Alchemy of Secrets Book Review

Stephanie Garber has the most magical, whimsical writing style, and it pairs so perfectly with the atmosphere of the stories she writes. She has been my favorite author for years purely because of her ability to string together words into the most perfect sentence. She describes the simplest things in the most gorgeous light. For example, from her new novel, I would never describe struggling to wake up as “the next morning arrived slowly, reluctant to perform a job it had grown tired of doing.” 

Alchemy of Secrets, her adult fantasy debut, did not disappoint in this department. Set in LA, Holland St. James is convinced that the magic she learns about in her grad school course, Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, is real. In a hunt to uncover the truth behind the death of her parents, who were Hollywood film icons, Holland gets wrapped up in these legends, and the devil himself. This whole new dazzling side of LA had the glimmer of old Hollywood, and I loved how nostalgic the setting and worldbuilding felt. 

I was immediately drawn into this book. It started out with chapters in second person, which I usually dislike but thought was tastefully done here. This was so fun because it made you feel like you were a part of the story, attending the mysterious Professor’s Folklore class and learning the urban myths in real time with them playing out in the story. This was such a magical way to introduce the reader to the world. 

Another fun part of this book was that as Holland gets deeper and deeper into trouble, she meets two men, Gabe and Adam, who both claim that they were sent by Holland’s twin sister January, who is “off on business,” to protect her. Throughout the book, Holland switches between who to trust as new information gets revealed about the both of them. This was so fun because just like Holland, I had no idea which man was actually sent by her sister and wasn’t actually trying to harm her. Let’s just say I’m still confused and have mixed feelings about both. 

What was disappointing about this book, however, was that I felt very unsatisfied by the ending. No spoilers, but I felt like so much was going on in this book, and so much was left unresolved and unanswered, that I didn’t get some kind of satisfying arc. I think for me, this book’s purpose was more for pulling Holland into the magical world and setting up the conflicts, rather than giving me a complete story in one book, which I think I will like better in hindsight since this is a trilogy. In this moment though, I wanted something more complete that didn’t end with me feeling even more confused. That all being said, I will definitely read the second book.

As a Stephanie Garber fan, I definitely went into this with a Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart mindset, and I think that hurt me a bit. Since this is her adult debut, the story and worldbuilding is a lot deeper, and I think I’m so in love with the world she already created with her other books that it took me a minute to fall into this one. So if you’ve read and loved her other books, just remember to approach Alchemy of Secrets with an open mind and try not to compare while reading!

I ended up rating this book 3 stars. I still love Stephanie Garber’s writing, but all and all I wasn’t as invested in this story. However, this is a great book to read while you wait for the Eva and Jacks novella!