Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jrieje

Author’s Note: I was given a chance to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

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First point of order: Go Pre-Order this book. No “buts”, go pre-order this book. And then you can thank me later after you’ve read it in October 2022. Links: Barnes and Noble, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Indigo, IndieBound, Kobo.

Second point of order: This is one of my favourite books I have read so far.

Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria, as I pointed out in my very quick book review on Goodreads before being able to write out a whole review, is like a “warm hug” and I describe it as such because it really did feel like a warm hug, one I definitely needed amidst all the chaos in my student life and in the world in general.

The book follows Shad (this is the moment of dramatic gasps please) who is a 12-year-old Lebanese-American who never seemed to fit in (*sobs in first-gen immigrant because same*). So, to cope with this and the periodical bullying, he cooks and bakes for his Teta, and hangs out at the local Lebanese bakery, dreaming of opening his own.

All is well, as well as it could be, until one day Shad is attacked by a shadow, a necromancer to be exact. After being saved by the baker Kahem, Shad learns that he is descended from a long line of alchemists and that Kahem can teach him.

“Mila, what on earth is an alchemist?”

Well, it’s a scientific magician who uses things like spices and flowers and such to create spells and mixtures. I know saying “scientific magician” might be seen as a juxtaposition (my HS English teacher would be so proud) but trust me, it works.

So, Shad learns alchemy and then he gets whisked away to the magical Alexandria Academy in order to truly hone his alchemist skills. Weirdly enough, no one knows what alchemy is, he still has to put up with lessons of math and chemistry (which Shad isn’t great at) and whenever he does demonstrate his alchemy, no one seems to remember it the next day.

When Shad discovers a sinister plot with his friends, and he sees several familiar faces (much to his disdain), he needs to get all the help he can find, even if that means teaming up with someone he was not particularly stoked to see.

That’s all I can say, as far as the synopsis goes. As for my review, here it is:

I read this book in a matter of about 4 hours, maybe even less. Usually, I tend to drag books, especially ARCs till the release date but I was just so sucked into this world, and the writing, that I couldn’t focus on anything else. Yes, I did drop all my current reads just to read this book. Jrieje’s writing is so refreshing, especially the descriptions of food (it made me want baklava even if I am not a big fan of it) and his characters are so well-written. Shad is not your typical protagonist, he is fiercely protective of his family and friends and extremely quick on his feet. And he’s a very talented baker (and alchemist or something) His friends, Donny, Rey, and Hayati were super fun to read about! I honestly laughed when I saw how Donny was always asleep (this was me in like 11th and 12th grade a lot of the time because I was so tired). I also really loved the bond Shad had with his Teta, it was very sweet and reminded me of me and my grandmother. Kahem was a really cool character as well, I love how he just took Shad on as an apprentice and the way he became so protective of him, it truly warmed my heart. The plot! The reveals! The characters! Honestly, this book was truly so, so much fun and a great pick me up in between the incredibly heavy and long fantasy books I have been reading.

GO! Pre-Order! Otherwise, I will send necromancers after you. (lol, kidding. Or am I?)

Yeah, I am definitely going to get my brother to read this one as well.

You can get the book here!

Love,

Mila