The Accidental Alchemist

An Accidental Alchemist Mystery #1

by Gigi Pandian

A modern tale of ancient intrigue from a USA Today bestselling author

When Zoe Faust--herbalist, alchemist, and recent transplant to Portland, Oregon--begins unpacking her bags, she can't help but notice she's picked up a stow away: a living, breathing, three-and-half-foot gargoyle. Dorian Robert-Houdin is no simple automaton, nor is he a homunculus; in fact, he needs Zoe's help to decipher a centuries-old text that explains exactly what he is. Zoe, who's trying to put her alchemical life behind her, isn't so sure she can help. But after a murder victim is discovered on her front porch, Zoe realized she's tangled up in ancient intrigue that can't be ignored.

Includes recipes!

Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Audiobook, Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Cozy Mystery

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Gigi Pandian is a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning mystery author, breast cancer survivor, and accidental almost-vegan. She's the child of professors from New Mexico and the southern tip of India, and spent her childhood traveling around the world on their research trips. She now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and a gargoyle who watches over the garden.


She writes the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt mystery series, the Accidental Alchemist mysteries, and the Secret Staircase Mysteries.


Her debut novel was awarded a Malice Domestic Grant and named a Best of 2012 Debut by Suspense Magazine, her mysteries have been awarded the Agatha, Rose, Lefty, and Derringer awards, and been short-listed for the Edgar.

Reviews

[Erica Ravenclaw · Rating 1 out of 5]

☆☆

Some *small* marked spoilers and colorful language abound! I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.



My dislike for this book is palpable. DNF at 55%. I don't always rate books I don't finish, however I made it more than halfway through and it never got better.


OK. Here is the skinny. We have Zoe, a 300 year old begrudging alchemist who has just moved to Portland in hopes of finding her way back to who she once was. Sounds amazing. Too bad it's actually a gross vegan smoothie recipe book instead of a kickass fantasy novel. I'm getting ahead of myself...let me back up a second.

After accidentally discovering the elixir of life while studying with Nicolas Flammel, Zoe goes on to become a healer of sorts, utilizing her special talents with plants to make healing tinctures throughout the years. Constantly reinventing herself as a closely resembled granddaughter, she carries on much like this for many years, until one day she turns her back on alchemy, and the painful memories attached to it. The time has come for Zoe to reconnect to her roots, so she moves to Portland in hopes of finding her way slowly back into alchemy. That is, until Dorian, a flipping French gargoyle pops out of a moving crate she had shipped from France. The stowaway Dorian is desperate for Zoe's assistance in deciphering a very old alchemy text, that will hopefully have the cure to save him from a fate worse than death.

This is near where the spoilery info happens, so if you are interested in reading, it's time to part ways here. If you continue reading you may see some mention of plot points, although IMO it doesn't really affect the book overall, but you need to be aware!

That little paragraph I just wrote out contains the books only interesting quality, the premise. It's all down hill from there. Zoe is above all things, a disappointment. She is old as fuck yet has the maturity of 30-something without any direction or drive. Dorian is turning to stone and will be trapped in a body of rock with his mind alive and intact for-fucking-ever and he desperately needs her help but this is somehow this is not a priority. She is more interested in this teenage boy's welfare because his parents are absent. AYFKM. On top of that there was a murder ON HER DOORSTEP and a subsequent attempted murder yet we are talking about she makes a morning smoothie every day and rises and sleeps with the sun.

The town of Portland reads like a flipping show from the 50's, it's so campy and ridiculous I cannot take it seriously. That's all I will say on that matter, in order to stop myself from getting too spoilery.

Now, to my biggest gripe of them all, THE FUCKING FOOD TALK. It was so obnoxiously heavy handed that this became unreadable. I am an extremely healthy eater, some might even call me militant about the quality of food I cook for my family. I was a long time vegetarian, flirted with being a vegan, and use holistic methods, vitamins and oils for nearly everything, and even I couldn't stand it. I did a quick word count and the "cook/ed/ing" was mentioned 79 times. SEVENTY-NINE-BRAIN-NUMBING-TIMES.



I am not exaggerating, the entire first 30% of this book is dedicated to talking about, the making of, discussing vegan food. Stop. This is absurd.

The prose itself is weak and awkward, there is little depth in the plot or characters, it reads very much like a first draft that needs heavy reworking. There was a murder on her doorstep, a following attempted murder, and there are pages and pages dedicated to Dorian turning into a house elf and cooking her vegan food while she takes nature walks, smells plants, and baby sits a 14 year old boy who broke into her house. The focus is so disproportionate to the severity of what is happening and the quality of the potential for awesome that it is rage inducing. I cannot recommend this to anyone, for any reason, unless you'd like to check the recipes in the back of the book, but that's why we have Pinterest. There are so many wonderful elements to this book but it misses the mark in epic proportions. Read at your own risk!

Edit 9/3: Upped a star… honestly the premise is flipping awesome, the execution just did not work for me. Perspective…time..yadda yadda. I'm not getting soft!

[[Name Redacted] · Rating 1 out of 5]

What It Claims To Be: An urban-fantasy/paranormal mystery about a 300+ year-old alchemist living in Portland who makes the acquaintance of a living gargoyle and must help decipher an obscure and mysterious manuscript to save his life -- all while solving a murder mystery!

What It Actually Is: Heavy-handed American-Vegan propaganda/food-porn. With a 21st-century-hippie's understanding of alchemy and a dull romantic subplot involving (as always) a hunky male cop. Oh, and, like, two people die or something? And some kids go missing? Maybe? Don't worry, that doesn't really have much to do with the "plot," and it's nowhere NEAR as important to the author as the litany of Vegan recipes. Not by a long shot.

[carol. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Look at that cover! Is that not striking? I tend to be a fan of block printing, so when I was perusing NetGalley, it caught my eye. I checked out the description and thought alchemy, herbs, a gargoyle and Portland sounded like an interesting combination and worth my time.

Your results may vary, based on how much time is available.

After years of wandering the country in her Airstream trailer, Zoe Faust is looking forward to rehabilitating her new home in Portland, Oregon. Her plan for anonymity take a dramatic turn when she opens her crates and discovers a gargoyle named Dorian who is seeking her help. He’s brought an alchemy text from his father, hoping Zoe can translate the formula used to bring him to life. While Zoe is trying to wrap her head around the concept of a live gargoyle, they are interrupted. Dorian grabs the interloper, who turns out to be a local teen, Brixton, dared by friends to enter the neighborhood haunted house. Before Dorian and Zoe can swear him to secrecy, Max Liu, a local detective, stops by to check on Brixton when he fails to return to his friends. After the guests leave, Dorian cooks dinner, and they head to their respective activities. When Zoe wakes, Dorian is gone, and when she returns from a morning walk, she discovers someone lying on her front porch, dead. Detective Liu interviews her and becomes somewhat suspicious. Zoe initially is concerned Dorian might have accidentally killed to protect his secret, but her theories are quickly sidelined when she discovers some of her artifacts have been stolen as well–along with Dorion’s precious alchemy book. Zoe and Dorian begin a race to find the book and decipher the text while navigating Portland and investigating their new neighbors, alternately helped or hindered by Brixton and Liu.

The Accidental Alchemist has a number of intriguing ideas that could benefit from another editorial pass or two. Unfortunately, the writing style suffers from over-explanation at the same time momentum is hamstrung by a lack of steady drive. In narrative terms, it falls solidly into the ‘tell not show’ camp, and Zoe frequently sounded as if she was lecturing the reader instead of musing to herself or thinking through a problem. While it was acceptable in the beginning as we are introduced to Zoe, Dorian, and the world Pandian is building, it quickly becomes intrusive, particularly in the repetition of particular phrases and concepts (‘I have an affinity for plants,’ ‘I’m attuned to the sun,’ ‘I haven’t practiced alchemy in years’ and ‘alchemy is about transformation.’).

Positive aspects include the nicely rounded characters of Dorian and Blue, as well as the spirit of the adolescents hanging around Zoe. However, Liu never really felt fleshed out, nor, oddly, did the murder victim. I had a good sense of setting, with the compact Airstream and the old, rickety house. The atmosphere was built well, giving a good sense of Portland’s greenery, the rain and the underground tunnels. There’s a side theme to the story about healthy cooking which is integrated well. While it is a theme I believe in, it does feel a little didactic. Recipes are included, for those who are tempted by the descriptions. For those that enjoy it, there is a very light romance in the story.

Most significantly, there are a number of logical issues that pulled me out of the story while reading. Most likely, my feeling that these were intrusive is a result of the explanations given; had some of the actions been given without reasoning, I likely would have accepted it as a character trait I would discover more about later. I’ll use the brief summary as a means of showing my issues, but unfortunately, the problems only increase as Zoe faces an actual mystery.

The Accidental Alchemist has the bones of an engaging story with a different take on a genre full of werewolves and vampires. It’s rather a pity it didn’t work out for me, because I was primed to enjoy a light urban fantasy mystery, and the cooking tie-in is a fun merge from the food-mystery genre. Still, while it is palatable enough to distract for an hour or two, it had the promise of something so much better.

Two and a half half-distilled stars.



(Specifics on early confusion while reading are hidden below the spoiler)

One, although Zoe is familiar with alchemical concepts of turning lead into gold, eternal life, and a homunculus, the idea of a living gargoyle stuns her enough that she falls off the couch. And then points out that, actually, she isn’t stunned, because she’s still there talking instead of running away. Two, she’s been afraid to “settle down” due to her lack of aging, which seems less problematic in modern society than she thinks. Move every twenty years and re-invent yourself in a new location. Three, the reader is told a great deal about how she needs a ‘fixer-upper’ house, as way to conceal her alchemy (“I didn’t tell them I was someone who needed a residence where doing substantial construction wouldn’t raise eyebrows”). Except she isn’t practicing alchemy, and what she describes as her alchemy supplies can likely be explained by a profession as an herbalist. Four, she had crates shipped from France from her storage area there that include both personal alchemy supplies as well as one-of-a-kind antiques she sells online. Nothing odd there, right? So why does she say “You’ve gotta love movers… who don’t ask questions about the items they’re delivering…. the crates contained glass jars I didn’t want anyone looking at too closely.” Again, unless they contain eyeballs (which could be theoretically explained by the antique oddities business anyhow), I’m confused as to why the paranoid secrecy and why the reader is getting so many explanations of stuff that really doesn’t matter much. There’s a sort of explanation later about secrecy as a result of her early upbringing, but it’s half-hearted. As a reader, I tend to follow along where the author leads me, and if the author is devoting significant word-count to our narrator’s logic and decision-making, I get hung up in the reasoning if it doesn’t seem character consistent.

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll admit that the writing in this book is generally readable and, even though I had an ARC, the editing wasn't worth comment. The problem was that I was simply bored throughout the whole thing...that and I became increasingly annoyed with the food references.

Because I can't be bothered to give the book any more of my time by counting myself, I'm going to quote another reviewer here. "I did a quick word count and the "cook/ed/ing" was mentioned 79 times. SEVENTY-NINE-BRAIN-NUMBING-TIMES." I'm not exaggerating when I say that at least, AT LEAST, 50% of the book is dedicated to what Dorian is cooking or what type of smoothie Zoe is making. And it gets worse.

I assume I'm not the only person who has that one friend who is a health nut and constantly trying to convert his/her (in my case her) friends to 'the lifestyle.' Zoe is this friend and I liked finding her in a book I was reading for fun even less than having soy milk, non-caff, chai lattes with my own real life fad eater friend.

None of Zoe's healthy eating lectures felt natural. What it felt like was the author taking an opportunity to use her book as a soapbox. (There are even recipes in the back! How is that relevant in a fantasy novel?) All of which is annoying, yes, but it was also detrimental to the book. Because when, for example, three kids are missing and it's imperative they be found quickly, all of the tension and buildup evaporates when the main character stops to make herself a quick smoothie, noting of course that she added extra chia seeds for the energy boost.

Further, when half the book is dedicated to food descriptions and another 20 or so percent dedicated to lectures on healthy eating and the benefits of certain herbs and such, there is very little book left for plot, character development and world building. So, let me address this here. There isn't any of the last two.

There is no character development. To call them flat is an understatement. There is also no world-building. Zoe is just a random Alchemist in an otherwise, presumably, average America. What little plot there is is WEAK. The romance comes out of nowhere and has no basis. The mystery might as well have been a series of random events broken up by a series of silly and unbelievable Poirot/Jessica Fletcher/Columbo style 'investigating.' And the little bit of Zoe's past that is revealed is just thrown in willy-nilly for no apparent reason.

Lastly, and as an admittedly pedantic point, a gargoyle is designed as a waterspout, having a trough for water to flow through. I don't believe Dorian is meant to have one. It's never mentioned in his description. Thus, wouldn't he be a chimera or a boss?

So, for a super-food freak who likes to revel in their obsessive eating issues like others roll with religion, this book is a must-read. For the rest of us, you know, normalish people...I wish I hadn't bothered.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was and interesting read, but a little too slow pace for me. I'm glad I finished it, but I think this will be the only book I'm going to read in the series.

This book has a gargoyle, hidden tunnels, murder, tea, and vegan food.

Happy Reading 📚📗📙📚📓📘📚📒📙📖📗📚📓📘📕📔📒📚📓📘📗📕📙📒📗📖

[Colleen · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 Star

This review contains some spoilers.

Awful! Truly awful! I thought The Accidental Alchemist would be something like the Aisling Grey, Guardian series, a fun Urban Fantasy series. The premise sounded interesting: a 300-something-year-old alchemist, a talking gargoyle, a mysterious ancient book, and a murderer on the loose. There were some good ideas there. Unfortunately, those ideas were utterly wasted through the stiff, stilted writing, boring plot, pathetic insta-love, and piss-poor character development. But the most monumentally tedious thing about The Accidental Alchemist was that the author used it as one giant soapbox to preach her vegan lifestyle. Now, it does not really matter what view, lifestyle, belief, etc that an author is selling - I HATE it anyone spends more time proselytizing than they do writing their damn book. And that is exactly what Gigi Pandian did here. This is basically a long-winded vegan cookbook (yes, there are even recipes included) with occasional story points jotted in the margins. The main character, Zoe Faust, seemed to exist for no other reason to campaign the author's beliefs. Or as I like to call them: Page Puppets. Every author puts parts of themselves into their works. But most manage to at least write a semi-decent story to surround it. Zoe was one of the most useless, boring sad sacks I have ever read. She was right up there with Bella Swan in terms of pathetic ineptness.

Basically, it went something like this:

ZOE: Hi! I'm Zoe. I'm an alchemist. I'm over three-hundred-years-old. A talking gargoyle just showed up in my house with a mysterious ancient book. But never mind all that. Let me tell you all about the most important thing: I'M VEGAN!
ZOE: Being vegan is the best! I barely even eat carbs because I love veggies so much! And herbs! Especially in my herbal tea! Do you like herbal tea?
ME: Um, yeah. I drink herbal tea every day.
ZOE: Of course, that doesn't really count unless you raised the herbs yourself in a special organic garden or wildcrafted them.... that means harvested them from nature.
ME: Whatever. Do you maybe want to talk about growing up during the Salem Witch trials?
ZOE: Oooooh. No. Those were terrible, dark times. None of them were vegan. I was not even vegan back then. But that was because I did not feel worthy of taking care of myself. Once I realized that my life was worth living, I immediately became vegan and turned my immortal body into a precious Vegan Vessel.
ZOE: I will repeatedly allude to a tragic past then revert back to talking about veganism every time. For example, one of the most important parts of my holistic vegan lifestyle is that I drink organic vegan smoothies at least once a day! They are soooo amazing! People can't believe how tasty I can make my organic vegan smoothies! Here let me list out a bunch of ingredients that I like to put into my organic vegan smoothies.
ME: You've got to be kidding me.
ZOE: Aren't these the best? Don't you just loooove organic vegan smoothies?
ME: If by "organic vegan smoothies" you mean strawberry daiquiris with extra rum in them, then yes. Yes, I do.
ZOE: I'm so sensitive to the energies of plants.
ZOE: Oooo. A hot guy. But he looks like he is more in need of a healthy vegan meal than hanky panky. I'm going to ask if he likes organic vegan smoothies.
DORIAN: Bonjour. I am a gargoyle. More importantly, I am French. I will now spend almost all of my time creating vegan gourmet meals that blow everyone's minds to support Zoe's incessant campaign to convert everyone to veganism.
ZOE: I respect everyone's life choices. But I know I am absolutely right, and it's my immortal duty to convert everyone to veganism. Even if I have to waterboard them with my organic vegan smoothies.
ZOE: Oh, a neglected neighbor boy. I've never seen him eat a vegetable. That is going to change. I will make him eat vegetables and he will like it. Whether he wants to or not.
ZOE: I studied with Nicholas Flamel. Because no one can write a book about alchemy and not mention Nicholas Flamel. But I don't like to talk about my tragic past. Did I mention I'm so attuned to the sun that I wake up immediately at dawn every day no matter what?! I get my strength from the light! It's so unhealthy to be awake when it's dark out!
ZOE: Let me tell you about what else I like to put in my smoothies...
ME: There's a dead dude on your front lawn. He was murdered. Do you maybe want to dedicate some page time to that?
ZOE: OMG that's terrible. I need to cleanse my aura! Where is my neti pot?! I can't function with all this negativity!
ME: I think I hate you.
ZOE: OMG, I caught a tiny whiff of chemical! My previous Vegan Vessel is contaminated!! Quick! I must detox! Where is my wheatgrass and dandelion root?!
ME: Yup, I hate you.
ZOE: Ahhhh! How can you expect me to be awake until MIDNIGHT?!? That's so barbaric! I'm going to have to drink an extra special organic vegan smoothies just to try to stay awake.
ME: I hope you develop a deadly allergy to smoothies. I hope your neti pot suffocates you. I hope you choke to death on your own smug sense of self-importance.
ZOE: I'm going to finally talk about my tragic past, but I'm going to barely go over it. It will be emotionless and boring as all get out. Then I will wax poetic about herbs and vegetables.
ME: You useless twit. Do you want to do something about those missing children? The ones probably being held captive by a murderer?
ZOE: That's so terrible. And stressful. So stressful that before I can even think about investigating the missing children I must make an extra special, stress-reducing organic vegan smoothie. Let me tell you about my special ingredients and how they will benefit you!
ME: Are you effing kidding me?? You really took the effing time to detail your stress-reducing smoothie before going after the missing children?!
ZOE: Mmmphh mmmmmaahamm mmmmmmph.
ME: Yeah, it's kind of hard to rant about your vegan ways when your book is shut, isn't it? Take that you horrible, self-absorbed nitwit. You are definitely going on the Worst Books of the Year list.


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 1 Star
Writing Style: 1 Star
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 1 Star
Level of Captivation: 1 Star
Originality: 1 Star

[Molly Mortensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little cozy mystery with a hint of romance.

I think if you like mysteries you’d enjoy this book, because although she thinks about her long past often, her magic isn’t a large feature of the book. Though what magic there was, was well done. (Of course I wanted more of it though.) I also liked that she was an alchemist, which hasn’t been done much.

The Good:

The best part of Accidental Alchemist was its characters, from the cooking gargoyle to the troubled teen who just wants to help his friend.

Dorian (the gargoyle) is French and has a love for everything from France. Throughout the book he uses French words and phrases (I don’t speak any French) but it wasn’t hard to figure out what he meant from the context. Dorian’s also a cook and since Zoe is a strict vegan he comes up with new recipes for her. Most of which are included at the end of the book, (I’m not going to try any of them, because when I cook bad things happen and though the author made the food sound good vegetables aren’t my cup of tea. (I prefer cookies)

The mystery was well done. I actually didn’t guess who’d done it ahead of time. (and I usually do.) There were enough suspects and details about all of the characters, and yes plenty of red herrings that threw me off the trail.

This isn’t a romance book and there isn’t much romance in it, but what is there is well done and if there’s a sequel I look forward to seeing the relationships grow. There’s also humor thrown in and I chuckled in spots, which makes all books better.

I liked how Portland was described, from the tea house to Zoe’s airstream, to her new home. Zoe has a great nose so there are also plenty of smells described as well, which I enjoyed.

This is a cute little feel good book, which was just what I needed. I look forward to the sequel. (The author hinted that there might be one in the acknowledgments and I’m hoping there is.)

The Bad:

This book is slow paced and there are long stretches where not a lot happens. My usual fantasy novels have magical duels and such, but this wasn’t that kind of book. (Which surprisingly wasn’t a bad thing.)

Would I recommend this book? Yes. Will I read the Sequel? Yup.

I read this book in December, so details are a little fuzzy. I don’t remember it as fondly as I wrote here, but that happens. I was surprised though that most of the reviews weren’t very positive. I think that’s because the blurb made it sound like an urban fantasy not a cozy mystery.

My Summary:

Zoe is a 300 year old Alchemist. Due to a trauma in her past she gave up alchemy almost a century ago. Now she plans to start a ‘normal’ live in Portland Oregon. She bought a large old house that the neighborhood dubbed haunted and shipped her antiques from France.

When she unpacks she finds something unexpected in her crates, a living gargoyle named Dorian. He’s a person in his own right and he’s come seeking Zoe’s help. Between him and a local troubled teen they turn Zoe’s life upside down and make her house feel like a home.

When her contractor ends up dead on her doorstep and she smells poison she tells the police detective, but because she can’t explain her skill she naturally becomes a suspect. When they discover that Dorian’s Alchemy not Alchemy book was stolen by the murderer she has even more of a reason to find the killer.

Parental Rating: PG

Point of View: First (Zoe)

Source: NetGalley, I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Predictability: 2 out of 5 (Where 1 is George RR Martin (If the characters make a plan or think about the future I know it isn’t going to go that way.) And 5 is Cinder (where I guessed what was going to happen long before it did, but it was still a great book.)

My Rating: 7/10 Stars

[Laura Snider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was free through my audible subscription. It looked interesting & I thought I would love it. But, no, not really. I found it to be very meh.

I like the idea of alchemy and a living gargoyle, but I found that I didn’t like the main character much. She acted as though she was superior to everyone else while at the same time whining about her past. It was annoying.

Also, alchemy (at least to me) is better left as an abstract idea. There was so much alchemy talk in this book. Too much. I grew bored with it.

[Ami · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

In the beginning, I thought this book had a VERY interesting premise. Zoe Faust, a 300+ year old alchemist is just about trying to settle down in Portland, Oregon, after wondering around for years. When she is about to unpack her things, she discovers a gargoyle inside one of her crates. The gargoyle, by the name of Dorian, is asking Zoe's help with an alchemy text to keep him alive since Dorian can feel he is turning back to stone. However, before Zoe can work on this, they are being interrupted, and then the next day, Zoe discovers the dead body of her contractor, and the book is missing.

Up to that, I really, REALLY was intrigued. Combination of an alchemist, a gargoyle, and dead body?!? Well, that was a recipe for an intriguing paranormal mystery, wasn't it? Well, unfortunately, the only 'good' recipe here was all those cooking that Dorian did (or those foods Zoe seemed to enjoy). Because after that, there wasn't much that happened, especially in solving the mystery of the dead body and the missing book! Zoe seemed to just run around doing errands and other unnecessary things -- except talking about cooking and recipes. Sometimes I wondered if the book was about an alchemist or about a cook...

Considering that Dorian said that the book was important for him to keep 'living' ... I found that the sense of urgency for finding the book was also lost somewhere in the middle. Yes, Dorian is a gargoyle that can cook ... now can we get back to the fact that he was DYING?!? I mean, seriously, the book went on and on and on, and I just lost a lot of interest and ended up skimming a lot.

There was also a weak romance story-line ... it wasn't enough to keep me interested in it.

Conclusion, I was looking for a unique story ... all I got was a flat and thin one. The beginning was nice, the cover was cute, but that was all about it. So with such a heavy heart, I couldn't recommend this to my urban fantasy/paranormal mystery friends.





The ARC is provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.

[Metaphorosis · Rating 2 out of 5]

reviews.metaphorosis.com

2 stars

A long-lived alchemist in a new city gets caught up in strange doings when her shipped goods turn out to include a living gargoyle, her intended building contractor turns up dead outside her door, and a key book is stolen. She must race against time to save a friend's life.

The Czech language is not written in any variant of Cyrillic, and as far as I know never has been. In fact, a quick glance at Wikipedia will tell you that its interesting and regular Latin-based orthography is used for transliteration of other languages. Getting the Czech alphabet wrong is unfortunately just one of the many errors that crops up in The Accidental Alchemist.


I don't read a lot of urban fantasy, but this book had other aspects that drew me in, including a vegan protagonist, a setting in Portland, Oregon, and the aforementioned Czech elements. I'm part Czech myself, but it didn't take much to spot this alphabetical error. There isn't that much about else Czechia, and most of the rest seems alright.

Pandian does use a fair amount of French and some other languages. Unfortunately, she occasionally uses them incorrectly; more likely the result of bad memory or transliteration than of machine translation ("sait" instead of "c'est"). Since two key character are said to speak French well, it's notable.

The story is set in Portland, the city I call home when I pretend to have one. It's always nice to see familiar places in a new light. Unfortunately (again), Pandian's Portland is a caricature of the real city - all new age hippies all the time. Even in the Hawthorne district where part of the story is set, there's more variety than this, and Hawthorne is no more stagnant than any other neighbourhood. It doesn't look like this now, and really never did. Just as irritating, Pandian's knowledge of the geography is pretty weak - a character lives near enough to Hawthorne to walk over, but also lives on a hill. Thing is, close-in East Portland is flat. Really flat; almost Florida-flat. The only hill worthy of the name is a volcano, and very few people live on it. It's nit-picking, sure, but a quick look at an online map is all it takes these days.

I've been a vegan for a long time now, and on this front, the book really does deliver. It's a little heavy-handed on the 'magical herbs will cure all ills' angle, but for the rest, it's great. The recipes sound delicious (barring a strange fondness for beets), and most of the dishes are really things that vegans really eat. Happily, Pandian includes actual recipes as an appendix, and I plan to try some of them out.

I wish I could be more positive about the book, but on two of the three above points, it doesn't deliver. More to the point, the writing is consistently awkward, both at the sentence level and plot-wise. It reads like a fair early draft that needed a harsh editorial hand and didn't get it. The prose isn't smooth, the characters neither deep nor credible. An example - our narrator has been alive for hundreds of years, fending for herself in a cruel world. Yet she seems almost deferential to a few cocky teenage kids, and it's not because she's using reverse psychology on them.

All in all, I can't recommend this. It's lighthearted, but also thin. If you're a vegan tired of reading about heroes eating steak, this may be the book for you - the frequent mentions of food are mouth-watering. But if you're reading for the story, you're probably in the wrong place.

NB: Received free copy from Net Galley. 

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cozy mystery with a touch of magic.

Highly recommended for fans of both Kevin Hearne's 'Iron Druid Chronicles' and Nancy Atherton's 'Aunt Dimity' series.

This is my second book by Pandian, and I liked the other one (Pirate Vishnu) enough to seek this one out. I was expecting a quick, entertaining read with a positive feel to it, and in that, I was not disappointed.

Zoe Faust, itinerant herbalist and online antiquities dealer, has decided to settle down in Portland. Oh yes, Zoe is also someone who's dabbled in the art of alchemy in the past - the rather far-distant past. Zoe's secret is that she was born in the 17th century, and her alchemical experiments have extended her life. Right now, she just wants to blend in to the life of her new town. Unfortunately for her, the fixer-upper she's purchased is known locally as a haunted house. Upon arrival, she's greeted by a living gargoyle (who loves French cooking and wants her help). And next thing she knows, there's a dead body on her doorstep. None of this is helping Zoe fade into the background. As a matter of fact, it looks like she might end up a murder suspect. The only solution will be for Zoe to find the real culprit.

The book has a few issues. At first, I thought Zoe's obsession with vegan cooking was cute and quirky - but as the book progressed, the food details just got to be too much. It crossed over from being a character element to sounding like a pushy ad for vegan recipes, detracting from the flow of the story. I wish it had been toned down.
The author also really needs to look into the difference between Russian and Czech, then check her French, and make a few edits there.

Extra note: I love the cover!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Midnight Ink for the opportunity to read this enjoyable book!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this novel much more than many of the other reviewers did, so three stars from me for a story that starts off in a very promising way and eventually keeps its promise. Along the way to an exciting and satisfying climax and denouement, however, a good deal of the first-person narration doesn't do much to advance the story. If I were editing it, I would probably shorten it by about 100 pages.

I was rather surprised that so many of the negative reviews seem to react primarily to the highly detailed descriptions of vegan cuisine--some felt the book was vegan propaganda in a fictional disguise. I thought those parts were mildly amusing because of their set-up. The narrator, Zoe Faust (original name unspecified or have I forgotten it?), is indeed a vegan (plant-based food only!) and the other main character is a gargoyle named Dorian (pictured on the cover) who stowed himself away in Zoe's belongings. He turns out to be a skilled French chef (with something of a chef's temperament too) who planned to justify his presence in Zoe's life by making every meal a gourmet treat. In deep shock at her diet, he manages to meet the vegan challenge again and again.

Here's the problem I saw with the vegan by-play: there's an imbalance between the detailed treatment of Dorian's culinary masterpieces and the central theme of the novel, which as the title suggests is indeed alchemy, and those descriptions are mostly vague and a little confusing. That's justified in the storyline, of course, in that Zoe was an apprentice alchemist who stumbled across the elixir of life (sorry, Elixir of Life) around 1700 and couldn't even figure out which exercise did the trick. Hence, I suppose, the title "accidental alchemist"; reading between the lines, make that "bumbling alchemist."

There was room for humor in Zoe's centuries-long career, but it's treated seriously instead. Knowing that she will never age but she's still vulnerable to disease and injury--not immortal by a long shot--she develops her skill as a plant alchemist and survives by providing healing herbs to sell and to keep herself healthy.

Other long-lived alchemists survive and thrive by secretly turning base metal into gold as a source of wealth, but Zoe exhausts herself producing only a tiny bit of gold, so she's dependent on her herbal skills for a living. With care and caution, she has managed to survive into the 21st century, but her attempts at alchemy failed to prevent the death of a loved one, and since then she has abandoned alchemy.

Now, a century later, Dorian shows up. He's desperate. He's a stone statue of a gargoyle who was brought to life, accidentally I think, by a Parisian magician in the 1800s. He can go back and forth at will between stone and something intermediate between stone and flesh, and he's fully conscious in both states. But the magic is fading, beginning with his left foot, which now remains stone, causing a limp. He knows the magic will keep fading until he is trapped in his stony state forever.

Dorian is holding an ancient alchemy book, which he believes holds the cure for his condition, and he thinks Zoe can help him. So, with reluctance, Zoe returns to alchemy, but she's forgotten most of what she learned, and that's why the alchemy portions of the novel are vague and confusing (to me at least). On top of that, Dorian's book is soon stolen, there's a murder on Zoe's doorstep, and the story lurches into a thriller of sorts--it was probably (but not certainly) the murderer who stole the book, and the murder mystery portion of the novel was pretty well constructed.

Of course, it's only after the murderer is revealed (exciting climax) that we can hope to find out whether the book will help Zoe reverse Dorian's horrible fate (denouement). So the most important parts of the plot stay on hold while most of the tale is occupied with secondary issues, involving a trio of teenagers, a tea-house owner, and a very ambivalent cop (hints of romance with Zoe). Certainly friendship develops between Zoe and each of these characters, all of whom are well drawn and likable.

The local descriptions--a neighborhood in Portland, Oregon; Zoe's supposedly haunted old house; the Shanghai tunnels--were rich and felt authentic (if not quite geographically accurate), and I enjoyed getting to know the characters. Now if we could just fix the narrative pacing...

[✨Susan✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A small town murder mystery mixed with a bit of fun, modern day fantasy. Zoe Foust, a retired Alchemist, is quietly trying to put down some roots after being transient for years while running from a broken heart. Following her purchase of a fixer upper in Oregon, she soon finds out that because of its long time vacancy the locals think that her old house is haunted. To complicate things further, within twenty-four hours of her arrival, the contractor she hired is found dead in her front yard and a young neighborhood boy, who is spying on her, sees something he should not have.

My favorite character of this story is a real live, gargoyle that has packed and stowed himself away in Zoe's boxes that have been shipped to her from Paris. He turns out to be an elequent, educated, French gourmet cook who desperately needs Zoe's help. Julia Motyka did an excelent job with the accents.

[Yzabel Ginsberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

(I got an ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

1.5 stars. An interesting premise, but one I had trouble stayed focused on, and I just could never push myself to read more than a chapter or two before switching to something else.

The first chapters, with Dorian popping into Zoe's life, his predicament, the book that needed deciphering, hinted at a good modern fantasy story. Unfortunately, the mystery that followed was too flat, and took too long to properly unveil. It could have been more of an adventure, yet it wasn't. There wasn't even that many alchemical concepts and knowledge to munch on.

I'd chalk a large part of this to the main character going around in circles about some things, always recalling her ability with plants, how she was not a night person, needed her healthy foods, etc. There was more cooking and vegan recipes than actual alchemy here. I know they say alchemy kind of started in the kitchen and all that, but the metaphor didn't bring much to the story for me. I mean, it's the Accidental Alchemist, not the Accidental Cook, so...

In turn, the sense of urgency got lost somewhere along the road. After a murder and another murder attempt, with Zoe having the potential to be seen either as the culprit or as the next victim, I would have expected more tension. When clues finally started appearing, and Zoe at last started taking them into account, I was past caring, and just wanted to finish the novel to see if Dorian could be saved.

The ending, by the way, was too rushed to my liking. I don't have anything against McGuffins and McGuffin-plots used to introduce deeper, larger stakes; but I tend to feel frustrated when a story begins with such a plot, goes on reminding us regularly that it's important, then brings a quick resolution after having focused on something completely different. It just makes me stop caring. (I'll be honest, though, and mention that while I was reading this book, I was also reading another one that suffered from the exact same problem of "rushed ending"; I suppose they slightly "tainted" each other for me in that regard.)

(A minor quibble as well regarding Dorian's speech patterns: speaking as a French expat living in the UK, seeing bits of French thrown in the middle of sentences is definitely weird. Whole sentences or exclamations, all right—it's only natural to start speaking in your own language, before remembering you should switch to another one. But in my own experience, when this happens, we usually tend to stop and start again in English. For instance, I haven't heard any other French expat finishing an English sentence with "n'est-ce pas", so when the character did it, it kind of felt like "Hey, here's a reminder I'm French". Not needed in my opinion.)

On the bright side, I still think the basic idea was great, and I liked Dorian's character in general, as well as the questions his existence raised: how he came to be, sure, but also how other people perceived him. When he recounted having to pass for a disfigured man who only worked for blind cooks and refused to let anyone else in the room, so that he could do what he loved without people freaking out, that was awfully sad—and a bit reminiscent of relationships such as the ones between Frankenstein's monster and De Lacey. I always like when similar themes arise in a story (even though it was underexploited here).

[Mahayana Dugast · Rating 5 out of 5]

That story was entertaining, and the narrator [Julia Motika] really brought it to life, with a spiffing rendering of the French accent which ended up being fabulously endearing as attributed to my favorite character in this story, beloved Dorian the gargoyle!! I had a great time and wish I had a Dorian with me :-) Will listen to book II!

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The urban fantasy field is a smorgasbord of different sub genres. A fan can read books about characters who are werewolves, vampire hunters, wizards, half human half demons, or shapeshifters. New authors are always entering the field, and the book covers are replete with vampire huntresses with armed with a sword or automatic. In an overcrowded field, the trick is not only to find good books but interesting stories with new types of characters.

Enter Gigi Pandian, a new author with an urban fantasy mystery novel, "The Accidental Alchemist" about a reluctant alchemist who has bought a rundown house in Oregon, thought to be haunted, to hide out. Zoe, who has discovered the fountain of youth, has been running from her past and hopes to make a fresh start in Oregon. The story starts out with a bang. There are three unwelcome visitors to her house, a murder and a disappearing spellbook.

Before Zoe can even get her boxes unpacked, she finds a living gargoyle hiding in one of her crates, Dorian, who knows about her secret life. He wants her help because the spell that is animating him seems to be unraveling. He has a spellbook that may hold the secret, but before they can delve into it, Zoe finds, Brixton, a 14 year old boy, hiding in another room. Brixton, who entered the house on the sly, has overheard Zoe and Dorian talking. Next Liu a local cop knocks on the door. He wants to arrest Brixton. After Zoe temporarily gets rid of Brixton and Liu, Dorian shows Zoe the alchemist spell book, Zoe agrees to review it, but before she can, it is stolen, and a contractor, that Zoe hired to fix up her rundown home is left dead on her doorstep. Zoe immediately guesses poison.

Initially while fending off Brixton's attempts to disclose the talking gargoyle living with Zoe, and after co-opting his silence, Zoe, Dorian and Brixton try to find the missing spellbook and solve the contractor's murder. Pandian has a deft hand at displaying interesting details about her characters. Dorian shows a talented hand at cooking and since Zoe is a vegan, you can see how a chef would handle that food choices, but equal compelling is Zoe's attempts to come to grips with her past. She has lost loved ones in the past and had chosen to run from her alchemist talent. But now she needs it to solve murder and help heal people, bespelled by evil.

Pandian's exploration of Zoe's past is also a window into story of alchemy in general. But there is much more to this story. There is a smuggling ring, deadly herbs and drugs. The story goes in and out of focus a little, but always comes back to the central plot. It will take force Zoe to once again return to the practice of actual alchemy, help of her young friend Brixton and her gargoyle Dorian to uncover the thief, the murderer and a criminal conspiracy

This artful urban fantasy is short on actual magic casting but long on criminal mystery, intricate plotting and murder. I will be on the lookout for the next urban fantasy mystery blend from Gigi Pandian.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m surprised at the number of negative reviews, but I expect - as with any book - it’s all about expectations. If you expect thriller, hard hitting action adventure, angst or lust driven romance - this is not it. It’s a cozy mystery style, light, gentle pacing, likable characters.

An enjoyable read, I’ll check out more from this author.

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars . OK, but nothing out of the ordinary. It was like one of those cute cozy witch mysteries.

[W.R. Gingell]

DNF (for now)

listen, i like slow-paced books. especially when they're meant to be cosy. i also enjoy the way Zoe's veganism is sprinkled in as her way of life rather than a great deal of preaching--unlike others, i find it pretty organic (hah) and only felt preached at very mildly once. i even don't really care that Zoe comes across as not the most intelligent, since i feel that anyone who is reduced to living in a caravan after living for several hundred years is probably not the best with money and maybe not the most socially acute. i didn't feel like we were told she was meant to be clever, so that made the difference. i also don't have a problem with the main arc of alchemy unfolding slowly since i assume it's a series arc (even tho i was disappointed at the lack of alchemy--at 35% through, Zoe has only just decided she's gunna do it again)

the thing that made this a reluctant DNF was the character behaviour--namely, Zoe is a complete pushover, and the other characters shamelessly take advantage of her all the time. if this was a book where part of the character arc was Zoe learning to stand up to that, i would have found it okay. it doesn't feel like it's that. it just feels like everyone is allowed to use and abuse Zoe, while she just...takes it all? i find that too reminiscent of life and a real downer, so this has to be a DNF--for now. i may gather more patience later.

i do think a lot of people will like this book (and this series); it's cosy, alchemical, has a different lifestyle on display (and if you like vegan recipes you are COVERED), and an interesting thread to it altogether. while it's not for me, don't let that stop you.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this so much and can't wait to read the entire series ❤️

[Carrie Mansfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

My review can be found on my blog.

ARC provided by the publisher.

I'm disappointed, son. This book had a cool premise: Alchemy is cool. The concept of Dorian is cool. The problem is neither are properly utilized.

The Accidental Alchemist is a mystery with a dash of the fantastic by the way of alchemy. As I indicated though, the plot feels flimsy, so much so at one point the characters resort to having a dinner party so that the mystery will somehow resolve itself. The plan is inspired by the mystery novels that Dorian reads, but it's like he doesn't realize that by the time of the dinner party that Miss Marple or Hercule Poirot have already solved it, and everyone just happens to be conveniently gathered. It just reads as odd.

So that leaves the characters.

Meet Zoe. She's vegan and a 300-year old alchemist and a vegan.

Did you know she likes to eat vegan food because if she's going to live forever, she wants to eat food that will make her feel better. Never mind that going vegan when she did would have made her stand out, not a great idea for someone trying to hide.

Vegan.

The character isn't militant about her diet, but between references to it in her narration and the countless number of scenes book-ended by descriptions of vegan food the book treads dangerously close to the line of being that vegan friend who won't shut up about how awesome their diet it. Given that the you could cut out all the stuff about veganism and not really lose the plot, some people will find it to be too much, and I wouldn't blame for you it.

As for the alchemy bit, it's under-developed. She doesn't really practice, we mostly get repeated utterings about her affinity for plants and she mixes up some tinctures. She's apparently such a questionable practitioner that she doesn't even quite know which of her mixtures were the Elixir of Life! Okay then.

And really, that's about all we get to know about her. She just feels a bit underdeveloped.

Also underdeveloped was Dorian. Once you get past his awesome backstory, he just comes across as a fairy stereotypical Frenchman. He likes cooking food. He likes his coffee. He likes Le Monde. No mention of wine, but I'd imagine at some point he'd probably imbibe.

There are some teens. There is a quirky tea shop. There's a detective who is taken off the case. They are all fine, though I still question what kind of an adult would let a 14 year old serve alcohol at a party. Anyway.

The book is a fun read, but seriously, the second you start thinking about it, it falls apart and that's a shame. I think had she focused less on the food and more on the task at hand than maybe she could have fleshed everything out just a wee bit more and the book would be easier to recommend. As it stands, at best I can give it a weak recommendation and even then I don't even know if I can. It's just not quite there.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian is the first book in the Accidental Alchemist Mystery series. Zoe Faust is an alchemist and herbalist born over 300 years ago yet due to her discoveries does not age. She moves to Portland, Oregon to start afresh and discovers a stowaway gargoyle Dorian in her luggage. Dorian is slowly turning back to stone and enlists Zoe's help to save him. In the meantime she becomes involved in the murder of her handyman. I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would and got drawn in as it progressed. Dorian is a french chef and there is a lot of cooking and descriptions of mouth watering recipes. An engaging mystery with interesting characters and a good and descriptive introduction to the series.

[Thiago Alves · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still having mixed feelings about this book. Do I want to continue the series? Yes. Did I had fun reading it? Yes. So why I don't feel like this was an excellent book? Maybe the culinary descriptions were a bit too much, or maybe some cliches (like the girl falling in love with the heroic and incorruptible character) were hard to forgive, but nevertheless, I enjoyed the book.

Since I listened to the audio of it, I need to give kudos to Julia Motyka (the narrator) that, undoubtedly made the book way more enjoyable.

Overall, if you're into the mystic, vegan and culinary, this is a full plate for you (no pun intended).

[N.N. Heaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! The story was a refreshing change from what I've read recently. Gigi Pandian is new to me but I will be reading more by this author.

[Eoghann Irving · Rating 2 out of 5]

Urban Fantasy is an extremely popular genre and one that supports quite a range of styles. With The Accidental Alchemist Gigi Pandian may have come up with an entirely new sub-genre, or at least one I was not previously familiar with. It is part mystery, part recipe book!

I'm exaggerating here, but only slightly. The book is a light-hearted one that certainly belongs in the Urban Fantasy fold, though marking itself apart with an absence of werewolves, vampires or demons. There is a gargoyle though. A French one.

The central and sole viewpoint character for the story is Zoe Faust, an immortal alchemist (the accidental appellation is explained in the story) who has just moved to Portland, Oregon. Moving in to her new home does not go to plan when she discovers a talking Gargoyle in her luggage and her chosen repair man ends up dead on her doorstep. Not surprisingly, she is a suspect.

Most Definitely Not A Detective

Zoe is refreshingly incompetent in her, involuntary, role as solver of the murder mystery. Which makes sense since she basically makes her living selling antique Alchemy artifacts. She is aided in her investigations by the overzealous Gargoyle and by a teenage boy who stumbles in on her secret. It's certainly an odd and distinctive team up.

Throughout the course of the novel her bumbling attempts either to figure out what happened or to at least give the police some help generally serve only to further confuse or complicate the situation. Though admittedly her mixed feelings for the police detective probably also aren't helping here.

Perhaps the height of that bumbling, not a good detective, feel is when they actually host a dinner party in an effort to identify the killer. That should be ridiculous and yet it actually works quite well here, because the preposterousness of the situation is acknowledged.

Wait, About That Gargoyle

Ah yes, Dorian. He is an example of where this book goes wrong. There are so many good ideas and elements set up, that the author just doesn't seem able to capitalize on. Dorian is a Gargoyle who was accidentally brought to life many years ago by the french illusionist Jean Eugène Robert (an example of the book's efforts to tie itself to various historical figures). Despite his physical age, it seems he hasn't matured that far mentally and displays an almost unflappable level of enthusiasm for everything around him.

So far, so good.

Dorian is French. So naturally he just randomly spouts sentences in French while otherwise speaking to people in English. Because, he's French you see. It's certainly believable that he would revert to French, at least when speaking with Zoe who we can assume also speaks it fluently having lived there for years. But if that's the case and Zoe is the viewpoint character we don't need it written in French. It's like giving his speech a bad accent. At most all that was required was to have him stumble over a few words and use the French one in its place. As presented it's clumsy and distracting even though I understand the French sentences that were used.

Dorian also likes cooking and is really good at it because he's French! And he thinks France is the best place in the world, because he's French! Look, the French can be pretty Xenophobic but can we have a little subtlety here?

This sort of over-emphasis is unfortunately present throughout the book and surfaces in various places.

You Mentioned Recipes

Indeed I did. You see Zoe Faust is a vegan. Okay, that actually makes sense for the character as presented. Given her background and her connection with plant alchemy. It's all a little hippy-dippy but it works. However, I didn't need to be told she was a vegan in every single chapter of the book. I don't have the best memory but a handful of times would have made the point.

And if that doesn't make it obvious enough to you, it turns out that Zoe is something of a foodie. She drinks delicious (they're always delicious apparently) vegan shakes every morning. Every meal she has is vegan and is lovingly described in considerable detail. All the meals are delicious too. And even the non-vegans think so.

In the afterword Gigi Pandian acknowledges that this is a personal interest of hers. She is a vegan and believes that the food is every bit as tasty, if not more so, than the alternative. She also wanted to share the recipes. But doing it this way and not giving us a single dissenting voice? It makes it feel at times like I'm reading a pamphlet advertising a lifestyle, instead of a fiction book.

It also, quite frankly, hurts the pacing of the book, because one moment we're going to break into someones house, but we have to pause to mix up a smoothie and talk about the yummy ingredients. Less would definitely have been more.

Small Town Characters In A Big City

Where things go much better for the book is the characters that the author populates the book with. I'm not that familiar with Portland so I really can't say how accurately the city is represented, but for me it doesn't actually matter because it feels believable inside the book. At first it did seem like we were getting a small town vibe from the place with a cast of pretty colorful characters (most of whom like tea apparently). However, that point was effectively addressed by talking about the neighborhood structure of Portland (True? I don't know.)

And the characters did feel quite pleasantly deep and rounded. The had lives before Zoe arrived in town and events going on that didn't involve her. They even had interactions and reactions with each other. This was all good stuff and I would certainly be happy to see those characters explored further.

When The Author Falls In Love With The Research

Another area where the book stumbled in my opinion was spending too much time telling us things. It's the old show, don't tell maxim at work. Clearly the author spent a good amount of time researching alchemy and other things as background for the book. And it is some distinctive stuff. But she liked it so much she felt the need to have Zoe lecture us on these topics. Background should say in the background unless it becomes very relevant to the plot or will highlight something significant to the character. At no point should a character stand around and lecture us on the history of a French illusionist. No matter how interesting his life may be (it was quite interesting) because, again, it makes the actual story grind to a halt.

What's really frustrating to me about this book is that there is so much potential. The idea is pretty original, the characters are interesting, the location is well developed. It just repeatedly stumbles in the execution. Perhaps those of you who are more into food than me will be less irritated by the constant descriptions of it. You may also appreciate the recipes in the back of the book. But while I was absolutely fine with the protagonist being actively, even vocally, vegan the constant drum beating just became annoying.

And while the background material really does deserve exploring further, it shouldn't ever be at the expense of the current story. There's plenty of material there for future books, let it out slowly.

[Silke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nachdem ich die Kurzbeschreibung gelesen hatte war klar, dass ich das Buch lesen muss. Die Hoffnung war groß, dass es gefällt und ich muss sagen, für mich ein absoluter Treffer. Der Schreibstil war sehr angenehm und ich war sofort in der Geschichte drin. Zoe ist eine tolle Protagonistin. Nach und nach erfährt man mehr über ihre lange Vergangenheit. Die Storylines rund um den Mordfall und besonders rund um Dorian waren spannend und ließen mich als Leser mitfiebern. Besonders gut gefallen hat mir auch der leichte Humor, der hauptsächlich zwischen Dorian und Zoe stattfindet. Max blieb mir in diesem Buch noch etwas blass, aber da es sich hier um eine Reihe handelt, wird man ihn bestimmt noch näher kennenlernen.

Fazit:
Ein toller Auftakt einer neuen Reihe, die für mich eine gute Mischung zwischen Fantasy und Mystery war. Der Fall war spannend, es gab etwas zum Lachen und die Protagonisten waren sehr sympathisch - was will man mehr? Ich werde an der Reihe auf jeden Fall dran bleiben. Der 2. Teil erscheint bereits im November und ich hoffe sehr, dass die restlichen Bände auch übersetzt werden. Meines Wissens gibt es wohl schon 7 im Original bzw. erscheint der 7. Teil demnächst.

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian is a light hearted mystery novel for all ages. Infused with alchemy and fantasy, it moves quickly and is intriguing in its characterization.

"..The gray creature looked similar to the famous "thinker" gargoyle, with short horns and folded wings. The main difference was that this gargoyle held an old, leather-bound book in his arms. That was odd. I would have expected any added detail to be made of stone, not this real book with leather binding. I couldn't place the type of stone used to carve the gargoyle. Granite? Sandstone? Or perhaps softer soapstone? It wasn't like any stone I'd seen. I leaned in for a closer look. There was something...
The gargoyle blinked..."

Zoe Faust has recently decided to settle down in Portland, Oregon. A transplant from Paris, France, she has decided to stop traveling and put down some roots. Only Zoe isn't quite what she appears. She is not a twenty to thirty year old young woman. Zoe was born during the Salem witch trials. And she is not an internet entrepreneur, she is actually an alchemist who specializes in herbs. When Zoe finally begins to unpack she finds a statue that does not belong to her. A gargoyle that comes to life and if brings with it a long lost book of Alchemy. It placed itself in a moving crate in hopes of following Zoe, for it has a secret. The gargoyle is dying and needs Zoe to find the right text in the ancient book of Alchemy to save it. Only before they can begin, Zoe finds a dead body in front of her new home and someone has ransacked and robbed her, taking the ancient book as one of the stolen items. Can Zoe find the thief and murderer, solve the crime, find the book and save the life of the gargoyle before it turns to stone permanently?

In the Accidental Alchemist, Gigi Pandian has created one of the most fun and entertaining characters I have read in quite some time and no it isn't Zoe Faust, the main lead. It is Dorian Robert-Houdin. The three foot tall, stone gargoyle who is aristocratic, horribly French and a classical chef to boot. Dorian steals the page each time he appears, while Zoe goes about somewhat lost and melancholy. Dorian, for a stone statue, is full of personality and life.

A fun and entertaining read.

[Rubi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aunque he leído el libro en inglés, me vais a perdonar si esta vez escribo la reseña en mi idioma. Es domingo por la tarde y estoy perezosa jeje.
Empecé leyendo este libro con mucha curiosidad pero he de decir que me ha parecido bastante insulso. Lento, aburrido, sin "chicha", con una trama que ni se desarrolla ni cambia ni permuta ni nada de nada. Y eso que trata de una alquimista, algo que de por sí ya es interesante y nada más y nada menos que de una gárgola... ¿De verdad que no se podían contar más cosas y de mejor manera?
Aparte de las recetas veganas que ha incluido en el libro y poco más, un libro normalito donde los haya.
Eso sí, estoy contenta de haber leído las notas de la autora al final. Interesante saber que es una superviviente de un cáncer de mama y que por eso tuvo que empezar a comer todo vegano. Al menos ya sé a qué vienen las recetas en el libro. ¡Campeona! Enhorabuena por haber superado algo así.
Supongo que leeré algún libro suyo más a ver qué tal. Eso sí, espero que sean más rápidos e interesantes que este.

[Lacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

9 chapters in and I already can't stand this book. Within the first chapter the main character Zoe meets a gargoyle (which she manages to be totally okay with) and deals with a teenage boy breaking into her new house. How does she deal with said teenage boy? She fixes his cut and tells him to weed her lawn. She doesn't get upset or tell him what a stupid thing hes done. This novel is slow and laborious to try and muddle your way through. I find I have no interest in finding out how this story ends it will be a 'did not finish' for me.

[Barbara ★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the story but it's way too focused on food and food preparation. The timeline is less than a week (or maybe two) and they eat elaborate breakfasts, lunches and dinners every single day. Just too much detail that had absolutely nothing to do with the plot. The author made it perfectly plain that she is Vegan and proud of it.