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A review by christajls
A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesel Schwarz
4.0
This review originally posted at More Than Just Magic
When I started reading A Conspiracy of Alchemists my first thought was that I had opened up the steampunk version of The Transporter. Which would be awesome! And I was perfectly happy to settle in and read that story. But, like books often too, it became so much more than what I expected, and as a result was even more awesome than I hoped.
At its most basic A Conspiracy of Alchemists is the story of a girl, pushing against the constraints/expectations of her society and doing what needs to be done to rescue her father. Elle is a spunky, strong willed woman and when she sets her mind to something she is going to do it. Like getting her pilot’s license. Or flying an otherwise untested machine. I like reading about characters that have a strong head on their shoulders and know exactly what they want.
There is a big romantic element to this story but at the same time it doesn’t take away from the adventure of the central plot line. It’s easy to get annoyed if a protagonist is too focused on the romance when there are more important things going on. But Elle is like us. She knows there’s no time for distractions. There was a good balance between the main story and the romance. The swoon worthy moments were a nice break between the more intense scenes and they made me cheer for Elle and Hugh as a unit rather than just Elle on her own.
My one problem however with A Conspiracy of Alchemists was that sometimes I did get bogged down by unnecessary detail. At times it felt like a lot of extra elements were added in and you just wanted to get to the point. Other times I wanted those extra details expanded upon. Like the absinthe fairy. Hopefully some things get fleshed out/explored further in book 2.
Recommendation: Great for those who like a touch of romance with their action. Recommended for fans of Cassandare Clare’s Infernal Devices series and Kate Locke’s Immortal Empire series.
When I started reading A Conspiracy of Alchemists my first thought was that I had opened up the steampunk version of The Transporter. Which would be awesome! And I was perfectly happy to settle in and read that story. But, like books often too, it became so much more than what I expected, and as a result was even more awesome than I hoped.
At its most basic A Conspiracy of Alchemists is the story of a girl, pushing against the constraints/expectations of her society and doing what needs to be done to rescue her father. Elle is a spunky, strong willed woman and when she sets her mind to something she is going to do it. Like getting her pilot’s license. Or flying an otherwise untested machine. I like reading about characters that have a strong head on their shoulders and know exactly what they want.
There is a big romantic element to this story but at the same time it doesn’t take away from the adventure of the central plot line. It’s easy to get annoyed if a protagonist is too focused on the romance when there are more important things going on. But Elle is like us. She knows there’s no time for distractions. There was a good balance between the main story and the romance. The swoon worthy moments were a nice break between the more intense scenes and they made me cheer for Elle and Hugh as a unit rather than just Elle on her own.
My one problem however with A Conspiracy of Alchemists was that sometimes I did get bogged down by unnecessary detail. At times it felt like a lot of extra elements were added in and you just wanted to get to the point. Other times I wanted those extra details expanded upon. Like the absinthe fairy. Hopefully some things get fleshed out/explored further in book 2.
Recommendation: Great for those who like a touch of romance with their action. Recommended for fans of Cassandare Clare’s Infernal Devices series and Kate Locke’s Immortal Empire series.