The Apprentices

I don't generally, give bad reviews, but I had a tough time getting into this jumbled and confusing young adult book. I received it free though Librarything and didn't realize until I got it that it was a sequel. I tried getting it through the public library but there were too many holds on it, so I trudged through this novel on my own.

It's difficult to even summarize this book. Sixteen year old Janie is expelled and kidnapped by the wealthy father of her roommate so that she can perfect de-salienting water (she's a math and science whiz) and in the process lure her "magical" friends to come to the rescue (somehow Janie had met an apothecary, his son - her love interest, a Chinese girl, a young British actor and a Hungarian Count in the first book and together they used apothecary methods to heal, conjure, transform, and do other improbable things). I'm not even making this up, it gets confusing and droll. The only character that has any  real depth is Jin Loo (the Chinese girl) who lost her entire family in the first novel. For no reason, she's suddenly in her childhood home and she sets her families spirits free. Weird but cool I guess.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend reading this unless you read the first book, "The Apothecary," and liked it.