Book Review- The Alchemist of Loom

Hello friends and fellow readers! This will be my first book review here, and I figured I'd start it with one of my favorite stories I read last year, The Alchemists of Loom. Since this is new, I figured I'd add I'll be posting the overall score I gave the book out of 5 hearts below the cover photo.

To add a bit of backstory, I found a $.99 sale for this book while browsing on Instagram and felt like at that price what was there to lose? I'm so glad I picked it up!

Without further delay, below is my review, I hope you enjoy!

The Alchemists of Loom by Elise Kova

♥♥♥♥♥

Title: The Alchemists of Loom

Author: Elise Kova

Published: 2017

Publisher: Keymaster Press

Genre: Fiction, fantasy, steampunk. I would consider this a bit more adult that the average YA book, nothing sexual just more adult views.

Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥
World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥
Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥

Synopsis

Ari lost everything she once loved when the Five Guilds’ resistance fell to the Dragon King. Now, she uses her unparalleled gift for clockwork machinery in tandem with notoriously unscrupulous morals to contribute to a thriving underground organ market. There isn’t a place on Loom that is secure from the engineer turned thief, and her magical talents are sold to the highest bidder as long as the job defies their Dragon oppressors.

Cvareh would do anything to see his sister usurp the Dragon King and sit on the throne. His family’s house has endured the shame of being the lowest rung in the Dragons’ society for far too long. The Alchemist Guild, down on Loom, may just hold the key to putting his kin in power, if Cvareh can get to them before the Dragon King’s assassins.

When Ari stumbles upon a wounded Cvareh, she sees an opportunity to slaughter an enemy and make a profit off his corpse. But the Dragon sees an opportunity to navigate Loom with the best person to get him where he wants to go.

He offers her the one thing Ari can’t refuse: A wish of her greatest desire, if she brings him to the Alchemists of Loom.

- Pulled from Goodreads

To find more information, visit The Loom Saga.

Review *

  I absolutely loved this book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Once I finished the last page, I had that typical "Wait, it's over!?" moment and immediately researched when the next book would be coming out since I knew it was a series. I love the way Elise has built this world and the different way magic comes together to assist one another.

  Through the first few chapters I definitely struggled, I didn't really understand why Loom was segregated from Nova and the history there. Unfortunately through the first book we didn't get much, it mostly focused on Loom and the way the world operated beneath the clouds. That being said, once you get to that 100 pages mark, you don't feel like you're missing too much of that information for the story to start get interesting.

  Reflecting back now on the plot, it definitely needs some work as far as why Cvareh is on Loom and it's important for them to get to the Alchemists guild. Trying to remember what happened prior to researching I couldn't easily think of the motives. I think this segment of the trilogy definitely focuses more on the characters driving rather than the plot.

  Something to note on Elise's characters in this story, she writes extremely strong female characters. Arianna is a bad ass, Florence is a cinnamon roll but a very intelligent one, Leona even is the kings right hand, and Petra is the stronger sibling out of the two Xin dragons. Cvareh and the Dragon king are the two male characters throughout the book and although Cvareh does do a lot of growing through the story, he's still not holding a candle to the ladies. The dragon king, though respected and loved by Leona, only seems cold and harsh to her brute strength. 

  There are also, at least in my opinion, some tones of potential LGBT relationships specifically more towards the end, though nothing is blatantly stated. The way it's brought up is also super refreshing because it doesn't make it obvious that there is IN.FACT. a lesbian couple for representation. Instead it's more hinted as a deep friendship that could have been more, and not even restricting it to just a gay couple, but maybe even an open or poly relationship.

  The world building was also phenomenal. Nova seems really bleh, being the Kingdom over the cloud barrier. I don't have much interest in the dragon families or the politics up there. Loom on the other hand I feel like needs a separate mini series for all of the guilds on it's own. I really hope Elise does a prequel to AoL in strictly Arianna's point of view, being able to see the beginning of how the guilds were formed and how the Dragons went to Nova or why Chimera's were created.

Overall, I'd recommend this book for sure. I think this series specifically in Elise's writing is under-rated. I was extremely surprised how fast the entire series came out. 

Artist Unknown. Original Artwork from elisakova.com

You can find the entire series on amazon:

The Alchemists of Loom

The Dragons of Nova

The Rebels of Gold

* There may be spoilers in this section of the review. If you do not wish to be spoiled, please stop reading.