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The Apprentices (2013)

by Maile Meloy(Favorite Author)

3.98 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0399162453 (ISBN13: 9780399162459)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Putnam Juvenile

series

The Apothecary

review 1: I really love Maile Meloy's "adult" novels and short story collections, so I really, REALLY want to like these books. These books are fun and funny at points, but they are VERY slow moving and I feel like Maile Meloy dumbs her writing down too much because she thinks she needs to for YA.I had the same problems with this book as the first- the magical elements are a little too unbelievable or stupidly obviously named- the "quintessence" gives you life, for example or that one of the main characters in this one was named Magnus Magnusson. I want more from Maile Meloy because I know she has it in her. The pacing is a little weird with the 60+ short chapters and the 7 sections, but the drawings are a nice touch and break up the monotony. The characters evolved enough for my li... moreking- Jin Lo is clearly the best. I couldn't really care less what happens to Janie and Benjamin. Janie is headstrong and can be kind of bratty at times, same for Benjamin. I find myself drawn to the side characters more, but maybe because they are adults. Oh god, have I become THAT person?? I read YA but relate to the adults?? Say it isn't so!These books are entertaining enough, but not mind blowing. I will read the final one just to see what happens and to finish the series, but I'm not particularly starved for the next chapter. I hope Maile Meloy has some more "adult" books up her sleeves after this!
review 2: It is almost always hard to top the first novel in a series, and this story is another unfortunate casualty of 'sequelitis'. Whereas the first story established the main characters while propelling them through several vicarious adventures, this one seems to ignore most character development and focuses on a complex, fractionalized storyline. The Apothecary was told mostly through the perspective of Janie but The Apprentices switches between multiple perspectives as the protagonists from the first novel have scattered to various places around the globe. Much of the magic and chemistry between characters is gone, and this sequel sinks into a droning, at times potentially racist, plotline. The character lines may converge at the end but not convincingly so, and the ending is unsatisfying and abrupt. I just hope that the author didn't ruin it for potential sequels, but almost anything could be better than this. less

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