2026 Reading Challenge discussion

*Featured Buddy Read*
This buddy read is featured on the homepage and is pinned to the top of the March Buddy Reads folder. Otherwise it works just like every other buddy read!

If you are new to Buddy Reads, check out the sign-up thread for instructions and to sign up for future buddy reads!

You can join in the discussion even if your name isn't on the list!

This thread is to discuss Alchemised by SenLinYu.

Pages: 1030 pages

Length: 1 month (March)

Participants: SarahKat, LinaVer, Luisa, Susan, Odette, Shelby, Rachael, Alison

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

Hi, could I join this Buddy Read? I have this on my TBR and am intimidated by the length (and weight…this book is so Heavy 😉) and would love to have this Buddy Read to help me share my thoughts!

Alison wrote: "Hi, could I join this Buddy Read? I have this on my TBR and am intimidated by the length (and weight…this book is so Heavy 😉) and would love to have this Buddy Read to help me share my thoughts!"

Of course! Welcome Alison!

Hey everyone! I'm excited for this buddy read. I've heard a lot of mixed opinions about this book online, so I am curious to check it out and make my own opinion haha. I'll be starting after the readathon. Can't wait to discuss.

My bookstore had to order more copies. I'm hoping I get one tomorrow night when I'm there.

Has anyone read the fanfiction this is based on? I have not.

My daughter begged me to buy her this book and she has yet to read it because of the length. She also mentioned a certain way it has to be read. Has anyone else heard that?

After asking that question, I googled it. Here's what I found...

Tips for Reading Alchemised:
Expect a Slow Start: Part 1 is intense in world-building, and many readers find the story picks up significantly after page 200 or 50% through, as things start to come together in Part 2.

Alternative Reading Order: For a more chronological understanding on a second read, some fans recommend: Prologue, Part 2, Part 1, Part 3.

Understand the Premise: It is a romantic tragedy involving memory loss, intense magic systems (vivimancy, animancy), and a "horror-esque" tone, designed to be a completely new story.

Take Notes: Due to the dense, original terminology for magic (the word "magic" is rarely used), keeping track of the terms and how they fit together will enhance the experience.

Emotional Weight: Be prepared for a very emotional, long, and sometimes difficult read, say YouTube users.

I have a hard copy of this book. Looking forward to reading and discussing it. As there seems to be a lot of information to take in/keep track of, it may be a slow read for me and may spread it out over the month.

@SarahKat, no, I've not read the fanfic either. But I thought that this book is basically a better edited version of the fanfic. If so, that's enough for me. 😆 I have read other fanfics though and I really like the Dramione ship, enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes. Not sure how much actual love is going to be in this book, if what Susan writes is true. I'd assume it might be more about obsession.

@Susan, thank you for sharing this, it was very interesting to read. Not sure how I feel about dense world building for 200 pages 🙈 I struggle with that kind of thing. I'm glad at least we have this space to discuss.

@Odette, I'm there with you, haha. I might need to spread it out as well, especially if it's an emotionally heavy read.

I haven't read the fanfic but heard a lot about this. I'm going to start this after the Readathon

@Sarahkat I haven’t read the fanfic…I am kind of going into this blind but understand it is a dark, emotional Dramoine take!

@Susan Thank You for this reading order! I think I will struggle with the slow start but love a good bit of world building!

I am also going to take this slow and it will probably take all month to read! I am going to try to annotate the book which is something I haven’t done a lot of! I did annotate one other book and found it helped me remember things/made the book more impactful for me 😊

I just found a used copy of this for a couple bucks and couldn't leave it behind. Gonna attempt to join in here. She's thiiick! lol

Susan wrote: Understand the Premise: It is a romantic tragedy involving memory loss, intense magic systems (vivimancy, animancy), and a "horror-esque" tone, designed to be a completely new story.
oh this description sold me

Take Notes: Due to the dense, original terminology for magic (the word "magic" is rarely used), keeping track of the terms and how they fit together will enhance the experience.
Nope. I like to suffer though the "huh" moments, enjoy the vibes and hope my brain catches on eventually.

Emotional Weight: Be prepared for a very emotional, long, and sometimes difficult read, say YouTube users.
Perfect.

I have been looking forward to reading this book. I have just started it and about 65 pages in.

I am taking notes of the terminology/magic used, e.g. vivimacy, resonance, transmutation, animacy etc. The book does not contain a glossary of terms, however, explanations are easily found on the internet.

M's suggestion of keeping track of the terms enhanced my initial experience. So far I am enjoying the experience of reading this book and just going with the flow until I get further in.

Tracking of terms came from Susan 😁
I read about 70 pages this morning and hope it comes through Libby soon so I can make some highlights. I found it easy to get into right away.

Hello everyone. :)

I bought this book by the cover.
I didn't know anything about the fanfic and the plot before buying. (I do that a lot, usually it gives me good surprises)

But later, when I was talking to a friend, who is a booktuber, she told me about the hype and the fanfic thing. But that's ok for me.

I will start it today (monday).

I've read the prologue and first two chapters so far. Part of me wishes I didn't know this was originally a fanfic because I'm spending a bit of time working out which characters they are supposed to be. (view spoiler)[Some are quite obvious to figure out, some not so much. (hide spoiler)].
This book is definitely dark. (view spoiler)[There was some really vivid imagery very early on, what Bayard does to his wife, that kinda sets the tone for what's to come (hide spoiler)]. I am not finding the world building dense at the moment; it's actually really intriguing how 'magic' works here

I've read 3 first chapters. Like M and Rachael, I found the book quite easy to get into, even though it is really dark. I'm not usually one for the dark, sad topics or atmospheres, so I find it quite surprising how much I like reading this book so far. I will, however, probably need a light rom-com to read after this, probably. 😆
It's a book of 1000 pages and heavy mood but reads easy and feels captivating, so I am glad about that.

I'm glad to hear it starts off good! I'm still finishing up another chunky book before I start this one.

I've finished the first part last night, because I just couldn't stop reading. My gosh, the things that happen to Helena. 💔 (view spoiler)[I thought my heart is going to stop when that doctor told her she recreated her ability to have kids and that in fact she's going to be tortured that way in order to get pregnant for the enemy... reading through those chapters has been difficult.

For a while there before that it seemed it was going a bit more easily for her ("easy" is not the proper word, given the circumstances, but I can't think of another), even some kind of connection between her and Kaine beginning there. A lot of the (overt) kindness and protectiveness he showed definitely made me think there was history between them, and now that I have read a few chapters in the second part, it makes sense. Even the idea of him being a spy for resistance has crossed my mind. I'm really intrigued how the story is going to go on. (hide spoiler)]

I'm also curious to hear from those of you, who are trying to guess which characters are who (knowing this is a fanfic). I have some ideas of my own, but I'm usually not as good in guessing these things.

I'm up to Chapter 12 so far and enjoying it.
Here's what I know about the characters and their fanfic/original fandom counterparts: (view spoiler)[
Helena = Hermione
Kaine = Draco (Ferron family = Malfoys)
Aurelia = Astoria
Morrough = Voldemort
Luc = Harry
Principate Apollo = Dumbledore
Soren = Ron?
Lila = Ginny?
I think there might be a Snape somewhere but can't figure out who he is (hide spoiler)]