Alchemised - SenLinYu (#Review)

Date of Reading: 28/12/2025

Author: SenLinYu

Publisher: Del Ray

Publication Date: September 23, 2025

Rating: 5/5

About the book:

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.

“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.

Review:

        I must be losing my touch. That could be the only explanation for how my reading radar failed to detect such a phenomenal work earlier. Though a little late to the party, I ended last year with a bang, all thanks to this remarkable debut, which rightfully won the Goodreads Choice Award. 

        SenLinYu started this story as a Harry Potter fanfic, Dramione, to be precise, but as its popularity soared, 'Alchemised' evolved into a powerful narrative in its own right, complete with its own unique magical system and intricately imagined world. Hermione and Draco may have become Helena and Kaine here, yet I must confess that, in my mind, they have always remained as HP characters even within this new universe. And before you ask, it is a romantasy, a dark one, but with a very satisfying happy ending.

        A substantial portion of the narration unfolds through flashbacks to the war between Paladia and the Necromancers, which is accompanied by the present timeline, in which Helena, as a captive, deals with the ramifications of defeat. Her memory has been altered and the High Necromancer, Morrough intrigued by the secrets that she could be hiding, sends her to the High Reeve. The High Reeve turns out to be her former rival, Kaine Ferron who subjects her to repeated sessions of  Transference, to crack the barriers sealing her mind.

        What I particularly admire is the way SenLinYu interweaves the themes of immigration and otherness into the narrative framework. Helena, though a genius, is often criticised for her unorthodox methods due to her immigrant status. She is overworked and overlooked, and her affinity for vivimancy is treated as a curse that needs to be restrained. It makes one wonder why she is doing the utmost for the Order of the Eternal Flame, an institution that fails to appreciate her efforts.

        The novel offers one of the finest executions of the enemy-to-lovers trope.  Helena is defiant and unyielding, while Kaine is ruthless in his methods to achieve whatever he wants. Their relationship grows steadily as both find themselves correcting their initial impressions of each other. Helena's loyalty and Kaine's obsession make them a formidable pair. 

        'Alchemised' transported me back to my Harry Potter reading days -- the late nights, the breathless page turning and the constant wait for the next book, wondering what might happen next. It is one of those books that stays with you for a lifetime. I am truly delighted to see a retelling that carved its own identity, becoming an inspiration to all the fanfic writers out there.

Meet the author:

SenLinYu grew up in the Pacific Northwest and studied classical liberal arts and culture. They started writing in the Notes app of their phone during their baby’s nap time. Their collected online works have garnered over twenty million individual downloads and have been translated into twenty-three languages. They live in Portland with their family. Alchemised is their first novel.