Alchemised
The 2025 debut novel phenomenon everyone is talking about and no one can put down
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4.5 • 141 Ratings
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- £9.99
Publisher Description
***THE RECORD-BREAKING DEBUT AND INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***
‘A work of quite staggering ambition. Detailed world-building, intricate plot, Gothic claustrophobia, wraps the readers in its dark embrace’ Daily Mail
'Very readable' Guardian
In a world ruled by necromancers, a woman with missing memories threatens the dark order that keeps her captive - and the man sent to break her. Gothic in tone, epic in scope - this debut is destined to become a modern classic.
Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner – of war and of her own fractured mind. The Resistance is crushed, her allies dead, her abilities suppressed.
The world she knew is gone.
Paladia’s corrupt guild families and their necromancer overlords, aided by vile undead creatures now rule - and hold Helena captive.
Resistance records claim she was a healer of little importance. Yet, Helena’s inexplicable memory loss makes her enemies wonder: Is she truly insignificant, or do her missing memories conceal the Resistance’s final secret?
To uncover the truth, Helena is delivered into the hands of the High Reeve – Paladia’s most feared and merciless necromancer.
Trapped on his crumbling estate, she must fight to protect what remains of herself and unearth the secrets buried in her mind, her prison, and her captor . . . whatever the cost.
‘A superb dark fantasy novel set in a war torn world of black magic and alchemy’ Sun
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
It takes a special kind of book to keep readers locked in over 1,000 pages—and Alchemised is one. US author SenLinYu began her career writing fan fiction, now she’s delivered a debut novel that’s a masterclass in atmospheric world-building and nuanced characterisation. A dystopian fantasy, it’s set in the kingdom of Paladia in the aftermath of a brutal war that’s been won by a corrupt cohort of necromancers. Protagonist Helena, an alchemist and a member of the resistance, wakes up with no memory to find herself a prisoner of that war. She’s now faced with uncovering her past in order to face the future, while navigating what becomes a complicated relationship with her captor Ferron. This is definitely fantasy for grown-ups—it’s brutal and bleak at times—but you’ll put your life on pause to turn every one of those thousand pages.
Customer Reviews
Utterly Gripping
One of the most amazing stories I’ve read in my life, I was utterly gripped by it from the start and couldn’t put it down. Just an amazing piece of work, I can’t praise it enough.
Some enticing elements but quite repetitive
A book in three parts, the second of which was the most engaging. If you can hold off on getting any sort of lore or world building until around 2/3 of the way through the book, then give it a go. Dark often seeming for dark sake, I was left feeling the book could have been a snappy, page turning read if it was more heavily edited.
I am not well
This book has broken me . I didn’t sleep to finish it . The world building is amazing . It’s dark , brutal and somehow too real . Loved it.