Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1) opens Goodreads in a new tab

My thoughts

3.5/5 stars I know this book book is either a hit or miss for everyone. Trust me I loved this book, loved it so fucking much, it was a beautiful concept, the world the premise: loved it. Also was my first [a:Seanan McGuire|2860219|Seanan McGuire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1245623198p2/2860219.jpg] book. No I have not read the Wayward children series but i sure do plan to after this. This book is an odd mix of sci-fi, action and fantasy and it was interesting to see how the author manages to maintain a balance between the two. There are times when I wanted to skip ahead certain info-dumpy paragraphs to get to the action part of it and see where the story progresses. But like this quote from the book very well puts it: You can't skip to the end of the story just because you're tired of being in the middle. You'd never survive. The writing style is very intriguing, keeps you on the edge and you only figure the timeline shifs and a big revelation only when you're like 60-70% percent into it which might be the reason so many people ended up not liking it? and i do agree if frequent timeline shifts are not your forte, you might not like(or even fully understand) this one. But for those of you who like me love that sort of a thing, this is a great read. And the best part is along with the so many fantastical things going around, this book also depicts the lives of two ordinary teenagers (young adults in the later part of the book) who are unique in their own ways and are desperately trying to fit in this world and be "normal". I definitely plan on rereading this book some time later (it is too good to pass up this c'mon) and i'm very sure my rating will bump up a star when i am able to see past the initial hype of the book and the urge to get to end, to find out the big ending spoiler. Words don't mean anything without someone to understand them. JUST READ THIS BOOK, OKAY? GIVE IT A CHANCE, YOU WILL THANK ME LATER!