A review by chelseaj91
Alchemystic by Anton Strout
3.0
An Old Friend of the Family...Alexandra Belarus is a struggling artist living in New York City, even though her family is rich in real estate, including a towering Gothic Gramercy Park building built by her great-great-grandfather. But the truth of her bloodline is revealed when she is attacked on the street and saved by an inhumanly powerful winged figure. A figure who knows the Belarus name…
Lexi’s great-great-grandfather was a Spellmason—an artisan who could work magic on stone. But in his day, dark forces conspired against him and his, so he left a spell of protection on his family. Now that Lexi is in danger, the spell has awoken her ancestor’s most trusted and fearsome creation: a gargoyle named Stanis.
Lexi and Stanis are equally surprised to find themselves bound to each other. But as they learn to work together, they realize that only united can they save the city they both love…
2.5 StarsI loved the premise of this story. I mean, I used to love watching Gargoyles when I was a kid and it had other things that I enjoy: family secrets, hidden guardians, magic (ok, alchemy, but still), bad guys who think they can win. But I had a hard time really getting into the story.
Alexandra intrigued me, I'll admit. She was tough and dealt with all the stuff thrown at her with little whining. But at the same time, it felt way too rushed. Plus, she's expected to take over the family real estate business all of a sudden with no training? I'm sorry, but "family image" or no, how in the heck is that a good thing? And the fact that she suddenly became such a Spellmason expert? Pretty cool that she dove into figuring things out, I'll admit but it just felt like it was way too fast for someone who had no previous experience. She did make some stupid choices (can she just admit that going after any of those stones without Stanis is a recipe for trouble already?), but she was determined to find those stones and help Stanis which I admired. She also did show quite a bit of backbone and (when not stone/Spellmason related) usually made pretty smart choices.
I did have some issues with the writing, particularly Stanis' chapters. I did like watching him start to explore the world, especially as they got the stones back and he started to remember things. He was kind of funny as he tried to learn about the current culture/world. I did have issues with the way he referred to the main characters: for a while he was referring to them only as: "the makers kin" (Alexandra), "the blue haired one" (Rory), and "the male" (Marshall). Then there was one chapter towards the middle where he started switching how he referred to them, started to use their names, but it would usually only be one at a time and it would only be for that particular conversation (or even just that line of the story), then he'd all of a sudden be back to referring to them as the labels he'd given them (probably a minor thing, but it bugged the hell out of me).
I've already mentioned having issues with the sped up timing regarding Lexi's studies, but I also had some issues with Rory. Years of dance training does NOT a trained martial artist make!! While the dancing would definitely help with the movement, there's no way it would make you know exactly how to jump to hit that target or the best way to slide between a target's legs and bring your hands up to inflict damage. I will admit that could also be slightly achieved by some basic knowledge of weak spots, but not it wouldn't make her into the "expert" she'd suddenly supposedly become. However, even all of that would not necessarily make her able to properly wield a polearm!
Devon was a right royal jackass. Even getting the shock that he got, he was still an asshat. I kind of hope the Servants take him apart piece by piece.
Overall, the story held some interest for me. I'll probably look for the rest of the series, especially since I am interested to know how they deal with the way things ended, but I don't think I'll be running to pick it up immediately