Around 10 years ago Stephenie Meyer was at the beginning of what I can only imagine a whirlwind of recognition. Her bestselling YA novels, the Twilight Saga, had been picked up for a movie adaptation and teen girls everywhere lost their minds. Meyer was quickly becoming a household name. A year later the first movie was released and her already popular books gained something of a cult following.
I was one of these teen girls. I burned my way through the books and attended the midnight premiers of the movies with my girlfriends. It seemed Twilight was the only thing we could talk about for years. We could not get enough of this stuff. Once the films were completed and after all the hype, awards, and dominating the New York Times best-selling list things started to change for Stephenie Meyer. Slowly it seemed like everyone began to forget about her. The Twilight Saga movies where finished and girls replaced Edward and Jacob with Peeta and Gale from The Hunger Games in their fantasies.
So here I am all grown up in the book store looking for something new to captivate me. There was a great sale going on and I was LOVING all my options. That’s when I spotted none other than Stephenie Meyer on the new release table. I hadn’t been keeping up with any of her news so I was a little shocked to see her name. So I pick up the book and was even more shocked by the preview on the back. This book sounded nothing like Twilight and it sounded pretty interesting. The most intriguing part to me was that this was in fact an adult novel. Since I’m an adult now and no longer the teen girl that loved Twilight I thought I should definitely give it a try.
Now I know there has been a lot of criticism Meyer's first works so I want to say if you ever decide to give her another chance you should do so and leave Twilight in the past. We were young when we loved it and now we are grown and have learned to love new things. The Chemist is a perfect reminder that we are no longer teenagers. We live in the real world now with real problems.
For all of the critics that hated Bella Swan in Twilight this book is for you. Bella was weak and so dependent of Edward that at times it was nauseating. She made poor decisions and put so many people in danger time and time again for her own selfish reasons. She didn’t think things through, she was impulsive, and many would say just plain dumb. Not the Chemist. The Chemist tells a story about an ex-chemist for the government on the run from the very people she used to work for. Though she goes by many names, I'll call her Alex because that is the name she goes by most often in the book. Alex is in hiding when she is lured out and her whole world changes. The Chemist is brilliant. She is completely dependent on herself. She’s a planner and ready for anything coming her way. She’s brave. She can hold her own in a fight and is a force to be reckoned with. She’s tiny and tough, mentally and physically. She is what little girls should aspire to be. She refuses to lose. Her gender and small stature aren’t holding her back. She doesn’t wait around hoping things will work out. She makes them work out. In other words, Alex is nothing like Bella Swan.
Having a strong female lead was a major plus for me. Alex is brought to life for me in a way that is believable. She uses her brains to make up for what she lacks physically. Though she is small she never takes herself out of the fight. Her struggles between right and wrong and which direction to go next are a reminder that she is human just like us. Daniel is a character that is easy to like. He's sweet and very charming. I imagine him as the nice guy that every woman deserves. Kevin and Val are stand outs and that's exactly how they like it. Kevin is the badass that we all wish we could be while Val has the confidence that we all crave.
The romance was easy to relate to. The connection between the main character and her subject is instant and reminds you of what it’s actually like when meeting someone you are quickly drawn to. I’m glad the romance was not the main point of the story but rather something that kept the story moving. The character development is tremendous through the romance. Frankly, without the love interest the story could have been quite boring. We see that love can change things in an instant and even deep within our subconscious. The Chemist finds herself doing things she would never do and even asks herself why she begins to change her ways. Alex's character development has a very real feeling because I know I would make the same decisions if I were in the same scenario.
As for a movie adaptation of The Chemist, I don’t really see that ever happening. But hey, you never know. It has great potential to be an awesome movie. It’s got a very Jason Bourne type feel to it. The Chemist is definitely something that I would watch on the big or small screen. The bonus is that I could probably get my husband to watch it too without him complaining the whole time. It’s got enough action that a husband or boyfriend wouldn’t be bored. They may even like it themselves.
With all that said I would give The Chemist a solid 4 out of 5 stars. It kept me interested. It wasn’t juvenile. There was action, wit, a strong female lead and a little romance. Regardless of what anyone says, Stephenie Meyer is a great writer. She knows her audience and knows how to draw you in and keep you interested until the very end. You can tell she does her research as well. Rather its descriptions of locations in her books, depictions of characters, or just correctly naming guns and drugs in the case of The Chemist, Meyer clearly paints you a picture with her words. For example, she names multiple different guns throughout the book by type, brand, size, and weight instead of simply calling it a hand gun or rifle. I appreciate taking the time to learn the accurate types of items the Chemist uses, why and how she would use them, and the effect they have on the story and surroundings. I have had this book since January and just now read it 6 months later. I wish I hadn’t waited. I enjoyed this book so much compared to the last few things I had read. I feel that Stephenie Meyer really understood how to transition herself from a young adult teen writer to an adult writer. I enjoyed her in my teens and I enjoy her now. I hope this isn’t the last I read from her. Hats off to you, Stephenie Meyer.
