Tuesday, January 1, 2013

ARC Review: A Conspiracy of Alchemists by Liesel Schwarz

A Conspiracy of Alchemists (The Chronicles of Light and Shadow) by Liesel Schwarz

Publisher: Del Rey / Random House Publishing
Year Published: January 29th / March 5th, 2013 (Expected)
Pages: 352
Rating: didn't like it it was ok liked it really liked it it was amazing (my current rating)

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with the eARC

LEAVE IT TO CHANCE. Eleanor “Elle” Chance, that is—a high-flying dirigible pilot with a taste for adventure and the heroine of this edgy new series that transforms elements of urban fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal romance into pure storytelling gold.
 
It is 1903, and the world is divided between light and shadow. On the side of light is a wondrous science that has transformed everyday life by harnessing magical energies to ingenious new technologies. But each advance of science has come at the expense of shadow—the traditional realm of the supernatural.
 
Now two ancient powers are preparing to strike back. Blood-sucking immortal Nightwalkers and their spellcasting Alchemist allies have a plan to cover the whole world in shadow. All they require is the sacrifice of a certain young woman whose past conceals a dangerous secret.
 
But when they come after Elle, they get more than they bargained for. This enterprising young woman, the daughter of a scientific genius, has reserves of bravery and determination that even she scarcely suspects. Now she is about to meet her match in more ways than one: a handsome yet infuriating Warlock named Hugh Marsh, whose agenda is as suspect as his charms are annoyingly irresistible.



Somewhere between 4 to 4.5 stars..

My first steampunk YA novel! YAY!!!!!... I am so excited for this book and oh it's not a disappointment at all..

I enjoyed and liked this book a lot!

The story was taken place in 1903.. and the world was divided between light and shadow.. The light was where the humans live and the shadow was everything supernatural and paranormal.. In the shadow, we saw how Warlock (The Council) was the one who kept the world of light and shadow in balance with the help of powerful Oracle/Phytia/Cybele (a powerful psychic based on Greek mythology) which at the time the story began was kinda in the absence of her (it's always a her) and currently was occupied by a substitute Oracle, because the real one was killed and they have to wait for the next generation for the real one to come again. Moreover, in the Shadow world, there were also Nightwalkers who had a pack with Alchemists. The Nightwalkers could not walk in the daylight, so they made the Alchemists as their daylight keeper which in other words kind of like a servant. There were also fairies, changelings, and ghosts.

Soooooo... the story was begun with the Heroine named Elle (Eleanor Chance) in Paris. She was a pilot which at the time was kinda odd for a girl. Long story short, she was to take a package from Paris to England which where lots of things started to happen. The package was kinda stolen by some or two strangers. And then the adventure began! hehehe.. that was my favorite along with a certain warlock companion!

Oh okay, let see what I really like.. The story development was really sucked me in! I loved how the story kinda took me along with it.. I always loved when the story moved from city to city, very adventurous! from Paris to Oxford then to Venice then to Austria and lastly to Constantinople/Istanbul! Maybe because I never read any paranormal/supernatural steampunk YA novel before so I was kinda enchanted by the description of the world. oooh... 

There was a downfall moment at some earlier chapters, but then somehow as the story progressed, it picked up again and I forgot what the downfall was all about.. hmm.. oh I think it was something about the character consistency.. but like I mentioned earlier, as I read more chapters, I was enthralled by the writing and forgot all about it.. hehe

Characters.. Like the heroine, Elle.. and I also like, Hugh Marsh, the warlock.. hahaha.. I just like their interaction and chemistry.. Okay, so there was romance involved between these two.. ;)

I feel like smiling, sure that this book is not perfect or amazing at some point.. But I just can't help to like this book.. There was this quality that made me forgive and forget all small problems that it had.. 

and the ending! oh God! The last chapter! and then then the epilogue! OH SO GONNA READ THE SEQUEL! I need to know what will happen again after all of these that happened in the first book.. *I am really restraining myself from blabbing spoilers here..*

Well, if you guys are going to read it, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do..

Alright then ;) until the next post!

Have a fun read! <3

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