This is an intriguing premise. The mystery of the Roanoke inhabitants has been a fascination of mine. I was on board with the supernatural elements at first. So long as they work together. My willing suspension of disbelief began to wear thin as it went on and the plot began to lose focus.

A truly riveting tale of contemporary Roanoke
Island, Virginia, this novel interweaves YA issues
(loneliness, outcasts, the cool crowd vs. those shunned, alcoholic parents,
misunderstood adolescents, and more) with the history of the Island, and with Supernatural overtones. Miranda, Phillips, and Bones are endearing and comprehensible characters, who seem like our friends, or even ourselves-easy to elicit empathy, despite their flaws and foibles.

What made the story even more appealing for me is the way in which Gwenda Bond intertwined the centuries-old mystery of the “original” colony on Roanoke Island-the villagers who were “there,” then three years later “not there,” with no trace or survivor remaining-as if they had simply been removed from the face of the earth-all 114 of them. Now, 114 more Roanokers have “disappeared,” gone missing, the night that Miranda has seen a vision of the audience for the “Lost Colony” stage play being swallowed
Island, Virginia, “Blackwood” interweaves YA issues
(loneliness, outcasts, the cool crowd vs. those shunned, alcoholic parents,
misunderstood adolescents, and more) with the history of the Island, and with Supernatural overtones. Miranda, Phillips, and Bones are endearing and comprehensible characters, who seem like our friends, or even ourselves-easy to elicit empathy, despite their flaws and foibles.

What made the story even more appealing for me is the way in which Gwenda Bond intertwined the centuries-old mystery of the “original” colony on Roanoke Island-the villagers who were “there,” then three years later “not there,” with no trace or survivor remaining-as if they had simply been removed from the face of the earth-all 114 of them. Now, 114 more Roanokers have “disappeared,” gone missing, the night that Miranda has seen a vision of the audience for the “Lost Colony” stage play being swallowed by a Ghost ship. Her own father is among those who have disappeared, and it may be up to Miranda, and her fellow pariah Phillips, son of the new Chief of Police, to hunt for clues to the newest baffling mystery of Roanoke Island.

The premise of this book is what originally drew me to it. I ended up reading a physical copy, so never downloaded it. I really enjoyed it. I used to live near Roanoke and the setting made me a bit nostalgic. Overall, a really fun and entertaining read!

I loved this book so much! I loved the characters and the world! I would and have recommended this book to all my friends.

This is a retelling of the Roanoke Colony, where the components of the story are widely known where a bunch of people disappearing mysteriously without a trace. Gwenda Bond manages to take this familiar story and make it her own. If you like 'retellings' of a spooky mysterious sort, I very much recommend reading Strange Alchemy.

This is the second book that I've read by her and I find her writing to be mesmerizing. It swallows you whole and before you know it you realize you've finished her books in a snap.

This book was definitely a find for me. The characters were very realistic and believable, the plot was engaging and I never found myself bored or skipping ahead at any point. Those are both good hallmarks for a well-done book. Another note is that I immensely enjoyed the descriptive nature of the settings in the book, I really felt like I was there!

A great adventure novel about Roanoke Island and the legend of the Lost Colony.

The bizarre and unexplained event of the sudden disappearance of the 114 island inhabitants remains in the memory even 400 years later. When in the present days, 114 of Roanoke disappear without a trace, everything points to a re-run from the legend of the Lost Colony. It’s up to Miranda Blackwood and Grand Rawling to find them before they are gone for good. Between the police, dead alchemists and unrevealed secrets, the teens will race against time to stop history from repeating itself.

I finished this book in two days; it was hard to put it down. It mixes YA, supernatural, mystery with a touch of historical facts in a great way and the style of writing puts a nice ribbon around the whole thing.

The storyline is exciting and complex, full of suspense and action. It’s also very easy to follow and to understand. There are two different points of view, which makes the reader go deeper into the story. There is a steady build-up of the mysteries, details are giving along and each is important to the story. The level of research that was used for the novel was the right amount; it wasn’t a lesson in history, but it was enough to make the story believable.
The style of writing is simple, addictive and easy to follow just like the storyline. Gwenda Bond describes the settings just enough to let the reader an idea of it, which works fine for me.

The characters are very well developed and explored in depth. Miranda, the main female character, has a history of being the “bringer of bad luck” and tries to be invisible as much as it’s humanly possible. She’s bullied and the centre of merciless teasing at school. She really tries to keep her nose in her business but every time she tries to do something nice, everything falls apart. These events bring out empathy and they connect the reader to Miranda. She proves, however, she’s not a victim. She throws herself into the quest, risking her life to protect the people she loves and the ones that and actually manages to have a good relationship with the main male character, Grant, even after he publically humiliated her years before. He’s a good male lead and I enjoyed reading how his relationship with Miranda slowly evolved into the story without being in the centre of it. The other secondary characters are easy to follow and easy to memorise their roles and correspondent stories.
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I fully enjoyed this novel, how this world is built and the slow rise of tensions and suspense. It blends YA, mystery, history, romance and the supernatural. I highly recommend it!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher Switch Press and the author for allowing me to read and review a digital copy of this book.

Okay, so, I hate to say this, because I was INCREDIBLY excited for this one, but after picking it up four times in the past 6 months, and not being able to get over the 20% mark either of these times... I have to mark this as DNF. *cries* It's not even that I hate anything in this, because I don't!! But the story is not grabbing my attention AT ALL, and the characters feel so plain and one-dimensional. I'm not going to rate it anywhere other than Netgalley, because I don't think I have a right to do that, not even hitting the quarter mile and all, but, yeah, this wasn't the best.

http://readdayandnight.blogspot.com/2018/02/5-amazing-books-i-read-in-2017.html

Thanks to NetGalley and Capstone for the opportunity to read and review Strange Alchemy by Gwenda Bond. Miranda and Grant both have a special connection to Roanoke Island and when over one hundred citizens come up missing, Miranda and Grant feel like they are destined to help solve the mass disappearance. The two of them do not share a happy past and their resolve is tested over and over while trying to help each other. The further they dig into the mystery, the stranger things become. They discover supernatural forces controlling people and spirits from the past. Throughout their struggles, Grant and Miranda only have each other to count on. 4 stars for a historical fiction read with a paranormal twist!

The actual concept of this book sounded really incredible, and going into it I'll admit that I had high expectations but... I expected a lot since I heard good things about this author. Reading it I was just entirely confused, the writing did not mesh well for me and I had to DNF it. I am not interested in writing a full length review.

There aren’t that many YA stories written around the legend of the Roanoke disappearances, or at least not many that I know of, so I’m always excited when I stumble upon on. Such was the case with Strange Alchemy by Gwenda Bond. I hadn’t heard of this book prior to it being reworked and rereleased. Formerly titled Blackwood, two teens are at the center of this book, Miranda Blackwood and Grant Rawlings, and they’re somehow tied and fated to be together when the centuries-old mystery of the disappearances comes knocking a second time around in present day.

Strange Alchemy was fairly enjoyable and I liked the characters for the most part, but throughout the duration, I had a hard time differentiating this particular novel from a series of novels written about the same legend. I wanted something new and something different, other than ancients alchemists, to set this one apart from the few others of its ilk, and I unfortunately didn’t get that. That’s not to say it was a bad book, because it truly wasn’t - it was well-written, the world and the characters were well drawn and thought out, but the plot and the mystery weren’t nearly as good as the rest of the story elements, and without a great plot and mystery, everything surrounding those two crucial elements feel just as flat.

Bottom line - Strange Alchemy turned out as just ok for me in the end, and while it didn’t appeal to me as much as I anticipated, it’s still a book that will appeal to many readers of varying tastes. Give it a try, especially if you enjoy the legend of the lost colony of Roanoke.

This book was unable to be sent to my kindle so I could not read it.

I had a hard time getting into this paranormal YA Novel about the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island. I enjoyed the setting and the author's twist on the disappearance. The writing was a uneven and the story felt too drawn out. The characters were not developed and the ending did not answer all the questions. I was never fully vested in the characters, the romance or the mystery.

Huge fan of YA Paranormal/Fantasy books, this was a good book. I wish we could have known more about Miranda, and Grant they just sort of seemed brushed aside? Definitely reminds me of "Haven" a show loosely based on Stephen King "Colorado Kid", which I loved! This was not a favorite for me but I would love to read more from the author.

I tried really hard to get into Strange Alchemy. I found my attention wandering fast and nearly made it so far as the 1/3 mark before stopping. Nothing of particular interest was happening. There were hints of the interesting and intriguing, but the characters were not entirely behaving rationally for the situation and felt as much a hindrance to my enjoyment as the pacing.

The author does a decent job of creating teenage outcasts, but they seem too much and too little at the same time. Along with the slow reveals and the overly snappy dialogue, it was not a journey I wished to continue. Based on what I've seen, this is an edited and shortened version of a book previously written by the author. Not having read the other, I can't say what has been changed or removed, but not being invested by the time I was a third in was enough for me to call it quits. I'm sure there is a reader for this type of paranormal story, but I'm afraid it wasn't me.

I actually quite adored this book. The Roanoke mystery has been really popular the last few years, but this was a fun, fresh take on the mystery (in fact, I may have liked it more than American Horror Story's take on it). It's a paranormal young adult novel, so of course there's some romance, and the characters can get a little caught up in their self-pity, but overall it was a fun enjoyable read!

I was drawn in to the story and I loved the main character, Miranda. I found the mystery and curses intriguing. I could go either way on the romance in the book. I wasn't too invested but I didn't hate it.

I didn't get finished reading this one before my link expired on adobe digital but what I read of it I was enjoying and I hope to get a copy soon so I can finish it. Gwenda Bond is one of my fast growing new favorite authors.

"Strange Alchemy" hints at the admittedly odd supernatural elements of this book, but doesn't do justice to the lovely historical elements. Strange Alchemy offers a compelling and imaginative theory about the disappearance of the Roanoke colonists and look at how that history could impact things today.

So, it might be slightly more fantasy than history, but the true star of this book is Bond's portrayal of how history and family influence us as we grow. While we may not actually grow up with a family curse or a weird superpower, reputation and expectations can cause similar feelings. Strange Alchemy is a journey of finding yourself both within and beyond history.