This week I read Ghost Walk by Rebecca Scott. This book was an interesting mix of science and magic, focusing on the history of Alchemy. Though the book was fictional it highlights a lot of truths about alchemy and Isaac Newton’s real-life past with it. I love when fictional books make me curious about real history. But the book also had some engaging fiction to it, and some really interesting twists which I love! It also takes time with it’s setting, Cambridge UK, and makes the reader feel a connections to the channels and annicent buildings. Since the story explores Alchemy in the past and present this is brought together through a share setting. My least favourite part was the characters, I found they were uninteresting and didn’t have a lot of depth. It felt like they only existed to move the plot along and I feel books resonate more when the characters are fully realized and leave an impression on their reader. Lydia Brookes doesn’t feel real to me, she doesn’t have a depths of personality traits that one can relate to or despise or have any sort of strong feeling towards. She only reacts as the story unfolds.
I gave this book a 7.5/10
My favourite quote was “Science doesn’t reduce things, or explain mysteries away; it just discovers stranger and stranger things.”
March 1, 2022 at 11:14 am
Hi Alice,
Your book for the week sounds super interesting. I too enjoy reading fictional books that have a touch of real history! It is too bad that the characters in the book didn’t add to the plot or help keep you engaged. Once again, I love being able to see your rating and favourite quote from the book, it definitely helps me decided if I would like to read them or not!
March 5, 2022 at 4:39 pm
Hi Alice! Your book from this week sounds super intriguing, and presents an interesting concept. It’s too bad that the characters lacked depth, as from what you have said, the rest of the book sounds great! Thanks for sharing!
March 12, 2022 at 11:07 pm
Hi Alice! It is too bad that the characters in the book did not feel fully developed, but I am happy to hear that the jump between Alchemy in the past and present was well done. Sometimes time skips, especially in books where the timeline switches back and forth can be very confusing.