Alchemy of Secrets
- NYT bestseller · 1 week on the list, peaked at #10
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Our view
“Alchemy of Secrets” is a moody fantasy mystery in which a graduate student hunts for the devil behind old Hollywood’s famous deaths. Some readers love its modern noir atmosphere and treasure-hunt feel; others find it scattered and full of loose ends. Not everyone warms to Holland, who strikes some readers as too quick to trust the men around her. The ending leaves room for a sequel.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction. There isn’t a man in Hollywood who you can call to find out the time you’ll die. There’s not a haunted hotel bar in Los Angeles that the devil likes to frequent. There’s no such thing as magic. But . . . most students don’t have the same tragic past as Holland St. James. Now a graduate student, Holland is hoping to use her thesis to rewrite her past by proving that some of the most infamous deaths in old Hollywood were actually murders committed by the devil. She has no idea that this quest will lead her into a deadly world of century-old secrets and unimaginable lies and onto the path of two very dangerous men, both of whom are willing to do whatever it takes to find a magic that will either forever alter Holland’s life or completely destroy it.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.4 across 76 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 34% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 7.8 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardcover | 7.4 | 76 | 100% |
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
The same shelf — Fantasy — and a score of 7.8, the closest to this book.
