TL;DR – A grumpy/sunshine match made in neurospicy heaven, and a singularly ADORABLE animal companion.
Synopsis:
I used to eat rocks as a child.
The family doctor diagnosed me with pica, dooming me to years of intensive therapy and extensive dentistry work. It wouldn’t be until much later that I would understand the all-consuming, insatiable craving that spurred me to eat a variety of rocks and minerals wasn’t a mental disorder, but an innate gift that allows me to extract the magic contained inside them: tourmaline for speed, celestite for strength, augite for a powerful laxative effect (that I had to discover the hard way).
Twenty years later, I’ve hidden my abilities beneath a white lab coat, working as a small-town pharmacist who creates proprietary “naturopathic” tonics that treat everything from memory loss to erectile dysfunction. Those tonics, in turn, fund my expensive lifestyle of solo flying around the world to search for more rocks. What more could an airplane-loving, mineral-munching, magical alchemist want?
Unfortunately, my arch nemesis, Heath Spencer, has recently taken it upon himself to single-handedly ruin my life. No longer content with annoying me from afar with his overpriced, tacky rock shop, Heath has decided to further antagonize me by dangling the opportunity of a lifetime right in front of my face: traveling to an ancient copper mine in China, which is home to some of the rarest and most stunning minerals on Earth.
It’s not until after I’m trapped halfway across the world with my least favorite person on the planet that I’m forced to come face-to-face with three terrible realizations: everything I thought I knew about Heath Spencer is wrong, not all minerals are meant to be ingested, and – worst of all – I’m not the only one who’s been keeping secrets.
Full Review:
I didn’t know how much I needed a story like this until I read this book and got everything I wanted.
Amethysts and Alchemy introduces us to Delaney (don’t you call her Laney, she doesn’t like that!), a neurodivergent young woman who also suffers from pica (an eating disorder where people put not-food-items into their mouths compulsively). Only that pica is really a form of magic—the minerals she consumes gives her a variety of alchemical abilities for as long as it takes her body to metabolize them.
Because of this, she’s become mineral-obsessed. Like HELLA obsessed. She travels around the world to collect new species of minerals to use in her alchemical potions, which she then sells—for the money, sure, but as we see early on, also to help people.
Delaney’s neurodivergence gives her a personality much like her favorite minerals: a bit abrasive on the exterior, and not at all easy to break into. But what I loved so much about this story was that chapter by chapter, we see that beneath it all, she’s got a sparkly geodesic center that’s all beautiful and kind.
Except when it comes to Heath, that annoying (and annoyingly handsome and charming) nemesis of hers who runs a terribly kitschy and gaudy “crystals shop” near Delaney’s alchemical pharmacy.
Yeah, with that intro, you know exactly what’s going to happen: the sparks begin to fly!
The story is a truly “cozy” fantasy, with small stakes and narrow focus on the lives of only a few characters. But that doesn’t stop it from being a whole lot of fun, complete with an adventure that involves traveling halfway around the world, braving impossible dangers, and nearly dying…at least a few times.
Along for the ride with Delaney is Topie, the most adorable and gentle-hearted teacup pig. Mad props goes to my boy Topie for being an absolute scene-stealer every time he appears on the page. He’s the emotional support, comic relief, and bundle of cuteness that every good story deserves.
The story does exactly what every good romantasy does: it takes time to build up a solid relationship between the two people, using plausible circumstances and events to draw them together, and takes its time to let the romance between them flourish until, when it finally happens, it feels like FIREWORKS.
There are some lovely laugh out loud moments and slapstick comedy that I absolutely adored, and which cemented the romance between the two for me.
I devoured this book in one sitting and simply couldn’t put it down. It’s definitely one of my favorite romantasy books of the year!
Leave a Reply