Alchemised
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.
This stunning hardcover edition features a deluxe jacket with gold foil on the front and a full-color illustration on the reverse, gorgeous designed endpapers, a gold foil case stamp, and, from acclaimed artist Avendell, a black-and-white interior illustration.
“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”
Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.
In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.
According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?
To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.
This stunning hardcover edition features a deluxe jacket with gold foil on the front and a full-color illustration on the reverse, gorgeous designed endpapers, a gold foil case stamp, and, from acclaimed artist Avendell, a black-and-white interior illustration.
“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”
Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.
In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.
According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?
To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.
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Community Reviews
I’m unwell and I don’t know how to put all my thoughts into words. This book is AMAZING! It was a hard read, the first part is very confusing, and the book is dark. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’ll be escaping into a happy little romantasy world, however, this book is impactful! The writing is amazing, and all of the topics in the book are SO IMPORTANT. This book is fiction, but the messages are real and significant and pertinent. Phenomenal read.
A couple of things that I think are helpful going into before starting the beast:
-Throw out the mindset that this is a HP fanfic. I haven’t read manacled, so I can’t compare, BUT the world built in Alchemised is its own completely separate world. There is nothing similar between the geography, magic system, a majority of the characters. They did an amazing job building this very intricate world, and obviously spent a LOT of time making sure the details were thought out and that everything made sense by the end of the book.
- The world building is intricate, and on top of it we have unreliable narration the first part of the book, our mmc doesn’t have her memories. You are meant to be confused for a bit. Keep reading, it starts to make sense the last 2/3 of the book.
-I feel like this should be known already, but this book is set in a wartime settings. It is not a happy story. It covers the tough decisions made in war, human experimentation, sexual assault, religious abuse and manipulation, and the decisions people make in impossible situations. Personal opinion: I enjoyed that it is written in third person, it was easier looking in rather than reading from first pov during some of the rougher scenes.
All that being said, they still managed to throw in some humor and a somewhat HEA
Spoilers ‼️
I thoroughly loved this book, I loved the world that was created and I loved Helena and Kaine. I also loved they they were both morally grey.
However, I am SO livid that they never got any acknowledgement. Helena was treated like shit by her “friends”, and undervalued by the resistance. Kaine and Helena CARRIED the war efforts on their own two backs, and at their own expenses. No one was their to aide them besides each other. I firmly believe that the war would have been 10X worse without their involvement. I know Lila showed appreciation towards the end, and tried to acknowledge them, but after years of torture and being invisible, I also know it was easier for them to fade in the background. Lila would have been the only person to vouch for them.
I also understand where Luc, Lila and all of Helena’s “friends” were coming from as well though, growing up in a somewhat toxic religious household. Our prejudice is not inherent, it is taught, whether that be a by a book or a prophet or whatever on what it “right” and “wrong”. I sympathize and am empathic that they were all raised to have this mindset, as it’s a hard one to break. My heart broke for Helena for being the person to not only be the punch bag for said racism, but also the person that had to be the starting point for deconstruction of religious trauma and manipulation.
Phenomenal book, highest read of the year.
"She was a non-active member of the Order of the Phoenix and did not fight.” rip my heart out. without a doubt, the best fanfic ive read. will never stop recommending this to people
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