Chasing myths before midnight

Alchemy of Secrets is Stephanie Garber’s first attempt at adult fantasy. The story follows Holland St. James and her obsession with folklore and magic. The voracious hunger for folklore and mythology compels Holland to enroll in a Folklore course titled Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths—taken by a woman whom everyone addresses as Professor. Interestingly, the real name of this Professor is not mentioned anywhere in the book. Every student who enrolled in her class is required to follow one rule: never to share the stories with anyone outside this classroom unless they want to end up dead themselves, or bring death to the person they share the stories with. It’s a simple yet deeply unsettling rule, which makes many students drop the course immediately, except for a few exceptions. But out of nowhere, the Professor disappears without a trace, putting a stop to classes. And Holland, with her impulsive desire to check the validity of the myths, embarks on a quest to unearth buried truths and comes face-to-face with one of the folklore characters taught by the Professor in the class. This mythical entity is addressed as the Watch Man. According to the myth, the Watch Man tells everyone the time of their death and a way to cheat it. Staying true to the myth, the Watch Man tells Holland that she has 24 hours to live—exactly till 11:59 PM on the day of Halloween—unless she finds an object called the alchemical heart to bypass her untimely death. This is when all hell breaks loose, and the plot takes an accelerated momentum.

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The first few chapters are chaotic, as Garber slowly feeds us little tidbits of Holland’s past. Sometimes the urgency of the story and Holland’s emphasis on the myth feel exaggerated, as Holland’s occasional humour undermines many serious situations. Furthermore, the intersection between Holland’s intense urgency.

The main character, Holland, is not a conventional main character. She is on a personal quest to uncover the murder mystery of her famous parents—who once used to be prominent stars of Hollywood—and many more loosely and similarly connected mysterious deaths of other Hollywood celebrities. Unfortunately, the murder investigation failed to instill any sense of detecting danger or steering clear of it in Holland. She appears delusional and impulsive, sprinting behind anything that seems mysterious and outlandish. One example of her impulsivity is that Holland rushes towards the mysteries behind the myths and the magic taught in the class, completely disregarding the warning previously pointed out by the Professor. Additionally, Holland is naive too and gets backstabbed multiple times—sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively—by her friends and family. Yet she repeatedly ends up trusting the questionable characters. However, one admirable quality of Holland is her resilience; she never gives up despite the continuous betrayals.

The first few chapters are chaotic, as Garber slowly feeds us little tidbits of Holland’s past. Sometimes the urgency of the story and Holland’s emphasis on the myth feel exaggerated, as Holland’s occasional humour undermines many serious situations. Furthermore, the intersection between Holland’s intense urgency and mystery was hard to connect with anything potent. From chapter 4, the novel becomes interesting as Garber—finally—spills substantial plot and connects all the dots. This is when the story adds up, starting a new rollercoaster of an adventure. One of the reasons contributing to the confusion is that Garber frequently switches point of view from second person to third person—in every alternate chapter—for the majority of the book. This creates confusion as the exact reason for the switch remains unaddressed, and Garber never describes why she decides to do so. However, at the end of the story, the readers can get a hint of the possible reasons behind this.

Moreover, the ending is abrupt and incomplete, as the whereabouts of many characters are left unmentioned. It is hard not to ponder about Gabe, Mason, Adam, January, and Chance, and what eventually happens to them. Perhaps Garber does this intentionally, as Alchemy of Secrets is part of a series, and wanted the first installment to focus exclusively on solving the murder mystery and how the magical world functioned here.

The story takes place at the heart of Hollywood, California, with all the aesthetics of the film world and glamour of the 1980s. Since the book takes place during Halloween, Alchemy of Secrets becomes an ultimate reading treat for anyone looking for a whimsical retreat.

Tahmina Hossain is first and foremost a reader, a lover of literature, and then a writer. If you enjoy rambling about literature like her, then reach out at: literary.ramblings.by.t@gmail.com.