Lit Vibes Only
Kelsey and Amanda are two book besties who love to "Lit the Sh*t" out of books they love and hate! In their Lit it or Quit It episodes, Kelsey and Amanda are forced to read the other's favorite books. While Amanda loves to read historical fiction and mystery/thrillers, you'll find Kelsey curled up with just about any romantasy. They discuss the books at length and, in the end, decide whether the book is a "Lit It" or "Quit It"! Every month they'll also give some book recs you just can't miss. Look out for the bonus episodes about bookish topics and books that were adapted into movies/shows.
Listen in and choose whose side you're on, or perhaps find yourself intrigued by a book you wouldn't normally go for. See you on Mondays!
Lit Vibes Only
Ep. 61: Lit It or Quit It: A Forbidden Alchemy
Join Kelsey and Amanda as they explore 'A Forbidden Alchemy' by Stacey McEwen, diving into its complex characters, morally grey decisions, and the thrilling romance at its core. Discover why this gritty novel has them eagerly awaiting the next book in the series, despite its cliffhanger ending.
00:00 Welcome to Lit Vibes Only!
02:03 Follow Us on Socials
04:49 Our Current Reads
13:28 Summary of A Forbidden Alchemy
26:42 Book Discussion
57:33 LITerally the Best or LITerally the Worst
01:16:32 Final Thoughts and Social Media
Follow us on TikTok & Youtube @litvibesonlypodcast and on Instagram @litvibesonly_podcast. You can also email us at litvibesonlypodcast@gmail.com We'd love to hear from you!
See you on Mondays!
Welcome to Lit Vibes Only, where we lit the shit outta books we love and hate. I'm Kelsey, the unhinged, diehard, romantic and fantasy reader.
Amanda:And I'm Amanda, the insightful thrill seeker and historical fiction nerd. Welcome, welcome, welcome. I was like, trying to think, okay, this is our first Let it or quit it for November. Yes. We're a little off with our recording, like schedule, so I feel like, okay. Where are we at in time right now? But this will be, yeah. Our first episode of November. We are fully in the holiday season, at least I am. I start celebrating. You're in the holiday season. I start celebrating Christmas, like November 1st. That's when the Christmas music comes out. That's when the decorations go up. Oh, no. Oh no. I, no, like I, I do let Halloween breathe. I let Halloween live its best life for a minute. For a minute. It gets the month of October, and then it's like, all right.'cause Thanksgiving is pre-Christmas. It's like the warmup. Oh my God. Anyhow.
Kelsey:Anyhow. So Do you love Christmas?
Amanda:I love Christmas. Okay. Yeah. It's like I'm not a
Kelsey:holiday
Amanda:person really?
Kelsey:So I just
Amanda:like. No. It gives me all the feels. It's so cozy. It's also, especially in Seattle, because it gets so grain and gloomy, like it's the thing that gets me through. It's like the, that's excitement and the joy. Yeah. And the community and yeah, it helps me. And then once Christmas over, I'm like, Ugh.
Kelsey:The
Amanda:winter
Kelsey:know what season it is for me. What, what, what did you say? It's soup season.
Amanda:It's, for me, it's soup season. It's soup season. This is very true, but I feel like my seasons go by food once. The fall wears off and we're like smack in the heart of winter. It's like January I, it's not soup season, it's soup season's the fall. And now I'm like, what do I, what do I do? What's January for? Soup season is like year round. But it's a great soup
Kelsey:season right
Amanda:now. It, it is. We're in prime soup season especially'cause we're recording this in October. But, but, but, but anyway socials I like started us off down a rabbit hole. So circling back that happens. It does happen so much on this, on this podcast. So, welcome. And also if you have not yet followed us on our socials, you should be doing that. We are on Instagram at Lit Vibes only podcast. And then you can also find us on TikTok and on YouTube at Lit Vibes only podcast. So you can go. Comment, follow, subscribe. Mm-hmm. All of those things. You also can follow and or subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. So you're getting like True. All of the notifications. Mm-hmm. From our episodes drop every Monday. So you're like the first one in the know. I think one of them, which one is it? I think, is it on Spotify or Apple Podcast? They both drop at like midnight, is that right? No, they all drop at 4:00 AM. Oh, 4:00 AM I knew it was like a really weird time. Pacific Time. Pacific time. Okay. I was
Kelsey:like, okay, I'm not gonna do midnight, but I guess,
Amanda:you know, that makes sense for East Coast folks. Random because it'll be like
Kelsey:7:00 AM for them and then Yeah.
Amanda:Yeah. Okay.
Kelsey:It's early enough for people to like, be able to get it in the morning if they want it in the morning.
Amanda:Yes. For your morning commute. We can get your day started for you on Mondays. So yeah, please be sure to do those things. And then most importantly, it looks like Kelsey wanted to say something, but really quickly. Yes. Most importantly, rate and review us if you haven't already. We're so grateful for all of you who have done that. It goes a really long way, and again, as we are, you know, fully into our second years of podcast and continuing to build our brand and our following, getting those ratings and reviews. Really, really help us. So please take a moment. Mm-hmm. Either right now at or at the end of this episode to hit that rating button and write us a one or two sentence review and we would be forever grateful. It's the, it's the season of giving, right? It's, we're in Thanksgiving season. There you
Kelsey:go. Just gonna put that little plug in there, two seconds of your time and rate our podcast. We would Yes. Be so grateful. The thing that I wanted to say is that also we are upping our social media game. We met with up fricking professional about, we did our social media. Thank you Jamie Platforms and I feel like we're starting to get there. Like we're, you know, getting on the same page. We're in the transition phase and I think, you know, we're just upping our game and you're gonna notice it, hopefully. And I've noticed it already, but yeah, you're really gonna start noticing it in the next few weeks once we get a hang of things. Yes.
Amanda:She gave us some really fantastic tips and strategies that we're gonna be incorporating. So come follow us so you can see what we're up to. And that's so much fun. Yeah. How exactly we're upping our game, but we, we have a blast and so much good bookish content that goes far beyond what we do here on the platform. Yeah. So come hang out with us, get some behind the scenes info of what we're like, what this podcasting life is like. Yep. So much, so much fun. So be sure to do that. But yeah. Kelsey, what are you currently getting into reading wise right now? Okay.
Kelsey:I just finished a book, it's called, oh God, I always forget, but I'm gonna do a a book rating of Ali Hazelwood's books very, very soon. But I like, oh, like a
Amanda:ranking of the, yes. Okay. What did I say? You said book rating.
Kelsey:Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda:Same thing, ranking
Kelsey:of all of her books, because I am this close to finishing all of her books. Oh my God, that's insane. I have maybe four more and she's done like a lot of novellas and so those novellas are like there's a bunch of those, but they're really fast to get through. And those have been some of my favorite of hers actually. So I'm excited for that. So I just read the second in the series, but I haven't read the first one. It's a problematic summer romance.
Amanda:Oh, is that a novella? I thought it was a full, no,
Kelsey:that's not a novella. Oh, okay. I thought I thought that as I was just saying that. Yeah. She has a lot of novellas.
Amanda:Okay.
Kelsey:So I just finished that one. And that was a physical book, but I am also listening to, all My Rage. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And it is not what I thought it was gonna be at all. Hmm. And so I really, I'm really enjoying it so far.
Amanda:Fantastic. That was, and it's
Kelsey:way shorter than I thought too.
Amanda:Well,'cause it's, ya I remember It's ya because that was the book that I recommended. Yeah. Last year for, was it, was there Immigrant Arab American, or was it Arab American. Okay. I
Kelsey:feel like it was Arab American, but it was one of those could been either or. Yeah.
Amanda:So yeah. Perfect. Well, I'm curious to hear what you think when you're finished.'cause I haven't read it yet, but as I mentioned episode Oh, you haven't read all my my h No. I recommended it, but I hadn't read it. Oh yeah. Oh. But like I said in a previous episode, my goal this year, like this podcast year, obviously it's like October, but this podcast year is to be reading a book by an author of whatever heritage we're currently celebrating that month, like in the month versus oh. You know, it's January, and I'm reading an indigenous author versus reading it in the fall when we're celebrating, you know, native American Heritage Month or just indigenous authors in general. So that's my goal and that transitions beautifully into what I'm currently reading because right now in October we are still celebrating Filipino-American History Month. And one of the books that I recommended. In October in this month yeah, was Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Reba, and I'm currently listening to the audio book of it, and it is fantastic and I'm really proud of myself for putting into action the school that I've set. Yeah. I won't go into the details because you should go back and listen to that episode and get excited for this book, but it's fantastic. I'm, I'm not like the biggest fan of the male audiobook, narrator's voice. Ah, but the story itself. Yeah. So, and I haven't had that experience yet, though so far. I've loved all of my audiobook narrators. Yeah. And I, I'm not a huge fan of it, but the story itself is compelling enough and interesting enough that it's not a huge deal. Is it also ya? It's also Ya. Okay. The main character is a 17-year-old who's like getting ready to graduate from high school. Okay. Goes back to the Philippines to find out what happened to his cousin who died. It's all about the Yeah. The drug war that happened in the Philippines underneath president Duterte. So it's like very educational.'cause I know like literally nothing and it's mm-hmm. Insane. Insane. Absolutely insane. What was happening, like literally tens of thousands of people were just like outright murdered. Oh gosh. Yeah. Yeah. Yikes. It's wild. And then because I'm turning into an audiobook, really, I'm now like doing this thing where I'm reading two books at one time because I have my audiobook and I I have, I'm so proud of you.
Kelsey:Thank
Amanda:you. It's all because of you in this podcast. So now I'm often reading two books at one time, which I've never, that was never me. I was always like a monogamous reader. And so I'm also reading. Wonderland by Jennifer Hillier on my e-reader. Ah, okay. Which I've talked about her a lot on this podcast. She is a p and w author. Mm-hmm. She writes a bunch. She's a thriller author. So this is another one that's set in the PW at a creepy, well, it's at an amusement park and a body turns up and the amusement park itself is creepy and weird and I love it so far. It's like a mix of kind of horror and thriller a bit. And I love Jennifer Hillier, so I think this is my. I think this is my fifth book of hers that I've read. So like with Ali Hazelwood, I'm like working my way. Yes. Through her entire, like library or not library, what is the word? Her entire something. Collection. Collection. There's another word and I can't think of it. But yes, her entire body of works. Yeah, I'm working my way through, but yeah, that's what I'm reading, so. Yay. It's been a good reading month, which is so impressive for people to have
Kelsey:collections of work. Yeah like bodies of work.
Amanda:Yeah. It's pretty wild. I'm like, I couldn't even write one book. Well, maybe, maybe someday. I feel like you will one day for sure. Oh, thank you. I appreciate the, the confidence. Yeah. But yeah, that's, that's what we're reading. So I think we have a book to discuss that. Kelsey, will you please show us what book it is in this? Yeah. So if you're watching on YouTube, it is A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey mcu. And this is actually Kelsey's copy that I borrowed from her. Yes. So I have thoughts about the cover that we'll talk about later. Yeah. You hated the cover when you first saw it. Yes. You're like, that's a, I still don't like it. It just,
Kelsey:we'll get, we'll get to it. We, I have thoughts, I guess why I made you read it. Wait, say that again now? Is this now my moment where I tell you where Oh, yes. Yes. I thought you were
Amanda:saying like, this is why I made you read it, because I knew
Kelsey:you hated the cover. Oh yeah. I
Amanda:was
Kelsey:like, wow. Well, it's funny because we went to the bookstore and I actually bought this book. Mm-hmm. With you. Yeah. Together. And I, you had a reaction to this book immediately and you were like, Ew.
Amanda:Yeah. Essentially the video is on our social, so you can go back and watch it. My like real time reaction to her picking this book up and buying it.
Kelsey:And so I was like, I need to have this book. And you're like, Ew. And then and read it. And I absolutely loved it. I was like, oh my God, I have to have Amanda read this one. But I was like, I don't know when though, because I was gonna have you read, what was it Quicksilver this month? Yes. And you were like, Kelsey, I need a shorter book. Oh my gosh. So long. I was like, fine. Because we were at the beginning of like school and so I said, okay, okay, this one's actually shorter and like the font is bigger, so mm-hmm. You're welcome. So that's why thank you. This month it was this book. I was gonna always have you read it after I had read it, but this felt like a good, a good month. Okay. For a shorter book.
Amanda:Okay. So your reasons are that it was a shorter book and you really liked it. I really, I loved it. You
Kelsey:loved it? I love it. Okay. And I cannot wait for book book two. Okay. All right. Hey, so this is when I ask you, Amanda, yes. What is your short answer? Was it a lit it or acquit it for you?
Amanda:So before I answer, I just wanna toot my own horn and that it has been like total radio silence for me on this book for Kelsey. I have texted her. I even,'cause I, I realized that she can see my ratings on Goodreads'cause we're friends. Yeah. I didn't even rate it because I was like, I want her to go into this episode completely blind. So just wanted to pat myself on the back. So, good job. Good job for me. Thank you. Thanks so much. For me, this book was a lit it I really enjoyed it.
Kelsey:I'm so excited. Oh
Amanda:my God. I knew that was gonna totally take you by surprise. Especially'cause I've been playing it off, like I didn't like it. Oh my gosh. And
Kelsey:also the last one that I thought you would like. I, I didn't even go in thinking you would like this. I was like, I don't know. She'll go either way. I don't know. Yeah. Yeah.'cause the last one I thought you would like. You were like, oh, this
Amanda:was awful. What was it? What was the last one, hunter? Oh, oh God. Yeah. I did not like that at all. No, I enjoyed this book so much and I actually shut up. Cannot wait for the second book to come out. I'm like, what? Shut up. This is why I hate series.'cause now I'm like hooked and who I think it's coming out next year. I don't even know. Yeah. Next year. Mm-hmm. Okay. So I don't have to wait too long. But yeah, I really enjoyed it. Oh my
Kelsey:god, Amanda, I know we get to have a night where we go get the book together. Oh no. And maybe Stacey McEwen will be here because I think she. Came here and I missed her'cause I was some, yeah, I was somewhere else or something. You had an appointment or something and she is okay. There's so many things I wanna get into. Tell us the summary of the book. We'll get into it, Amanda. We'll get into
Amanda (2):it. Okay. Okay. I know I was gonna make Kelsey's day with that, so I just had to really just draw out the suspense. I'm so proud of myself. Okay, friend. Romans countrymen a Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwen. Let's get into it. So this story follows it's dual POV yeah, the FMC is Nina Harrow who ultimately goes by Nina Clark, and we'll get to that in a second. So she's got two names that she goes by and then Patrick Colson. And so the story opens on Nina's perspective and she's a young woman, 12 years old, growing up in a mining town, on the outskirts of, of this land. Mm-hmm. And in this world, people are divided into two categories. You're either a craftsman who essentially is like. The person who does the manual labor in this world, right? You're working with your hands and then you have artisans who have magic. Mm-hmm. And use that magic to create things, right? Whether it's art or music or working with the natural world or different metals to, to build, create, et cetera. So that's how the world is divided. And the artisans are essentially the upper class. They're wealthy. They live in this beautiful place called Belove City, and everyone else lives in the outskirts. And in, in these other kind of lower income towns, a lot of them are mining towns. Mm-hmm. And they're mining towns because there's this special substance called idio, and that is where these magical powers are derived from. Idiom also produces this other substance called bluff, which has healing powers as well. Mm-hmm. But doesn't grant you magical abilities. So every year. There is a siphoning ceremony in Bella, ve city. So every child who has turned 12 that year is taken from all over the country or all over this land to Bella Vere city to drink this idiom substance. Mm-hmm. And you'll figure out if you're an artisan or a craftsman based on how your body responds. And so pretty much right after you consume it, you'll be like, oh my gosh, I can manipulate water, or I can manipulate metal, or I can, you know, whatever it might be. So while Nina is at this Siping ceremony, she is very excited because she really wants to be an artisan. She's always been artistic, loves to draw. That's just her thing. She runs into a young man named Patrick, who is like totally over it. He doesn't wanna be there. He wants to just go home and work in the mines with his father and brother. And over the course of the day, while they're waiting in this, you know, massive yard to be. Siphoned or to go through the ceremony. Mm-hmm. They, through a series of shenanigans, find themselves in this store room and discover that what actually is happening during these siphoning ceremonies is not everyone is given a fair shot to take idiom. There's actually specific bottles that are set aside that are given to the children of wealthy artisans to ensure that they have magical powers and that basically all of the other children don't and go back to work, you know, in the minds and manual labor, et cetera. So they realize this, so they steal one each two bottles of the right stuff, like the good stuff. And so when Nina goes up to to drink the liquid, she swaps things out. Drinks the one that will give her magical abilities and voila, she discovers that she actually has a really unique power called Earth Charming. And so she's an earth charmer, she can move. Mm-hmm. And manipulate. The earth and there hasn't been an earth charmer in a, in a long time. So this is a really big deal. It's also a really big deal because all of the authorities are like, wait, how did this happen? Right? Mm-hmm. How did this girl from scurry, this little mining town get the right substance?
Kelsey:Mm-hmm.
Amanda:So in order to keep her safe and protect her, one of the women who is in charge of administering the test or overseeing the test acts like Nina is like her long lost cousin or something. Or her niece. Her niece I think, sorry, her niece or her cousin. And so that's why her name is changed from Nina Harrow to Nina Clark. So that mm-hmm. They can pass her off as Right, you know, half artisan and it's not gonna be this huge scandal. Meanwhile, Patrick goes home and they part ways. A series of years pass, Nina has been attending this academy where she's learning how to use her powers. Mm-hmm. She meets another high ranking artisan, who also is given a really cool power. He, he can charm water. He's a water charmer. His name's Theodore. He's the son of this high ranking official, and they ultimately fall in love. And so we see their romantic relationship developing. She also forms a friendship with this young woman named Polly who has a lesser magic. She's a scribbler, so she can basically transfer messages to different places magically. And she's also an outcast. You know, she's not wealthy and popular like the other, other students. So that's her life at the academy. And on the day of her graduation, when she's getting ready to leave the academy, a massive explosion happens in the building. Mm-hmm. And kills her fake aunt,
Kelsey:and
Amanda:injures a bunch of other people is a really traumatic event for Nina. And we find out. As Nina's been in school these past several years, there's been unrest brewing and like the outskirts of this land. Mm-hmm. The miners have had it with their mistreatment and so there's this minor's union, this group that has formed, that has basically been launching a tax against the House of Lords against be VE city. And this unrest has against artisans and it's been continuing to mount. And so this huge explosion that happens in Be Vere City is like the catalyst for ramping up the conflict between craftsmen and artisans.
Kelsey:Yeah.
Amanda:After this event, Nana is like, I am done. I am out of here. She leaves Bevere city and spends another chunk of years wandering from town to town. She. Doesn't let anyone know that she's an earth charmer. She's like living under the radar'cause she's, she was supposed to be used by the House of Lords in their fight against the craftsman because she has this incredible power. So she's like, I don't wanna be used as a weapon in this war, so I'm gonna go into hiding. So she's been bouncing around from like town to town and ultimately she gets captured by the minor's union who we discover is currently being led by none other than Patrick Colson, who is like the boy she met when she was 12. Mm-hmm. And they quickly recognize each other. The reason why Patrick is running the minor's union is because his father, who is the person who started the union, has been arrested and taken captive. And so Patrick has stepped up and taken over the leadership of the minor's union. And he's also taken over leadership of the town that he lives in, Kenton Hill. And so that is where Nina is taken. And so the next chunk of the novel, we follow Nina and Patrick getting reacquainted with each other. But Patrick has a big ask of Nina. He basically wants to use Nina's abilities to carve tunnels from Kenton Hill to Bevere City so they can launch another attack on Bevere City free. His father take down the House of Lords once and for all. What she doesn't realize until a little bit later is that. Patrick's been busy and he's got a couple other artisans working for him as well, one of them being her old Flame Theodore shop. So he's also been working with the resistance with the Min's Union to help them carve these tunnels because as a water charmer, he can remove the moisture from the earth as they're carving these tunnels. Mm-hmm. So we spend a good chunk of time In this world in Kenton Hill, which I really enjoyed. We'll talk about that later. And it really is just them like prepping for this conflict, them strategizing. We get to see a little bit more of what life is like in Kenton Hill. Mm-hmm. Nina is really impressed because even though all of these individuals are craftsmen, they've used their ingenuity and innovation to create things like indoor plumbing and things that really are only found in Bevere City where people have magic. Right? So she falls in love with the town. She obviously starts to develop, or I guess rekindle feelings for Patrick. There's a bit of a love triangle happening because Theodore obviously still loves her and essentially everything comes to a head at the end of the book because, kenton Hill is betrayed and the Lord's army shows up one evening mm-hmm. In Kenton Hill and just starts to like plunder and pillage sets things on fire. People are being murdered. So there's this massive conflict happening between artisans and craftsmen. Mm-hmm. And in that conflict, a couple of things come out. One Patrick realizes, and he is realized before this actually, there was like this moment of revelation that Nina is in fact working for the artisans because she found out. A couple years ago that her mother who went missing when she was a child, has been held by the House of Lords. And they basically told her, if you don't go and infiltrate the minor's union and get us what we need mm-hmm. We're gonna hurt your mother or kill your mother. Kill. Mm-hmm. So she been working for them this whole time, even as she's fallen in love with Patrick and realized like she really doesn't wanna do this thing. So Patrick finds this out, he's heartbreaking, broken, he's destroyed. The one thing that is like a huge reveal though, and one thing that I haven't mentioned is that in this world, the most powerful artisans are alchemists because they're the ones who can turn idiom into what it is. Right into this thing that can be consumed by humans. It can create bluff, which heals people. And the last Living Alchemist has been kidnapped and we find out later is dead. And that's a big deal because without idiom, nobody's magical powers exist. Like you have to be taking idiom like every couple of months. Right. To maintain your powers. Yep. And we find it at the very end that Patrick did drink the idiom that he ran off with when he was 12. And it turns out that he is the last Living Alchemist. But the story ends with Nina and Patrick at odds with each other. He's obviously pissed at her for betraying him. She's heartbroken because she's like, I really did mean to, and I was in a tough spot. And so it ends with both of them. Getting captured by the Lord's army and marched back to Bever City. And that is where this story ends. So very much like cliffhanger. But yeah, that's essentially it in a nutshell. Obviously I skipped over a lot of the intervening little side quests and adventures that happen, but that's it. Yeah. In a nutshell for those of you who haven't read it.
Kelsey:Yeah. Oh my gosh. There's also a lot of characters in this book. There's a lot of characters, so. Mm-hmm. I wanna just highlight really. Theodore's dad I don't remember what they call it, but he's like the president essentially of the artisans. Mm-hmm. He's like the head person and he's the head lord or something. Yeah. And Nina was always trained with Theodore because they have those special powers and they're unique mm-hmm. To do the things for the artisans. Right. And so she always had this conflict growing up. Mm-hmm. And it was like five to six years as she was training. Yep. Right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, because it was like from 12 to 18 ish. Mm-hmm. But then also I wanna highlight the town of Kenton. It's Kenton, right? Kenton Hill. Yeah. Kenton Hill. Where? Patrick has his mom. Mm-hmm. His brother. Is that Donnie? Two. Two brothers. His brother Donnie. And who's the other brother? I don't remember. So there's two brothers. Yeah. But then there's also another guy, right? I mean, he has this like little group of men. There's like works posting with, he's like coffee.
Amanda:Yeah. Mm-hmm. And they
Kelsey:all have their own jobs, right? Yes. Like their own parts of play. Yes. But then there's Theo. Mm-hmm. And I think it's Polly. It's Polly Poly Pauly. Mm-hmm. Who also is there mm-hmm. Who has a special gift of She's a scribbler. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't fully understand her ability until the end, but basically she can write notes and it goes to the person that it, it's meant to but like magically. Yes. Yeah. So she's been also working with the artisans mm-hmm. Undercover. Mm-hmm. So all those folks. Yeah. And someone at the end, someone from the town or Theo or Polly betrayed the town. Yep. And that's why the army comes there. Mm-hmm. But what's his name? Patrick thinks it is Nina. Nina,
Amanda:yeah. But I don't think it is. No, I mean, it's, it's definitely not, because I think if that was the case, that would be so inexcusable that there would be no space for them to have like holy kind of a redemption arc later. So I'm absolutely confident it's not her. She also seemed very surprised by the whole incident when it was happening. Yes. Yeah. But yeah, there's a, there's a pretty big cast of characters, but not so much so that you're. Confused for a good length of the book or need a glossary or anything like that, or a character. Mm-hmm. A list of characters. But I really enjoyed my time in Canton Hill for sure.
Kelsey:I am so glad. So Amanda, do you wanna highlight some of the things you really enjoyed about the book? Yeah,
Amanda:of course. So for one, this is a minor thing, but even though they start off the novel as children, right? Mm-hmm. And there is that span of time when she's at the academy setting, you know, from the age of 12, like you said, to 18 mm-hmm. The bulk of the book. She's like a fully grown adult. She's 25. Mm-hmm. And again, we read a lot of romantic books where the characters are like 19, right? Yeah. And I appreciated having older protagonists in the book. I personally like that. I also felt. That.'cause for me, as you know, like smut is not, I'm not a huge fan of smut. It's a turnoff for me, but I felt like the smut in this book was earned and mm-hmm. I like enjoyed it. I wasn't like, oh my God, here we go. Ugh. I was like, oh, here's another cast. Yeah. Exact. Oh my God. Yes. It was, I thought thoughtfully doled out in measured portions. Yeah. And again, it felt like it was earned and not gratuitous. It was like, okay, here's like another smut scene just for the sake of a smut scene. Mm-hmm. So I really mm-hmm. Liked that. As I've already mentioned several times, I loved the portrayal of life in Kenton Hill and the community there, the characters there. Yeah. It was really warm and gritty and realistic and yeah, you don't always find that in. Romantic novels, obviously it can be there, it just depends on the world and how the author's going about conveying it. But I personally, as a reader, love both characters and locations that I like, want to spend time with and, and time in, right? Mm-hmm. So places I wanna spend time in and characters I wanna spend time with, and I like even those minor interactions with characters in that world. Mm-hmm. I was like, this is great. Sure, let's take a walk through town and see what folks are up to or you know, what folks are complaining about at the town meeting or whatever it might be. Yeah. Or like the relationship between, you know, Patrick and his brothers, or Patrick and his mom. Mm-hmm. I just thought they were all well developed and I liked, like I said before, how in spite of the fact that the artisans have. Been hoarding their powers, their magic, and therefore their innovations that they've been able to create. They were able to use their own, like I said, ingenuity, creativity, intelligence to
Kelsey:mm-hmm. R
Amanda:up their own forms of, you know, electricity and like I said, indoor plumbing and all of these amenities. And so just like looking at the creativity and resilience of the human spirit, I really liked that. Mm-hmm. I also, you know, as someone who reads a lot of thrillers. I love a good twist. You know, I love, something that just like reaches outta the page and like smacks me upside the head. I'm like, what just happened? And I'm looking at my notes and in the book and, and I, I take notes as I'm reading. So it's a chronological I don't know, like record, of, how I was reacting. And so I typed like another surprise. Patrick is a Smith. I didn't, I didn't see that coming. I was like, oh, but that makes sense. I guess he took the idiom with him. He probably did end up drinking it. Yeah. So and then later on, like all caps, Patrick is the alchemist, question mark, question mark. I literally gasped out loud and I did, I literally out loud, I was like, what? That was my reaction. I was so blown away. Like I truly, that one, I, I don't know why either. I, I guess I just, yeah, I was so caught up in, in all the other story and everything else, it just. It did not even cross my mind that that could possibly happen. Oh, wow. Especially because earlier in the story, as I just read to you, we find out that he is a Smith and I was like, oh, well if you're a Smith, then that's what you are, like, that's your power. Right. And I, I, yeah, I, so I just figured that was it. So that really took me back. And a back. And then the last thing I'll say that I loved is that, you know, this is in terms of tropes it, it's, hmm. It's like a lovers to enemies, to lovers trope. It's very interesting. Yeah. I guess it's enemies to lovers, but. The tension between Patrick and Nina is just like palpable the entire time, right? Yeah. And you're sitting there waiting for everything to go to shit because you know Nina is lying to Patrick and you know everything is gonna blow up. And so the entire time you're just like, oh God. Like I know this is gonna be absolutely awful, but also I'm rooting for them. But also Nina f*cking tell the truth. And so it just created this delicious tension that kept me on the edge of my seat and gave me so much anxiety oh my gosh. And kept me reading. So I also really enjoyed that.
Kelsey:Yeah. How long did it take you to read. Oh God. Like a day I think. Yeah. No, it was, it
Amanda:was like blaze through it. It was so, it
Kelsey:was a really, it was like a shorter book for you. Yeah. Yeah. And the font, like I said, was like, it is big on the page. I wanted to go back to your comment about the grit of the city or like mm-hmm. The town, right? Yeah. And that is exactly how I described it. When I first read it. I was like, the grittiness of the characters, like they're real. Yeah. And this also feels like a real revolution because that's how you would do it, is you take care of the people, take care of your yourselves. Yeah. And then build up to a point where you're able to. Take it out on the, the uppers you know what I mean? The uppers.
Amanda:Yeah. Like for drugs, uppers and downers,
Kelsey:you know? You know, it's just one of my another, yeah. It's the powers
Amanda:that be another m
Kelsey:Yes. But yeah, so I really love that aspect. You know, the other thing that I really, really loved was seeing Patrick fall for Nina. It was like, yeah, yeah, absolutely. He himself, like his character is like the base of the grit of the town. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Like you could tell that he's holding on so much and he's like also so tough and intelligent. Yeah. And all these things, but he just loses it when Ninas a rapper.
Amanda:Absolutely. I feel like if I was a book boyfriend girl, which I am not, but if I was like, Patrick would definitely. Be up there for me for sure. Heck yeah. Because I, I don't remember now we talked about book boyfriends with one of the Umar books and you're like, oh, Amanda, do you have a book boyfriend? I can't remember which two it was though. Yeah, I know. I was like, was it, I don't remember You said reel I think. Wait, it was, yeah, it was Reel. Yeah, that's right. But yeah, so I'd be like, Patrick would be on my list if I had one for sure. But it's funny because when I was thinking about Patrick's relationship to Kenton Hill and the way that he just worked so hard to take care of everyone, to manage everything, to settle disputes, to make people, mm-hmm. Sure, sure. People are cared for. It reminded me so much of Reese's relationship to Veris and how he feels this responsibility to mm-hmm. Protect his people at all costs, the sacrifices he's willing to make and you know how much the people like treasure him and look up to him and respect him. Mm-hmm. And so for me that was definitely a parallel between those two books. And even to the extent that like Reese Patrick Yeah. Like you said, can have this tough exterior and are like, you know, very jokey, but underneath he's like a total smush, especially when it comes to Yeah. You know? Right. Yeah. Or Reeses case Vera and so just like family even. Yeah. Yeah. So I really, I really liked that portrayal. And to your earlier point, I think my buy-in was so much higher with this book because it did feel real world. Mm-hmm. Like it felt like if you look at all of the different labor movements that have happened even in our country, right? Mm-hmm. I could tell, or I think anyway, that Stacey very much grounded. Yeah. Those characters. And this plot point in those things. Yeah. Right. In, in worker and labor movements that have happened throughout history.
Kelsey:Yeah. I, I would guess, and this is how I read it, I'd be curious to hear the audio book.'cause I physically read it. Yeah. But it just reminded me of the Irish and like them going through their revolution. And so I wondered if she Yeah. Related it to that. Yeah. And oh yeah, possibly. Yeah, because the accent, that's what it read like to me was like Irish. Yeah. I could see that. I could, I could totally see that be like, you could make your own accent in your head, but I'm curious what the audio book sounds like and if, and if it is.
Amanda:Yeah, that'd be fun to know. That would be interesting. But it did. I could see that giving you those vibes for sure. Yeah. But. I mean, the other thing about this book that I, I liked too, that I just thought of which goes along with like the, the grit I guess, is that it felt like the story itself was grounded in ideas and questions about. Real life, like how do you run a society? Mm-hmm. What has more value when you're in conflict? Who is the aggressor and who's not? When is violence okay when it's not? Because nita's grappling with all of those things. And so it's not like this fluff, romantic piece, like it is very much connected to, even with looking at the craftsmen and artisans, it's like, which is more important, right. Manual labor or creativity. Right. Thought versus action. Mm-hmm. And you know, where do we place value in our society and why? So I thought there were so many moments in the book was like, oh yeah. Like I need to stop and think about what I feel about this and how I see this showing up in our society.
Kelsey:Yeah.
Amanda:And that just gives me so much more buy-in when I'm reading, particularly a romantic book. Yeah. And makes me more interested. So I really liked
Kelsey:that. And I think ultimately that's what I really love about fantasy is that it can do that. Yeah. It can, when it's done well. Yes. It directly relates to the politics that mm-hmm. You see in the world and how. It's just playing with that idea of what does an ideal society look like? Yeah. And and yeah, that, that translates directly to real life. Yeah.
Amanda:Yeah. And I think too, Nina's spend so much of this novel processing her feelings about both sides, because obviously even though she was born in the craftsman's world, she spent a significant amount of time in Bevere City. And now that she, she's back with the craftsman so she can see. The humanity of both sides. Exactly. And it's easy, I think, in any conflict or any situation, whether it's more of a physical conflict, or if it's something more social like, I believe something different than you do and I'm in a different camp than you are. Mm-hmm. It's so easy to demonize the other side or dehumanize the other side. Right. In order to make yourself feel better and. She stuck because she's like, I know these artisans, I know their names. Mm-hmm. I slept in dorm rooms next to them. I went to class with them, one of them, was my pseudo aunt for six years. Mm-hmm. So it's not as simple as saying every single artisan is a horrible person. Right. Because they're benefiting from the oppression of the craftsman. And Yeah. There's this quote from Nina that I wrote down, which is quote, and wasn't that the true evil of war? That it didn't have the decency to strip the humanity of those we killed and it's this idea that yeah, regardless of whether you think you're in the right or the wrong, you are taking another individual's life, right? And that's never something to just blow off or dismiss or just say it's okay in the name of X cause, right? Mm-hmm. I like that she was able to articulate that for herself and pull that out for herself. Mm-hmm. And it wasn't just this you know, very two-dimensional, we're the bad guy or they're the good guy. Oh gosh, we're the good guys. They're the bad guys. Yeah. Full stop.'cause it's never that simple. It's so much more nuanced. There's so much more gray area. Mm-hmm. And I like that the book played with that tension versus it being so overly simplistic. Right.
Kelsey:There was something else I was going to add in there, but yeah, I, I don't remember when it happened, but I think it was early on in Nina's experience while she was with the artisans, but she is told the history of why now the idiom is only given to certain families and certain people. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Is because there was uproar in all of this when everybody was getting it. Mm-hmm. Or like when a big chunk of people were getting it. Yeah. And so it had to be streamlined in a way where it wasn't dangerous. Right. But then it became this thing, this hierarchy. Oh, it's just about power. Yes. And so that is curious and also brings the humanity of like the situation. Mm-hmm. It didn't just start out this way. Yeah. It evolved this way. Right. And that's very typical. Yeah. Of like real life and what Yeah. How power comes to be.
Amanda:Right. And oftentimes, so relatable. It can start off, like you just said, as someone doing what they feel is right. Like, Oh, we started off giving IDM to everyone. People are abusing their magical powers. We need to figure out a way to restrict this because it's for the greater good. Mm-hmm. And then ultimately it turns into a system of haves and have nots. Right? Yeah. And, and the elite. So yeah. I just think she, she was really smart about Yeah. The way that she created the backdrop for this conflict uhhuh instead of just painting with broad strokes, which I think sometimes can happen with, and not even just romantic authors or fantasy authors, but in general. And but when, you know, it feels like an author is just being lazy and it's just again, like the characters are two dimensional. The conflict is two dimensional, and it's like, no. She took the time to wrestle with, the icky, gritty, parts of life and humans. Mm-hmm.'Cause even in Kenton Hill, right, where they are trying to form this society of equity and looking out for each other mm-hmm. The
Kelsey:idea. Mm-hmm. People are still
Amanda:making poor choices. Right? Yep. And we see Patrick having to deal with that. But we also see, and I loved this too, Patrick has done bad things in the name of Good, right? Mm-hmm. And he fully admits that he's like, in order to have this utopia, which is, they don't have that, but they're working towards it. Right? Right. There's gonna be hard choices that have to be made. There's gonna be people who are harmed there are gonna it's never that simple. And so he's also wrestling with that and has a lot of guilt over it. Yes. Overall, like we're aiming for the greater good. Yeah. But along the way there are some questionable choices mm-hmm. Being made and, and violence that is enacted mm-hmm. To create and sustain those systems. Like killing the other alchemist. Yeah, exactly. Or even when they go to pick up that shipment from, from, I don't even remember what exactly their rules were, but you know, he had to get physical with them, right? Mm-hmm. In order to protect the identities of people in order to make sure they had, the weapons they needed, et cetera. Mm-hmm. So I just, I don't know. I really liked that. Especially as an adult reader who, you know, can deal with a bit more complexity. Mm-hmm. And so I think I was also worried, I, I don't, I don't know how this book is marketed. I don't know if it's considered a YA book or not. Mm-hmm. I know it starts off as 12 year olds, but you know, they spend most of the the, the novel as adults. So that was weird for me trying to figure out okay, who's the audience for this? But I like that she trusted that the readers could handle it, you know? Yeah. That's great. I really enjoyed that.
Kelsey:The other thing that I want to bring up is like mm-hmm. Stacey McEwen herself. Mm-hmm. She's on TikTok. She is fucking hilarious. Mm-hmm. And obviously so smart. And I love that combination in an author you should go check out some of her videos. Okay. But one of her most recent videos was marketing this book, and it was, will you hold up the map? So there was like two things. Oh yeah. For those who don't need YouTube, she's from Australia and she's like, I am going to address all the hate I've been getting. And she's like, this is not Australia. And she was like. I
Amanda:mean, it looks like Australia. And as someone who's
Kelsey:lived it does, it was just, it was just this bit, right? She was like, yeah, obviously I bit into a potato chip. And then just outlined it. That is how all romantic authors made their maps. And so it was just hilarious. It was hilarious. That's funny. She was like, yeah, it looks fucking like Australia. And then there was another thing she did where she was like, I wanted to react to all of your guys', like fan what is it called? Theories. Mm-hmm. And like the first one she gets to, she's reading and she's like,, the first theory is that Nina is a bitch. And she's like, yeah. And then moves on. And there was just like, it was stupid fan theories. It wasn't even Yeah, anything important. And then someone said, Patrick is end game. And she was like, it was just, I'm like, is there any other end game? That's how I read it. I was like, Theo obviously is not. No. And is there someone else I actually could see though, yeah. That Patrick dies. I could see that.
Amanda:Happening. This, I could see it because one of my, I, I wouldn't say it's a theory, but maybe a prediction is that this world ultimately cannot continue with some folks taking idium and some folks not. Yeah. And it also can't continue with everyone taking it'cause they tried that. So I think it's gonna be like, you know what mm-hmm. Let humans just be humans without these super powered abilities. We clearly can Yeah. Innovate without them.'cause we've seen evidence of that in Kenton Hill mm-hmm. So I could see him like dying, him being the last alchemist and humans no longer having the ability to transform this substance into idium and, and consume it. Yeah. So that actually would work. Like I would be, I know totally on board with that. I like the message that it sends as well, so. Distressed. I mean, but also but it would be good storytelling. It would be cathartic to just rip your little heart out. I mean, my heart's already been ripped out how the first book ended, so it was awful. It was awful. Yeah,
Kelsey:absolutely. What else? Also someone made a video about the canaries. Okay. Do you have any theories about the
Amanda:meaning of the canaries? I mean, I don't know that there's like a, I mean, here's the thing. Like they used to use them in mines, like that was how you would know if it was safe or not. So I don't know that there's like some special meaning behind it, except for if these are actual miners in mines, they would have used canaries. Yeah, that's it.
Kelsey:Are there, is there more to it? I think there probably is a, I think there is a deeper meaning to it, but maybe not. I don't know. It could go either way. But this one guy was theorizing that, what was it like when the canaries are silent? Mm-hmm. It means death has occurred and then when they're singing it means it's safe. And there was like, at the end of the book, a Canary was singing or something like that, I don't remember. And so there was like this idea that no, it's gonna be like, okay oh, I don't, interesting. And then, okay, the theory was also that Nina represented a canary but I don't know why.
Amanda:Oh, but she, do you have any more thoughts about that? I mean, I don't know because again, the canary's purpose in a mind is to indicate like when it's safe. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Or when, you need to get the hell out. And I don't feel like Nina's character did that in the story. For anyone? I don't think she was like this harbinger of doom or also like, Hey, I am. I don't know. Yeah. I, I don't, I don't see the connection. I mean yeah, she obviously, so one of the moments in the book that we didn't talk about there is this massive landslide and ca collapse that happens in Kenton Hill like halfway through the book. Mm-hmm. And as an earth charmer, Nina is able to get into the mine, save the men who are there, and also halt the landslide, which saves countless lives. I think like only four people end up dying. So she does this really big thing for the village or for the town. Right. And really puts her in the good graces of everyone, including Patrick. Yeah. So she does. Save people. So maybe she's a canary in that sense and that she saved lives and the canaries save lives by, you know, singing or not singing in the minds. Yeah. But I, I think that's maybe a bit of a stretch for
Kelsey:me. I, I don't, it's the theory I saw today. And I was curious what you thought about it. I don't remember the canaries I didn't pay super, like good attention to the canaries. Sure, yeah. Personally, I
Amanda:didn't either. I especially because for me it was like, oh, like this is just part of. Mining. Right? That's just a common factor. Yeah, maybe. So I didn't think anything's like significant of it. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But who knows? You know? I know authors love to have little Easter eggs and symbols everywhere. Yes. But there were a couple of things I didn't like, like minor things. Oh, okay. I wanted to talk about one is the cover for this book. Show us the cover show. One of the rea So here's the cover again for folks watching on YouTube. It's love it's love it. It's like a, it's like a vial. Yes. Of idiom, right? Yes. And it's, you know, got lots of swirly things. It's purple and blue. It's like iridescent, but it very much looks like the cover of a cheesy y fantasy novel. And I was very much judging this book by its cover. Yes. And I was like, this is gonna be so stupid because this looks so. I don't know, one poorly done. It looks like it was like clip art and two, oh my
Kelsey:gosh. It does not. I, yes it does. And two absolutely disagree. And two
Amanda:is that now that I've read the book and know how deep and gritty and complex and, and just like the gravity of this story, this cover does not do it justice. It doesn't, like if you look at it, you think it's gonna be this like fun little fantasy romp through I don't know, through, through a teenager's mind. And it's not that at all. And so I do think if they, you know, put out another addition of this book, I hope they changed the cover.'cause I feel like. It really doesn't give you a good indication of what the book is about. It doesn't at all. The second thing that I didn't like, and, I don't wanna be like a super judgy, but judge, I was curious about her choice of having Patrick be a cigarette smoker. Like it was very unusual. It is 2025 and I'm like, not that people don't smoke and not that characters can smoke. Like I wanna, I don't wanna be like the cigarette police, but I just, I just thought it was a interesting choice. And maybe it's adding to that like gritty. Yeah. You know, blue collar I don't know, vibe she was going for. Mm-hmm. But I think we got that without the addition of him also being a cigarette smoker and Yeah.
Kelsey:Maybe. Yeah, I just, but I do think, like you were saying, like it does. Lend itself to that idea. Patrick has had a really hard life. He has. He, he hasn't had an easy life. Yeah. And of course he's gonna have this addiction, right? And he's like fighting it while Nina's around and it's it's hilarious to me.
Amanda:But it's also weird, the right, because he, so the bluff I was talking about, people get addicted to it. It has healing powers, but also makes you feel good, et cetera. And it can have really detrimental effects. His brother is addicted to Bluff, actually. It's been like wreaking havoc on his marriage. And so I think it's interesting that we see Patrick who has an addiction to cigarettes, who then is turning around and getting on his brother's case for having this addiction of Bluff. We also see him really going after Bluff dealers and dealing with them very harshly. Yeah. Whether it's like beating'em up or like giving them really shit jobs to do, or like telling them, it's like all of this stuff, he is like, you're doing a bad thing. Like you're getting people to mm-hmm. Take this substance, which is harming them. And I'm like, yeah, but you're also regularly smoking cigarettes. And again, I don't know if this world, maybe cigarettes there don't have nicotine and don't harm your health. I don't know. But it was just such a weird choice. It felt very hypocritical for him to be like, yeah, you shouldn't be smoking bluff, but I'm gonna smoke a stick. You know? Smoke a not smoke. Yeah. Whatever. Smoke a pack a cigarette today. I almost said smoke a 12 pack. I'm like, 12 pack is like for beer. What am I talking about? But yeah, I just, I, I thought that was a weird choice, that's all. It's not a huge thing. I just was like, yeah. Like interesting. I mean like,
Kelsey:I don't love that aspect. Yeah. But to me it made sense. Yeah. For his character. Yeah. Yeah. And also like cigarette smoking and like what they say about Bluff is very different. Right? Like the impacts. Of it are very different, but yeah. Mean still an addiction look is worse,
Amanda:but it's still an addiction and body. But also, wasn't his brother like
Kelsey:beating his wife
Amanda:and that was the issue? Wasn't that the issue? No. No, I don't think, no. Okay. He wasn't beating her, but he was just like absent. Right. He beat going off on these like bluff binges. And then the two other things were one, I mean, it's fair, it's a fair, fair that you didn't like that. Yeah. But I agree with you that I think it fits his character. It wasn't like, oh yeah, his character would never do that. I was like, oh, I don't, I don't think it was necessary. Then, you know how I feel about typos. There were two typos specifically that bothered me. One was the glasses sailed, overheard instead of overhead. And then she has these two sentences that she ended with question marks that weren't questions. And that drove me crazy. So I marked that down. So that was that really tiny. I know. And then the last thing that drives me crazy, and I know it's a trope for romantic. And romance novels too. But more so in romantic is that there always has to be some sort of ball slash dance slash party where the FMC has to get all dolled up and a really hot dress and show up and have the guy jewel all over her. And I was hoping that wouldn't happen'cause I'm like, oh, they're in the middle of fricking kitten hill. Like this is not gonna happen. There's not gonna be some like ball they have to dress up for. But they did have this holiday party and sure enough, she shows up looking hot and Patrick's all like, oh my god. And Theodore's there and it creates a lot of tension. I'm just like. I don't know. It's fun. It felt like that was the hottest
Kelsey:part of the book. Love dancing mean it was hot, but I tell Soad this all the time. I was like, if you learn to dance, like I wouldn't need anything else. I wouldn't like dancing for me like is so fucking hot. I don't know what it is. But there, it wasn't even a sex scene, right? No. It was just like this dancing scene. Yeah. And I thought it was so
Amanda:great. Well, so done. It was very well, it was very well done. I will give you that. I was just more rolling my eyes if I could read one romantic novel that doesn't have a ball slash dance slash party, that would be fine. That'd be cool. I would, I would love to see, we'll find that him do something else. But it was, I did appreciate the scene. Like I, I enjoyed it. I was like, oh, this is very sexy. Yeah, and I love that Patrick. Told her that he doesn't dance. So she assumed that he couldn't dance. Then he was actually like a really good dancer. And I was like, that's, that's cool. Shut up. Shut up. Yeah. But that was pretty much it. I think the only other small thing was I thought it was so stupid that scribbler were called scribbler. I, this such a stupid thing. It sounds so silly. Like really I don't know, call them word charmers because everyone else is like a water charmer, an earth charmer, whatever. Yeah. And they just have this one word, like scribbler I don't know. But no, overall I was very much taken with it. I love that. You know, there was some, you know, there were lgbtq plus characters included with Professor Dunley and like Donny. There was a blind character. There was a blind character as well. One of the brothers which I, yeah. Donny. Yeah. Which is Donny. Yeah. And there was at least one. Character of color that was like, specifically mentioned, which was Polly, which I appreciated that. At least but yeah, I, I sped through this book one'cause it was, you know, short and large text, but also'cause I was like, oh my gosh this is so good. I'm having a great time and I'm annoyed that you had me read a book for a series that is not finished because now I'm waiting for freaking AAR and now I'm waiting for this book and I don't like it. I, that is, that is not how I like to read,
Kelsey:embrace, and the pain. Embrace the pain.
Amanda:No, because I have a really bad memory and I'm gonna have to like either go back and reread these books or find a really detailed summary before I get into the next one. Or
Kelsey:listen to our summary beforehand. There you go. Yeah. But this,
Amanda:but this summary was also not super detailed, but I guess it'll be enough to trigger
Kelsey:Yeah.
Amanda:The things, your memory of it. Come on. Yeah, that's true. All right. I'm gonna use, and that's what other people can
Kelsey:do when. You get to the, the second book? Yes. Come back
Amanda:and listen to this. Give it another
Kelsey:listen. And you'll remember the other thing too. I saw interviews of her. She already has the second book written. It was written alongside, I think book one. And she already has it done but for editing purposes, you have to wait for a specific amount of time to release. I think the third release book is done too, actually. Oh, really? Is that new? If you go
Amanda:on, if you go on Good Reads, it has all three of them listed. Like I was, because I was on Good Reads this morning, obviously like getting, hold on, I'll look it up right now. No,
Kelsey:I don't know that that's the case. It just, there is a book too and there's gonna be a book through and we know it's gonna be a trilogy.
Amanda:But I feel, I don't know that they, no. Yeah, it has the date. It is, it's gonna get, well, I dunno if it's written, but the publishing date is June 30th, 2027. Oh yeah. That's what I'm saying. And a lot of times if it's not written that won't even be on good reads. They just won't have anything. Oh, okay. I see. So I think she might have either started writing it or it might be finished and they're like, okay. You know, it's it's ready to go. It's just like waiting for, you know, if
Kelsey:I could get an arc of this second book,
Amanda:oh,
Kelsey:I would be so excited.
Amanda:You should try and do that. You can put in a, she was giving them
Kelsey:For the first book. Oh, okay. But I didn't know it was coming out until I saw one of her random videos this summer and I was like, wait, what the fuck? Yeah, she's a writer. I was like, I have to read
Amanda:this book. And so cool. Because I think the next one's coming out this summer or next summer. Next summer, yeah, next summer. So if we could get Stacy McGowan, if you've found this podcast, hello, because it's so popular and we love you, would you perhaps consider,
Kelsey:consider, consider giving us, consider sending us an arc. We would.
Amanda:They grateful one for each of us. Yes, we would promote, we'd promote the shit out of this book for you. Yeah. We'll let the shit outta it. Oh, okay. Any final thoughts on a forbidden alchemy before we get to our
Kelsey:reviews? I just cannot wait for the next book. I'm so excited. This actually, this is one of my favorite parts of reading because I used to never do this or read along with books as they come out. Mm. I love the anticipation and then like the hype. Yeah, the hype and then the community also community that gets around it. Yeah. When Onyx Storm came out, I was like, oh my gosh, this is so new. I've never done this before. Oh, okay. And so that's really exciting. I love doing that. I love that aspect. This is,
Amanda:yeah, a new territory for me.'cause I, this is, I don't do this. So, yeah. I guess at least Misery loves company. There's a lot people boat, so
Kelsey:we're all miserable together. That's,
Amanda:that's, yeah, we're all stuck in this together. Okay, well, let's do our literally the best or literally the worst. That's really the worst. Even though I liked this book, I will be doing one star reviews that I found which I'm just curious what people are saying. Yeah, I mean, it's probably funny. I'm guessing there's, there's, yeah, there's some common themes that have come up, which I don't fully agree with, obviously, but we'll get to those. I guess I'll start, yes. Since I've got the one star. And this one I did edit a bit because this person did have a section where they were like, here are the positive things I liked, and then here are the things I didn't, so I just Okay. Cut out the positive so we could focus on the things I didn't like. So, okay. This is from, I believe it's Christie one and a Half Stars. Three crying face emojis. Mm-hmm. I have deep regrets picking this book up. Number one, I found the whole premise the way the world and the society is set up just completely fundamentally flawed, and the actions of essentially all characters throughout this book lacked common sense. Number two, the plot had a lot of plot holes. There was a twist that just didn't make sense. Given that we followed Nina from a first person, POV, I actually think it would've been good if everything was just in third person. To be honest, the rest of it was predictable from basically chapter two. Number three, the main characters had no depth. I felt zero emotion towards them. The side characters were just there to serve a specific function, and number four felt no chemistry between the love interest. This is a love triangle, but it's so superficial. I feel like I as a reader had to constantly fill in the gaps of what happened off the page for it to be remotely believable. The book ends on the cliffhanger yet I just don't care what happened next and won't be reading the next book. Wow. I like disagree with pretty much everything she said, but i, I appreciate your thoughts, Christie. I, for your opinions, definitely heads depth. I thought there was definitely chemistry. I think the plot twist she's talking about is the fact that we don't find out until much later that Nina has been working for the artisans. And that did take me aback, especially because we do have a first person POV, but as someone who likes thrillers and someone who's used to having unreliable narrators, I think it didn't bother me as much. Yeah. That it wasn't revealed until later Uhhuh. And it obviously had to work that way, I think. Mm-hmm. For the plot to work. So,
Kelsey:and I didn't feel like. It was a big issue. It always felt like she was hiding stuff. Yeah. It didn't feel like everything was out on the page. Yeah. I read another book that was romantic and it felt the opposite where you're in her head the entire time and it felt like she had been like laying everything out. And then the last five pages was like a complete twist. It didn't make, that didn't make sense. Oh, yeah. So, I see the difference between the two and this one from a forbidden alchemy felt way more realistic than the one that I read. Okay.
Amanda:Yeah. I don't, I don't mind the unreliable narrator twist as long as the reason for them being unreliable makes sense. Mm-hmm.
Kelsey:Yeah.
Amanda:And it's not like, oh, I just pulled this outta my ass at the last minute. You know what I mean? Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Okay.
Kelsey:Well thank you. You're welcome. Christie, was
Amanda:it? Yes, Christie. I don't know why I said you're welcome. I did not write that review.
Kelsey:Thank you for reading it, Amanda.
Amanda:Oh, you're so welcome.
Kelsey:Okay. I have five star reviews today and all of them are longer. There, there are no one sentence Okay. Reviews that I have. So, five star from millennial mom reading. Hmm. This book is stunning. The twists and turns, the morally gray cast of characters, the unique Magic System, the conspiracy, hands down, one of my favorite mmcs and a really well developed and complex FMC. The found family aspect of this both enveloped me and broke me. If you want to be devastated, but in a really satisfying way. This is it for you. I think it may be among one of my Top Reads series ever, which is a high bar.
Amanda:Yeah. We didn't talk about the found family aspect, but it's definitely a really big part of this. Yeah. Because especially Nina, she doesn't have a good relationship with her dad. Yeah. And her mom vanished, right? Yeah. So she very much throughout the novel is searching. Mm-hmm. For connection, searching for community. And I think it's another reason why I loved Kenton Hill.'cause it's like, ugh. Yeah. You found a home and you found people who care about you and Yeah. Know.
Kelsey:Yeah. And also, even though you can tell she's not in love with Theo, it makes sense for their pairing because she literally was alone. Yeah. She had this fake aunt and then him. Yeah. And that was pretty much it through like the, her time in the artisan world.
Amanda:Yeah.'cause she wasn't even really that close with Polly. Like they bonded over being the outcast, but Polly's mm-hmm. Quite a minor character, especially at the beginning. Mm-hmm. So yeah. You see her like trying to find connection throughout? Okay. Next up is Fatima. This book had a main character who wanted to stay neutral in war, where one side was very much oppressed. She had a rare and powerful power, but didn't want to use it to help the rebellion because she didn't want to hurt civilians. She was born and raised among the oppressed side. She watched people die throughout her life because of the actions and laws made by the artisans, but wanted to stay neutral because she didn't want innocent people to die. Are we really having this argument in this day and time? And what the hell was that ending? I, yeah, I, I, IS hmm. I can understand this person's frustration, but I also don't agree with it. Mm-hmm. I think it's what we talked about in our conversation where Stacey McCuen is grappling with the nuance of conflict and the nuance of both sides. Yeah. And the humanity on both sides, and good and bad choices made on both sides. And that's not to say one side is free of all wrongdoing or one side it isn't like it, it's not that simple. And I think it's complex. This person wants it to be that simple. Yeah. And I don't think it
Kelsey:is. And that's part of the reason why Nina is stuck in the middle. Right.'cause she doesn't want to harm people. Yeah. No matter what. Exactly. But she's being, blackmailed. And she's being forced to like, make a decision, but she doesn't wanna make the decision. And that's the struggle. Yeah,
Amanda:exactly. Yeah. Because either white people are gonna be harmed either way. People are gonna die. Right. And so there is, yeah. Mm-hmm. Because actually, really quickly there was one other quote. That ties directly to this. And this is Polly talking to Nina about their situation.'cause again, they're both artisans who have, have been recruited by the minors. Mm-hmm. And are working against the artisans, but not really. And she goes, quote, we're stuck between two guns now. That's all there is to it. And it's so true. Like they're really stuck between a rock and a hard place. And it's not as simple like this is the right choice. This is the wrong choice. So,
Kelsey:exactly. And that's why Nina doesn't tell Patrick, because she doesn't know if she's gonna be killed or not. Yeah.'cause of her betrayal. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Another five star from Chalene's Library. Ugh. I'm so stressed, genuinely feeling ill by the end of this book. I love Patrick Colson so much. It's truly unhealthy. How much I love him. Is he a bit morally great? Yes, but I feel like war warrants that. Or maybe I'm excusing bad behavior. Do I care? No. I love the Colson family so much. I know Gunner sucked, but he started growing on me and I love Donnie. So. Theo, on the other hand, the most annoying man in the world, he a hundred percent calls his dad daddy in his mid twenties. I was done with this shit. And Nina, I know she was in a precarious situation, but she didn't handle it well. I really hope for groveling and redemption in Book two. Laugh out loud.
Amanda:I mean, yeah, she should have made different choices for sure. But one of the things I guess we didn't mention either is that Donnie and So Gunner's the older brother, Donnie's younger. Yeah. And both of them have also taken idiom as well, and so they also have powers to Oh yeah, yeah. We didn't mention that, I was like, who's the other brother's name? That was Gunner. But yeah, they all all taken it. Yeah, there he is.
Kelsey:There was something And has the mom, do you remember? No. Did the mom, the mom, the mom hasn't,
Amanda:no. I At least it
Kelsey:didn't say
Amanda:in the book that she has.
Kelsey:Yeah, it's okay. Possibly. This is my, oh wait, but I wanted to talk about, oh gosh. Because we didn't really talk about Theo that much. I'm like, we didn't, we skimmed over
Amanda:him.
Kelsey:What, what were your takes on Theo?
Amanda:I mean, again, we're looking at this love triangle, right? So of course you have the morally gray brooding dude, right? Mm-hmm. And then you have the golden boy, and like Theo very much is the golden boy in the triangle. He's the son of this high ranking official, you know, he's wealthy, he's good looking. He's got powers
Kelsey:has a daddy. I,
Amanda:he has a, he has a daddy. I, by the end of the novel, I felt that Theo did some work towards redeeming himself in my eyes.
Kelsey:Hmm.
Amanda:Okay. Yes. He made poor choices as they all have to be clear. Yes. And he does, at the end, make choices that are better. And that's the thing with humans we can always change, we can always do better. I think there's always room for forgiveness and redemption and, and I am more inclined to like someone who can own up to their bad things and choose to do better. Like that to me is huge. Like mm-hmm. And so I actually, that's the point of
Kelsey:storytelling. Yeah, exactly.
Amanda:And so I actually am, like, I am, I'm feeling better about Theo. And while I still don't want Nina to end up with him, depending on how his character continues to evolve, it might be okay. Especially if Patrick ends up dying.
Kelsey:Ooh,
Amanda:yeah.
Kelsey:Ooh. I'd
Amanda:be, I'd be okay with it. You don't like that idea? But I could see, I, I could actually see it working. And if she does it right, I think it would actually. I would be okay with it. It wouldn't be like perfect, but I think it could actually work really well. Wow. Yeah. Anyhow, okay,
Kelsey:let's move on.
Amanda:This one is my longest one Then. My last one's pretty short, so, okay. This is from Catherine. Seeing all the significantly high rating reviews through good reads and struggling to find a poor one made me hopeful for this one. However, whilst who says, whilst anymore, whoever, whilst the storyline itself may be intriguing, I just couldn't get past the writing style no matter how much I persevered for one, the FMC was written in. First, whilst the MMC was written in third with no obvious reason for why this was done, and just for clarification, she means point of view. Yeah. Swapping between these two styles with each chapter was really jarring. I then became confused as to who the target demographic for this was. It's described as being a romantic, but the main characters are 12 years old. This confused me for a book with children. It was written like it was for an older demographic based on the vocabulary alone, and then the chapter time jumps started with each chapter. Skipping a year ahead, and this is where I drew the line and decided this wasn't for me. I couldn't immerse myself in the characters and their journeys with a constant time jumps and being introduced to the MMC. And then his chapters dropping off as soon as they appeared and decided I wasn't going to read anymore. I feel like if she had read more, she probably would have just a little more. Yeah, because it's not about 12 year olds for one. Yeah. I was like, okay, they're 12 year olds for one fifth,
Kelsey:one sixth of the book and then it's all adults. This is why I never write reviews for books. I-D-N-F-I don't think you should anything. Yeah,
Amanda:because someone so much can change. Yeah, if you, if you like dnf at 80% maybe, but if you're DN fing at 30%, don't you? You can't, I don't know. That's, that's my opinion. I agree with that. There's so much that could change your thoughts. Not that you shouldn't DNF at 30%, just don't write a review. Review'cause it's not reflective of the book itself. I will say this, so a lot of people. Commented in the one star reviews that they hated the jump between first and third person point of view. Mm. And it's funny because like, didn't even notice it didn't even phase me. And in my mind it just solidified, okay this really is Nina's story. Like yes, Patrick's story matters. And he's also essential. But it helped, I don't know, frame the narrative more fully from one protagonist versus two. And I think that's why she chose to do Nina with First Person and Patrick mm-hmm. Through third, just to reinforce that for the audience. Nina is still the primary Yeah. Protagonist, you know, and not Patrick. And maybe the next book it'll flip flop. Who knows? You know, maybe it'll be Yeah. Patrick first person, but it didn't bother me. But a lot of people, a lot of people hated that. So,
Kelsey:that comes up often where people are talking about third and first, POV.
Amanda:Mm-hmm.
Kelsey 2.0:I, I couldn't tell you if it was switching. Yeah. I'm just, I just, that's not something I pay attention to. I'm just like looking for the details of what's going on. Mm-hmm. So, yeah, that never, never bothers me. Yeah. Never. Something I'm harping on. Okay. This is from Ka Herring her, I'm sorry, Kevin Hering. Okay. Sometimes these names are the tricky, the rest for a loop. Okay. Well currently Googling how to give a book more than five stars on good reads because a measly five here is feeling too thin. It's not enough. It is true. disservice to the story. I just finished. So if you are here and you're reading this review, know that it is not as honest as I wish it was. There should be. Five more lit up stars. Next to the first set, Stacey has crafted a Peaky Blinders meets PanAm world. Okay. Hello? I'm screaming when I tell you. This book is a masterpiece from the impeccable writing to the painfully yearning romance to the twists, turns, and betrayals. And would it even be a Ewen book without heart shattering betrayal? I genuinely hope and pray this becomes a TV show because the world and story were so brilliantly executed. It be a crying shame for it not to be. I actually agree with that. That could be really cool. Well done if it's well done. Wait,
Amanda:I wait.
Kelsey:What would be really cool? A movie or a series. Oh, okay. Sorry. I
Amanda:like blanked for a second.'cause I was looking up. Peaky Blinders online because I, I know the show, but I've never watched it. And I was like, I wanna know why she chose, or this person, they chose this as the comparison, but it's like a street gang in England in the 1880s. I'm like, yeah, that book definitely gives the vibes, especially when they're in Kenton Hill.
Kelsey:I saw that multiple times in the reviews. I was looking at Peaky Blinders, like references. Oh, I wonder if it like,
Amanda:influenced, influenced the characters in the town. Could be. I could see that. I would love
Kelsey:this to be a series.
Amanda:Oh, for sure. Absolutely. And I think when it's completed, I could see, I mean, maybe someone's already scooped up the right, who knows? But I could definitely see that. Okay, last one. Star review. It's pretty short. This is from Amber Slow Burn. Where? Romantic. Where Ins Love first person, POV to suddenly third person, POV. One moment she said, let's drop the pretense. I have been living a life full of luxury. On the next page, she's disgusted, he's punching a guy, doing bad things in the town. He had warned the guy previously that he's taken care of. Make it make sense. FMC is a hypocrite. Weak-minded, unreliable. Damn.
Kelsey:I mean, she is unreliable.
Amanda:She definitely is unreliable. That's not a bad thing. Story, I guess. I dunno that she's weak-minded, but I think the flip-flopping is because she's in a tricky situation. So I think any person mm-hmm. Would be like, what the heck do I do? I don't think that makes you weak minded. Weak minded. Maybe there are moments of hypocrisy, but I don't know. It just very human to me. That's the thing. Like I think sometimes when we read romantic, we want everyone to be these, noble, upstanding, pure you know, morally sound individuals and that's, I don't like that. You know me. I like messy characters. I like morally great characters. I like nuance. Mm-hmm. And so, I don't know. I liked it. I enjoyed it.
Kelsey:Yeah. Okay. Well the final five star. Review I have is from RA Blossom. I love Nina and Patrick. Their chemistry was off the charts. They had the perfect balance of banter, tension, and quiet yearning that had me clutching my chest and reading with my feet in the air. At 3:00 AM I'm honestly too embarrassed to show my tabs because it's just Patrick, POV lines. And that betrayal devastating their connection made it all hit so much harder. I can't wait to see how the fallout of that will play out in book two. The characters are where this book truly shines. It's rare for me to be so invested in the whole cast, but these characters have my whole heart. I was all in for them. Found family check, flawed deeply human characters making difficult decisions. Check. I genuinely don't want anything bad to happen to any of them. And that last 5% diabolical Stacey, how dare you leave me hanging like that. I didn't expect to be so heavily invested in the story and the characters I loved every second of it. Catch me banging the gates for the next book. Don't sleep on this one like I almost did.
Amanda:Yeah. I concur and love those deeply flawed human characters. Like they really made the story what it is. Yeah. And yeah, the last God, the last 5% of this book. Totally agree. Just whew. Really takes it out of you and destroys you. Yeah. In the best way possible, really. But yeah. If, yeah, if you are not normally a romantic reader, I think this could be a good book for you.
Kelsey:Good gateway.
Amanda:My final recommendation would be that I recommend, it could be a really good gateway book because it's not sm heavy. And like I said, the smut feels earned, the characters are fully three dimensional. Mm-hmm. There's a lot happening here. Like it's not a shallow, superficial novel. There's a lot that's gonna make you stop and question and think there's crazy twists. Yeah. I just found it really relatable and could not put it down.
Kelsey:Well said, Amanda. Well said.
Amanda:Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
Kelsey:I also, of course, recommend it. Of course,
Amanda:of course. To anyone. Of course, of course. And now I can finally go back to my good reads and give it the four star rating that I wanted to. Yeah. So, wow. Why is it not five Amanda? I just, there's something, maybe I should give it five. I just feel like something deep down is like, you can't give a romantic book five stars. Oh my gosh. But maybe I will, because I feel like I gave what is it? I gave s aka I gave aka No, I gave five stars. I think that's the only romantic book I've ever given. Five stars. So maybe, maybe this will be the second one. Let's see.
Kelsey:Okay. I think
Amanda:on it, I'll have to ponder on it, but do you wanna remind folks of our socials as we wrap this up?
Kelsey:Absolutely. I, I've already been like really thinking about how we'll promote this book because it has to be in line with Stacey's humor. It just has to be We'll, we'll try our best. And you need to go watch her videos. I'll, on the book, I'll, I'll put it on my tv. Go do it. And I think that's the only way we'll get her attention. So, hi Stacy, like to you. I just like tag her and everything. Tag her and everything and be like, send us an arc, please. Yes. Okay. So yes, come find us on social media. We will be having a blast with this one. Mm-hmm. On Instagram at Live Vibes Only podcast and on TikTok and YouTube at Live Vibes only podcast. So yes, come have fun with us. Come on over, come on over.
Amanda:And then of course, don't forget to rate and review as always. Now that we're at the very end of our episode, as soon as you hear that outro music ding, just go back into your app, hit that five star rating. If you've got an extra minute, type out a quick sentence saying how much you're enjoying the podcast and you can do your little Thanksgiving deed for the month. Passing it on. Paying it forward. Yes. Paying it forward. Exactly. Exactly. So thank you guys so much for hanging out with us. Stay tuned.'cause we'll definitely be doing another episode when book two comes out. Oh my gosh, yes. Cannot wait. Otherwise, we'll see you next Monday. Bye. Bye.