Noelia (thisbookishlove)’s review of Alchemised > Likes and Comments
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I've seen a lot of bad reviews of this book today.
@Sarah same and just after getting my copy
I'm here with popcorn and bated breath! :D
I have to admit, everyone can have their opinions. Not everyone likes the same things. That is awesome. But I feel like you read this book just to shit on it. I’ve seen all of your updates and you spent so much time on a book you hated. What a waste. If you hated it that much why didn’t you dnf it? Life is way too short to read a book you hated. It feels like you read this book just to hate on it and hate on the people who loved it. That’s no fun. Read books that bring you joy. Just my opinion.
I can’t wait for this review because when people dnf or whatever, people who worship this book always complained that “we don’t understand it” or “you don’y even finish the book so how could you judge” like you can never win with the rat’s cult-minded worshipers of this book
I'm sat. I think it's especially exciting that you've never read Manacled so you're able to fairly assess how this book stands on its own.
Sarah wrote: "I've seen a lot of bad reviews of this book today."
As more people are finishing the book (we're talking about a 1000-page book, so there's that), that's likely to happen, even more when now it's not just fans bombing the rating of this book but average readers going into it, who might not be Dramione shippers or Senlinyu fans. And that's saying a lot, because honestly, I don't think this book would appeal to that audience.
*Nella*✨👁️ wrote: "@Sarah same and just after getting my copy"
Maybe you can get a refund?? LOL. I don't know. It all comes down to taste. Do you like fanfics? Books with a lot of telling and heavy info dumps? Recycled scenes? That's what this book offers. And don't fall for people telling you this book is about war and the devastating consequences of war. When most of that stuff happens offstage, and you get to know it because the FMC tells you, instead of showing it, then you know it's not.
And then, there are the problematic takes about this particular book. I'll dive deeper into them on my review.
Marquise wrote: "I'm here with popcorn and bated breath! :D"
I know you are. LOL. 🤣🤣🤣
Cassidy wrote: "I have to admit, everyone can have their opinions. Not everyone likes the same things. That is awesome. But I feel like you read this book just to shit on it. I’ve seen all of your updates and you ..."
Here they come. -Sigh-. Look, I never read books to hate on them. I always give them the benefit of the doubt; that's why I try to make it to the final page to get the whole picture of the book and whatever the author was trying to say with it.
Some were saying this romanticizes rape; fans were saying it doesn't. Some said it's a book about war; others said it's actually misery porn. With such mixed takes, I didn't have a choice but to go deeper into this book, trying to understand what the fuzz was all about. Now, with the book on my back, I can properly form an opinion and use my two bits to write an honest—non-sugarcoated, non-biased—review coming from someone who's not a fanfic reader, nor a Dramione shipper, nor a Senlinyu cultist. I think general readers are owed, at least, that, given that nowadays influencers use this platform to recommend whatever crap gets published. People deserve to know what they're getting into. They deserved to form an informed opinion.
I started posting my own, tired of crashing myself against a wall, trusting sugarcoated reviews. Enough is enough.
And darlin. People have the right to read whatever book they choose to read, as much as they have the right to like said book or not and write about it if they feel like it. You really can't expect everyone to like the same thing as you, or for only people who love this book to have the only right to talk about it. That's not how the world works. Still, we live in a world where everyone has the right to exert their free speech, so, word of advice, learn how to deal with it. Every author, or artist, know or should know, that when you let your work out for the world to see, negative criticism is expected to happen. If you can't deal with them, then don't publish in the first place.
I'm sorry you felt this way. To me, it was one of the greatest books I've ever read.
Everything from this book is a big bs. From the fact that it is a fanfiction of the books that were written by transphobic easiest person to the fact that the author didn’t care to change their Ao3 name and still keep the IP of HP high by reposting fanarts of the og character on twittee and still writing about the same ship of that underdeveloped world and keeping them on gr to the fact that the whole book is a fucking torture porn that fucking goes into oppressed/oppressor romance to the fact that this book is promoted as romantasy to the fact that the artist used AI to make the cover of this a book.
Nadia wrote: "I can’t wait for this review because when people dnf or whatever, people who worship this book always complained that “we don’t understand it” or “you don’y even finish the book so how could you ju..."
Exactly. I was called out for saying it romanticizes rape and that I had to make it to the flashbacks to get the whole picture of the book. Guess what? What this book does is even worse. The overall message is disturbing, to say the least, and I had a lot of time to think about it. I did my research, so no one can come in here and say I didn't inform myself enough. I read Senlinyu interviews, I checked their replies on their Tumblr page, I kept up with different takes about this book on forums, and I looked for articles about trauma and PTSD... I did my work to come up with the most objective review I can come up with.
MH wrote: "I'm sat. I think it's especially exciting that you've never read Manacled so you're able to fairly assess how this book stands on its own."
Quality speaking alone? Honestly? It barely does. Or not at all. It suffers from not having the HP books' background to serve as its backbone.
I'll go deeper into this on my review.
BadWolfShells wrote: "I'm sorry you felt this way. To me, it was one of the greatest books I've ever read."
I'm glad for you. We can agree to disagree.
This is the first bad review I've seen from this book and I'm buckled for the review (✿^‿^)
The recent Blood and Ash book was the same disappointment.
I’ve been trying to leave my review but Goodreads won’t let me…it’s shady. But I agree, it wasn’t the greatest and definitely not worth the hype.
CAN’T wait!!!! I NEED THAT REVIEW!!! Lord I’m so fucking exited now 😂
Sava (Fang Runin’s version) wrote: "Everything from this book is a big bs. From the fact that it is a fanfiction of the books that were written by transphobic easiest person to the fact that the author didn’t care to change their Ao3..."
I agree. I once used to be a Potterhead. As much as I love the books and the movies, J. K. Rowling has been expressing herself with such vitriol and hate that I can no longer separate the author from the work. Years ago, when all this started, I decided to go separate ways with the franchise, no longer supporting it on my behalf by any means.
Now to the second, every bit of it is true. Now that I have read it, I can confirm that this is nothing more than misery porn and that it plays an oppressed/oppressor romance dynamic. I'd say it's not enough to be considered standard romantasy, but it sticks to certain tropes well known to people who like that subgenre. The forced proximity, the whole thing about her being a healer and him getting injured multiple times so she can heal him, or the other way around, because scenes like those are also in the book; him training her; him getting overly possessive towards her, calling her "mine," and being obsessive and controlling about her; him going all the way to the extremes on this "I'd burn the world for you" thing, which is so typical in most romantasies, to the old familiar "who did this to you." There's even a pregnancy trope, which, as I said multiple times during my updates, I particularly loathe.
I don't think there's even one good thing I could say about this novel. It´s bad in capital letters.
Kimberlylovesreadingbooks wrote: "This is the first bad review I've seen from this book and I'm buckled for the review (✿^‿^)"
I'll try my best to live up to that. 😊
Yvette wrote: "The recent Blood and Ash book was the same disappointment."
Yeah, I've read about that. How stuff like this or that gets greenlit is what I don't understand.
Page wrote: "I’ve been trying to leave my review but Goodreads won’t let me…it’s shady. But I agree, it wasn’t the greatest and definitely not worth the hype."
That´s definitely shady. WTH. And I agree. I seriously doubt this book could cater to anyone else beyond Manacled/Senlinyu/Dramione fans. I just don't see it happening. Without getting into the controversies regarding this novel, quality speaking is a disaster. It goes against everything that is considered good quality writing. Heavy exposition, excessive telling over showing, jarring and unnatural dialogues, and cardboard-like characters. You name it, it has it.
You know, I used to lurk in aspiring writers' forums. I just don't get how people in those places are being called out for the same mistakes this book gets published.
Tindra wrote: "CAN’T wait!!!! I NEED THAT REVIEW!!! Lord I’m so fucking exited now 😂"
😊😊😊
Anastasia wrote: "WE’RE READY"
💕
Nadia wrote: "I'm starting to think that those who love this book only love it because their ship is now "canon" because it got trad-published. They don't really care about the substance of the book or how the a..."
Fans will be fans? I don't know. For me, it's a sad thing that people don't allow themselves some critical judgment nor go deeper into the ulterior motives of a book. I only wish for people to understand that this book and the relationship portrayed in it are not to be romanticized. It's a dangerous territory they're stepping into if now they're swooning over people like Ferron.
I agree that the whole war is just a setup, or background noise, for the romance to take place. And the author and fans saying otherwise is just gaslighting people into buying or reading this book as something it is not.
Simon wrote: "Lovely takedown!"
😊
You deserve a medal for not DNFing, honestly!
whoop the girlies are maaad about this one
Oh no! Sorry to hear it’s a let-down. Hope the next one’s good.
M wrote: "You deserve a medal for not DNFing, honestly!"
God knows how much I struggle to make it to the end. And I did it out of pure stubbornness.
People think I might be joking about the ending being anticlimactic, but I'm not. The whole book is a bloody disaster, but part 3 needs a separate mention. It's a new height of disaster.
kelly wrote: "whoop the girlies are maaad about this one"
Well, they gonna choke on their tea when they read what I'm cooking. LOL. 🤣
Kha wrote: "Oh no! Sorry to hear it’s a let-down. Hope the next one’s good."
I really hope so. 😊
I’m so sat for this review 🍿 but girl 1000+ pages?? I’m proud of you for pushing through 💪 hope your next read is PHENOMENAL babe 💗
Hannah ✰⋆.˚ wrote: "I’m so sat for this review 🍿 but girl 1000+ pages?? I’m proud of you for pushing through 💪 hope your next read is PHENOMENAL babe 💗"
Thanks, darlin'!!! 🩷 But yes. 1040 pages of fanfiction quality. This is what it is. I wouldn't recommend this, not even to my worst enemy. And I never ever say that. I always encourage readers to form their own opinion, but honestly, this time? They can do so much better. It's just not worthy. I can't imagine anyone but fans reading this.
Ugh. Sorry, it was so bad. I admire your tenacity - going through those 1000 pages must have been miserable.
G_occasionally_reads (a lifetime behind) wrote: "Ugh. Sorry, it was so bad. I admire your tenacity - going through those 1000 pages must have been miserable."
It was. I won't lie. At 50% I was so bored that I thought I would never make it to the end. But I'm stubborn like that.
It's not like this book has so much to say for being 1000 pages. Most of it is pure filler and loose ends.
this gonna ruffle some feathers😭….im commend u for not dnf’ing….im attempting to read this at a later date🤦🏾♀️
i love reading critical reviews of hyped books
honestly i rated it high but looking back it might be because of me being influenced by the other high readings 😬
brittany:) wrote: "this gonna ruffle some feathers😭….im commend u for not dnf’ing….im attempting to read this at a later date🤦🏾♀️"
Let them come. I'm ready. 😎LOL. I honestly hope you like it more than I did. 😊😊😊
ˋ✧*⁀➷ ʙᴇᴛᴛʏ (med school got me good) wrote: "i love reading critical reviews of hyped books"
😊😊😊
I love one star reviews 😭 so much passion
emelie 𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚ wrote: "honestly i rated it high but looking back it might be because of me being influenced by the other high readings 😬"
What makes a book good for you? The things we consider when deciding whether a book is five stars or one star may not be the same for everyone. In my case, I try to look at the book as a whole. I consider how much I enjoyed it, but also its inherent quality. Is it well written? Is the plot coherent and well-planned? Are the characters well-developed? Do they grow throughout the story?
Sometimes quality and enjoyment go hand in hand, but other times, they don't. That's why I split my review in two: quality and how much I liked it.
Did you like this book? Would you consider it was well written for you? Were you bored throughout the reading or entertained? Try to picture how you felt while you were reading it and what you thought about the overall quality. Then, you'll have a better idea of what rating to give.
shanayaa wrote: "oooh im sat for ur review girl"
Thanks, lovey!!! 😊
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by
Sarah
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Oct 10, 2025 07:09PM
I've seen a lot of bad reviews of this book today.
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@Sarah same and just after getting my copy
I'm here with popcorn and bated breath! :D
I have to admit, everyone can have their opinions. Not everyone likes the same things. That is awesome. But I feel like you read this book just to shit on it. I’ve seen all of your updates and you spent so much time on a book you hated. What a waste. If you hated it that much why didn’t you dnf it? Life is way too short to read a book you hated. It feels like you read this book just to hate on it and hate on the people who loved it. That’s no fun. Read books that bring you joy. Just my opinion.
I can’t wait for this review because when people dnf or whatever, people who worship this book always complained that “we don’t understand it” or “you don’y even finish the book so how could you judge” like you can never win with the rat’s cult-minded worshipers of this book
I'm sat. I think it's especially exciting that you've never read Manacled so you're able to fairly assess how this book stands on its own.
Sarah wrote: "I've seen a lot of bad reviews of this book today."As more people are finishing the book (we're talking about a 1000-page book, so there's that), that's likely to happen, even more when now it's not just fans bombing the rating of this book but average readers going into it, who might not be Dramione shippers or Senlinyu fans. And that's saying a lot, because honestly, I don't think this book would appeal to that audience.
*Nella*✨👁️ wrote: "@Sarah same and just after getting my copy"Maybe you can get a refund?? LOL. I don't know. It all comes down to taste. Do you like fanfics? Books with a lot of telling and heavy info dumps? Recycled scenes? That's what this book offers. And don't fall for people telling you this book is about war and the devastating consequences of war. When most of that stuff happens offstage, and you get to know it because the FMC tells you, instead of showing it, then you know it's not.
And then, there are the problematic takes about this particular book. I'll dive deeper into them on my review.
Marquise wrote: "I'm here with popcorn and bated breath! :D"I know you are. LOL. 🤣🤣🤣
Cassidy wrote: "I have to admit, everyone can have their opinions. Not everyone likes the same things. That is awesome. But I feel like you read this book just to shit on it. I’ve seen all of your updates and you ..."Here they come. -Sigh-. Look, I never read books to hate on them. I always give them the benefit of the doubt; that's why I try to make it to the final page to get the whole picture of the book and whatever the author was trying to say with it.
Some were saying this romanticizes rape; fans were saying it doesn't. Some said it's a book about war; others said it's actually misery porn. With such mixed takes, I didn't have a choice but to go deeper into this book, trying to understand what the fuzz was all about. Now, with the book on my back, I can properly form an opinion and use my two bits to write an honest—non-sugarcoated, non-biased—review coming from someone who's not a fanfic reader, nor a Dramione shipper, nor a Senlinyu cultist. I think general readers are owed, at least, that, given that nowadays influencers use this platform to recommend whatever crap gets published. People deserve to know what they're getting into. They deserved to form an informed opinion.
I started posting my own, tired of crashing myself against a wall, trusting sugarcoated reviews. Enough is enough.
And darlin. People have the right to read whatever book they choose to read, as much as they have the right to like said book or not and write about it if they feel like it. You really can't expect everyone to like the same thing as you, or for only people who love this book to have the only right to talk about it. That's not how the world works. Still, we live in a world where everyone has the right to exert their free speech, so, word of advice, learn how to deal with it. Every author, or artist, know or should know, that when you let your work out for the world to see, negative criticism is expected to happen. If you can't deal with them, then don't publish in the first place.
I'm sorry you felt this way. To me, it was one of the greatest books I've ever read.
Everything from this book is a big bs. From the fact that it is a fanfiction of the books that were written by transphobic easiest person to the fact that the author didn’t care to change their Ao3 name and still keep the IP of HP high by reposting fanarts of the og character on twittee and still writing about the same ship of that underdeveloped world and keeping them on gr to the fact that the whole book is a fucking torture porn that fucking goes into oppressed/oppressor romance to the fact that this book is promoted as romantasy to the fact that the artist used AI to make the cover of this a book.
Nadia wrote: "I can’t wait for this review because when people dnf or whatever, people who worship this book always complained that “we don’t understand it” or “you don’y even finish the book so how could you ju..."Exactly. I was called out for saying it romanticizes rape and that I had to make it to the flashbacks to get the whole picture of the book. Guess what? What this book does is even worse. The overall message is disturbing, to say the least, and I had a lot of time to think about it. I did my research, so no one can come in here and say I didn't inform myself enough. I read Senlinyu interviews, I checked their replies on their Tumblr page, I kept up with different takes about this book on forums, and I looked for articles about trauma and PTSD... I did my work to come up with the most objective review I can come up with.
MH wrote: "I'm sat. I think it's especially exciting that you've never read Manacled so you're able to fairly assess how this book stands on its own."Quality speaking alone? Honestly? It barely does. Or not at all. It suffers from not having the HP books' background to serve as its backbone.
I'll go deeper into this on my review.
BadWolfShells wrote: "I'm sorry you felt this way. To me, it was one of the greatest books I've ever read."I'm glad for you. We can agree to disagree.
This is the first bad review I've seen from this book and I'm buckled for the review (✿^‿^)
The recent Blood and Ash book was the same disappointment.
I’ve been trying to leave my review but Goodreads won’t let me…it’s shady. But I agree, it wasn’t the greatest and definitely not worth the hype.
CAN’T wait!!!! I NEED THAT REVIEW!!! Lord I’m so fucking exited now 😂
Sava (Fang Runin’s version) wrote: "Everything from this book is a big bs. From the fact that it is a fanfiction of the books that were written by transphobic easiest person to the fact that the author didn’t care to change their Ao3..."I agree. I once used to be a Potterhead. As much as I love the books and the movies, J. K. Rowling has been expressing herself with such vitriol and hate that I can no longer separate the author from the work. Years ago, when all this started, I decided to go separate ways with the franchise, no longer supporting it on my behalf by any means.
Now to the second, every bit of it is true. Now that I have read it, I can confirm that this is nothing more than misery porn and that it plays an oppressed/oppressor romance dynamic. I'd say it's not enough to be considered standard romantasy, but it sticks to certain tropes well known to people who like that subgenre. The forced proximity, the whole thing about her being a healer and him getting injured multiple times so she can heal him, or the other way around, because scenes like those are also in the book; him training her; him getting overly possessive towards her, calling her "mine," and being obsessive and controlling about her; him going all the way to the extremes on this "I'd burn the world for you" thing, which is so typical in most romantasies, to the old familiar "who did this to you." There's even a pregnancy trope, which, as I said multiple times during my updates, I particularly loathe.
I don't think there's even one good thing I could say about this novel. It´s bad in capital letters.
Kimberlylovesreadingbooks wrote: "This is the first bad review I've seen from this book and I'm buckled for the review (✿^‿^)"I'll try my best to live up to that. 😊
Yvette wrote: "The recent Blood and Ash book was the same disappointment."Yeah, I've read about that. How stuff like this or that gets greenlit is what I don't understand.
Page wrote: "I’ve been trying to leave my review but Goodreads won’t let me…it’s shady. But I agree, it wasn’t the greatest and definitely not worth the hype."That´s definitely shady. WTH. And I agree. I seriously doubt this book could cater to anyone else beyond Manacled/Senlinyu/Dramione fans. I just don't see it happening. Without getting into the controversies regarding this novel, quality speaking is a disaster. It goes against everything that is considered good quality writing. Heavy exposition, excessive telling over showing, jarring and unnatural dialogues, and cardboard-like characters. You name it, it has it.
You know, I used to lurk in aspiring writers' forums. I just don't get how people in those places are being called out for the same mistakes this book gets published.
Tindra wrote: "CAN’T wait!!!! I NEED THAT REVIEW!!! Lord I’m so fucking exited now 😂"😊😊😊
Anastasia wrote: "WE’RE READY"💕
Nadia wrote: "I'm starting to think that those who love this book only love it because their ship is now "canon" because it got trad-published. They don't really care about the substance of the book or how the a..."Fans will be fans? I don't know. For me, it's a sad thing that people don't allow themselves some critical judgment nor go deeper into the ulterior motives of a book. I only wish for people to understand that this book and the relationship portrayed in it are not to be romanticized. It's a dangerous territory they're stepping into if now they're swooning over people like Ferron.
I agree that the whole war is just a setup, or background noise, for the romance to take place. And the author and fans saying otherwise is just gaslighting people into buying or reading this book as something it is not.
Simon wrote: "Lovely takedown!"😊
You deserve a medal for not DNFing, honestly!
whoop the girlies are maaad about this one
Oh no! Sorry to hear it’s a let-down. Hope the next one’s good.
M wrote: "You deserve a medal for not DNFing, honestly!"God knows how much I struggle to make it to the end. And I did it out of pure stubbornness.
People think I might be joking about the ending being anticlimactic, but I'm not. The whole book is a bloody disaster, but part 3 needs a separate mention. It's a new height of disaster.
kelly wrote: "whoop the girlies are maaad about this one"Well, they gonna choke on their tea when they read what I'm cooking. LOL. 🤣
Kha wrote: "Oh no! Sorry to hear it’s a let-down. Hope the next one’s good."I really hope so. 😊
I’m so sat for this review 🍿 but girl 1000+ pages?? I’m proud of you for pushing through 💪 hope your next read is PHENOMENAL babe 💗
Hannah ✰⋆.˚ wrote: "I’m so sat for this review 🍿 but girl 1000+ pages?? I’m proud of you for pushing through 💪 hope your next read is PHENOMENAL babe 💗"Thanks, darlin'!!! 🩷 But yes. 1040 pages of fanfiction quality. This is what it is. I wouldn't recommend this, not even to my worst enemy. And I never ever say that. I always encourage readers to form their own opinion, but honestly, this time? They can do so much better. It's just not worthy. I can't imagine anyone but fans reading this.
Ugh. Sorry, it was so bad. I admire your tenacity - going through those 1000 pages must have been miserable.
G_occasionally_reads (a lifetime behind) wrote: "Ugh. Sorry, it was so bad. I admire your tenacity - going through those 1000 pages must have been miserable."It was. I won't lie. At 50% I was so bored that I thought I would never make it to the end. But I'm stubborn like that.
It's not like this book has so much to say for being 1000 pages. Most of it is pure filler and loose ends.
this gonna ruffle some feathers😭….im commend u for not dnf’ing….im attempting to read this at a later date🤦🏾♀️
i love reading critical reviews of hyped books
honestly i rated it high but looking back it might be because of me being influenced by the other high readings 😬
brittany:) wrote: "this gonna ruffle some feathers😭….im commend u for not dnf’ing….im attempting to read this at a later date🤦🏾♀️"Let them come. I'm ready. 😎LOL. I honestly hope you like it more than I did. 😊😊😊
ˋ✧*⁀➷ ʙᴇᴛᴛʏ (med school got me good) wrote: "i love reading critical reviews of hyped books"😊😊😊
I love one star reviews 😭 so much passion
emelie 𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚ wrote: "honestly i rated it high but looking back it might be because of me being influenced by the other high readings 😬"What makes a book good for you? The things we consider when deciding whether a book is five stars or one star may not be the same for everyone. In my case, I try to look at the book as a whole. I consider how much I enjoyed it, but also its inherent quality. Is it well written? Is the plot coherent and well-planned? Are the characters well-developed? Do they grow throughout the story?
Sometimes quality and enjoyment go hand in hand, but other times, they don't. That's why I split my review in two: quality and how much I liked it.
Did you like this book? Would you consider it was well written for you? Were you bored throughout the reading or entertained? Try to picture how you felt while you were reading it and what you thought about the overall quality. Then, you'll have a better idea of what rating to give.
shanayaa wrote: "oooh im sat for ur review girl"Thanks, lovey!!! 😊
