I am going to end my rant just there without actually going into too much detail, but if you want my recommendation, you will be waiting a while. I would not recommend it, but I can't say I would discourage you from reading it.
I received this as an ARC for review purposes.
First up, I couldn't stand Daugherty's writing. It was sluggish, badly paced, overly detailed, had a whiney voice and a Mary Sue MC. So I pretty much kept skipping through Taylor's sections.
Rozenfeld on the other hand, did a pretty bang up job, especially considering she is a french author writing her first novel in English! Kudos! I also loved her writing style and the emotions Sacha displayed.
Secondly, this book was filled qith tropes and stereotyps and so many thinga I have seen a hundred times before. Of course its about a goody two shoes english girl who doesn't know how beautiful and wonderful and goddamn special she is. Of course she falls for the bad boy with history who actually has a heart of gold AND happened to be french. Like, of course. And all the secondary characters were flat. It was like they tried to fit as many of the tried and tested YA aspects in there as possible, and let me tell you, it did not work.
So I am going to end my rant just there without actually going into too much detail, but if you want my recommendation, you will be waiting a while. I would not recommend it, but I can't say I would discourage you from reading it.
I received this as an ARC for review purposes.
sadbookalert's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
This book.... wow, this was bad. I didn’t really have any great expectations for this book, which is why i’m not totally disappointed, but come on!
first of all, the characters. there was one character that i liked, which was louisa. and even she didn’t feel real or thought out. every character fulfilled a stereotype; the straight-a 'ugly' student, with the hot best friend and popular boyfriend. then the dangerous 'badboy' who comes into her life, and even louisa got completely put in a box, simply because of her appearance.
it honestly felt like reading a bad and predictable wattpad story.
the only thing that i enjoyed were the death-bringers (or whatever they’re called in english) because their constant grinning was pretty creepy. the rest was just soo basic and unoriginal.
in the end i gave it 2.5 stars because of the descriptions of oxford and the history this book offered (which wasnt much but i still kinda enjoyed it), louisa because i like her, sacha in the beginning because reading about his death was at least not totally basic and actually enjoyable, and the last few chapters because something actually happened!
also i want to add that this book would’ve been way better if taylor and louisa would’ve fallen in love, honestly that would’ve caught me off guard in the best way possible. but since that’s obvs not gonna happen, well...
This book.... wow, this was bad. I didn’t really have any great expectations for this book, which is why i’m not totally disappointed, but come on!
first of all, the characters. there was one character that i liked, which was louisa. and even she didn’t feel real or thought out. every character fulfilled a stereotype; the straight-a 'ugly' student, with the hot best friend and popular boyfriend. then the dangerous 'badboy' who comes into her life, and even louisa got completely put in a box, simply because of her appearance.
it honestly felt like reading a bad and predictable wattpad story.
the only thing that i enjoyed were the death-bringers (or whatever they’re called in english) because their constant grinning was pretty creepy. the rest was just soo basic and unoriginal.
in the end i gave it 2.5 stars because of the descriptions of oxford and the history this book offered (which wasnt much but i still kinda enjoyed it), louisa because i like her, sacha in the beginning because reading about his death was at least not totally basic and actually enjoyable, and the last few chapters because something actually happened!
also i want to add that this book would’ve been way better if taylor and louisa would’ve fallen in love, honestly that would’ve caught me off guard in the best way possible. but since that’s obvs not gonna happen, well...