Read an Alchemy of Secrets summary with spoilers, book #1 in Stephanie Garber’s Alchemy of Secrets Series. If you are wondering what happened in Alchemy of Secrets, then you are in the right place! Get ready for book two by reading up on exactly what happened in book one.
Special thanks to Erica for providing this Alchemy of Secrets summary! Check her out on Instagram at @itsneverthelastchapter or on her book blog or her personal blog.
Author
Stephanie Garber
Ratings
4.3 stars on Amazon
3.9 stars on Goodreads
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#1 Alchemy of Secrets summary (this page)
#2 Untitled (Goodreads page)
***** Everything below is a SPOILER *****
What happened in Alchemy of Secrets?
Holland St. James was raised on her father’s treasure hunts, which she loved. During her undergrad, she took Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths. During this class taught by a woman called The Professor, she learned urban myths. This class was exclusive to those who could crack the clues. They were not allowed to divulge the myths they learned about to outsiders. Holland breaks this rule on her third date with Jake when she follows a clue to the Watch Man, who can tell you the exact time you’re going to die. The next day, a man named Manuel Vargas, claiming to be from the First Bank of Centennial City, which seemed very familiar to another urban legend, shows up at Holland’s door. He hands her a package with no return address that was on her doorstep and tells her there’s a security box that’s been locked for 15 years and now belongs to her because the lease has expired. If she doesn’t claim it, it will be destroyed. Holland chalks it up to a hoax.
Holland is working on a thesis that links Hollywood deaths to deals with the devil. Adam Bishop is the new professor, replacing the Professor as her mentor. He strongly urges Holland to choose another topic to pursue, believing the Professor is a fraud. Holland is upset and more determined than ever to prove to him that the devil exists. If she can prove it, she also believes she can prove that her mother never intended to murder her father. She takes it as a challenge and follows another urban legend to the Hollywood Roosevelt, where, if you buy a sidecar cocktail for the devil, he will give you his business card, which can be used once for an appointment. While waiting, Jake calls and tells her he’s going to die in an hour, according to the Watch Man. Holland starts having nosebleeds and conversations that seem to be in her head alone. She wonders if finding the Watch Man has revealed the other urban legends to be true. She calls the bank and makes an appointment. The confirmation call mentions her father left the box for her. Holland calls her sister, Januar, but gets her voicemail.
Holland finds Jake dead outside his apartment. When she searches his apartment, she finds an envelope containing information about her and his assignment to be her perfect boyfriend. The Watch Man calls to warn her that she has 29 hours before she dies. She can save herself if she finds the Alchemical Heart. Gabe rescues her before she gets arrested for Jake’s murder and tells her that January sent him because she owed him a favor. He also tells her that it’s impossible to find the magic object. It reappears only on specific dates, and secret societies are hell-bent on destroying it, thereby destroying the power it bestows.
They head to the Professor’s house for help. But she’s missing, and the house is ransacked. Adam Bishop steps out from the Professor’s office and tells Holland that January sent him. She finds her sister’s business card in the house. Gabe and Adam argue over whom she should trust. Adam shoots Gabe, injuring him. Gabe shoots Adam but warns Holland that he won’t be dead for long. They escape to her house, where Holland opens the anonymous package she had received earlier. It’s the Professor’s journal, with detailed notes on each myth, including a chained book in a church that could be the Alchemical Heart. She realizes that January has secrets Gabe won’t reveal and that she knew the professor, Adam, and him because they all had the same tattoo. She finds letters from the First Bank of Centennial City addressed to her and January. To escape intruders at her house, she puts on January’s shoes and grabs her backpack.
Holland finds a key to the Regal in January’s shoe. She goes to the bank on Halloween and is surprised to see that the Professor is the manager with the ability to read minds. She offers Holland an ability in exchange for her father’s box. Holland refuses and gives away Gabe’s location after the Professor tells her that he murdered his wife for an ability. Holland finds her father’s last missing script, which contains many clues. Outside the bank, her friend Eileen picks her up. While driving, Holland spots The Regal.
Inside, she meets Adam Bishop again and has a strange feeling of knowing for a long time, but doesn’t know why. She and Adam go to meet the Watch Man. There she tells him that her father was Ben Tierney, the famous filmmaker who was shot by his wife and her mother, Isla Saint. He gives Holland a few more pages of her father’s last missing script and tells her that Adam is the devil. Adam says he used to be, before his brother, Mason, took all their father’s power for himself. Holland has visions and wonders whether she’s seeing the future. They follow the clues in the script to the Jericho Monroe Entertainment. They visit her father’s old bungalow, now owned by his ex, Vic VanVleet, where they find the next clue.Following the clue, they head to the props studio. There, they find a chained book which they cannot unlock. They hide when Gabe appears. He opens the book and finds a pencil. Disappointed, he leaves. Holland understands the clue and heads to one of the houses from her dad’s films. Buried under a tree, they find a jar of dirt with a small scroll. Gabe appears again. Holland tries to run. He tells her the Bank lied about his story and that she should not trust Adam. He takes the clue.
How did Alchemy of Secrets end? Alchemy of Secrets summary
Holland tells Adam they must go back to the Hollywood Roosevelt. Adam confesses that’s where his brother is trapped, thanks to him. At the Roosevelt, Chance, her best friend, shows her a picture of Adam with celebrities who died under mysterious circumstances. Adam hadn’t aged a day. Chance warns Holland to stay away from him. Following the last clue, she goes to a bowling alley. She meets Mason, Adam’s brother, and learns that he’s a ghost. He tells her they’ve had this conversation before because Holland keeps dying after quarter past midnight, stuck in a time loop. Adam is the one who always kills her. The outcome didn’t change whether she betrayed Gabe or Adam to the Bank. Holland pursues looking for the Alchemical Heart. She finds a chain in her sister’s backpack that joins her necklace. She wonders if this is it. Adam appears, using his ability to charm her, and kisses her. While kissing her, he takes off the necklace and stabs her in the back, then leaves.
Holland struggles to find a room, and as she pulls out the journal Manuel Vargas had handed to her, she feels electricity – a sign of magic. The book transforms into the same man. She’s found the Alechmical heart! First, she demands that Adam take Mason’s place and never leave the hotel or hurt anyone again. Next, she asks for an ability that will reveal itself in two weeks. Lastly, she does what her father had – tells the Alechmical Heart to go to the future. This is when she understands why it disappears and reappears years later; it’s because people sent it to the future. Holland returns to her life. The story ends with Mason handing her his business card and January calling her.
There you go! That’s a recap of what happened in Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber. We hope you enjoyed this Alchemy of Secrets summary with spoilers. Check out this deluxe limited edition!
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Special thanks to Erica for providing this Alchemy of Secrets summary! Check her out on Instagram at @itsneverthelastchapter or on her book blog or her personal blog.
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