The Alchemist’s Cat

By Robin Jarvis

Review by Ryan

The opening paragraph grabs the reader’s attention.

·Put reader right into the action

·Make reader imagine the unimaginable (ie. It’s not everyday that a 13 year old girl is accused of murder…)

·Don’t start with “the book I read was…” That’s way too BORING! Hook us into the plot!

He has no one. He is alone. His parents are dead. His only friend has just been killed. Worst of all he has been trapped into servitude by a crazed apothecary owner. Could things get any worse? They can in Robin Jarvis’ The Alchemists’ Cat.The title and author are worked in naturally

·Don’t say, “My book was The Giver” when you can say, “Jonas, a twelve year old boy and the main character of Lois Lowry’s Newbery Award winning novel The Giver, must make decisions that impact his entire society.”

The overall idea and plot are discussed, without giving away the ending

·Keep it short and sweet, even if it’s a long book

·Just give the reader the gist of the book. Be clear, make sense, don’t give away the ending

When Will’s parents die he gets a strange letter from an uncle his father rarely talked about. It was and invitation to come and get acquainted with him. Will’s friend comes along with him to London. Along the way tragedy strikes, his friend gets killed and Will gets blamed. To escape being arrested he forms a deal with the owner of a local apothecary. He would have to work as an assistant to repay the strange man. Unfortunately, strange doesn’t come close.

Describe one exciting incident in detail

·Again, don’t give away the ending

·Be clear enough so that someone who HAS NOT read the book can follow

In one part of the book, Will must steal hair from the hanged body of a man. He gets the hair but the night guard spots him and Will must flee into a graveyard. The guard is almost where Will is when a spine-tingling shriek comes from nearby. The guard gets freaked out and runs away. Relieved, Will looks behind a headstone and finds a mother cat and her kittens. He takes them back to the apothecary only, they aren’t normal cats…

End the review with your opinion and recommendation

·Who might like this type of book? (Sports fans? People that love to laugh? History buffs? Late night readers that like to be freaked out?

·What did you think? Is it worth reading? If it won an award, is it worth the hype?

I think that this book extremely worthwhile to read and would be good for people who like magic and fantasy. This book is sort of dark so it’s not for the ones who want happy, cute stories. By the way, it’s dark in the sense that lots of bad things happen.