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Have you read a book so good that you feel empty once it’s done? That feeling of knowing the next book you read won’t measure up and you’ll be disappointed? That’s how I felt after reading Middlegame. It combines so many of my favorite elements that it was like it was written just for me.

Middlegame follows two siblings, separated at birth who eventually find each other in an extremely unexpected way. Roger and his twin sister Dodger aren’t normal children. They were created by the alchemist James Reed and his twisted assistant Leigh Barrow to bring about the physical manifestation of the Doctrine and have complete control over all things. But when Roger and Dodger first meet, they have no idea of their origins or their shared destiny. They believe they are just two seven year-old children who have the uncanny ability to communicate telepathically from across the country.

As the two grow older, they grow closer then have a complete falling out, only to randomly meet again in college. As they uncover more about their past and their future destiny, they find they are nothing more than pawns to a centuries old society dedicated to discovering the secrets of alchemy. With the help of an unlikely ally, the twins must use their combined powers to save themselves, and possibly, the entire world.

This book is so good! It’s so, so, so good. Characters with mysterious origins and powers, the extent of they don’t even know because they don’t know to try, and an arcane society of alchemists? How do you get better than that? McGuire has an ability to craft worlds that are so well developed and feel so real that they let you fall into them and lose yourself for hours at a time. The story keeps up a quick pace, even with the time jumps and focus on the twin’s childhood, without feeling rushed. One of my favorite parts about the story is the book within the book. The founder of this crazy scheme to harness the Doctrine wrote a series of children’s books describing the entire alchemical process. Aspects of the book are referenced frequently throughout the story and I was really hoping it would be a real series, and guess what? It’s a fictional series that is going to be published by McGuire this fall under the name A. Deborah Baker-the alchemist from Middlegame! I’m so excited to get my hands on it and find all the references to it that were found in Middlegame.

Middlegame focuses on the twin’s feeling and development just as much as the action. Roger and Dodger may be twins with great power, but that doesn’t change how lonely and difficult it can be when you grow up smarter than everyone around your. Dodger has an incredibly difficult childhood, even with loving parents, and her loneliness and feelings of not belonging cause her to turn to self-harm. Roger, while having more friends and grew up pretty popular, doesn’t have any deep relationships with anyone. He could weave together a reality with the power of his words but can’t find a meaningful relationship with a partner. Unlimited power doesn’t equal unlimited happiness. Absolutely fascinating.