Noelia (thisbookishlove)’s Reviews > Alchemised > Status Update

That sounds like a very painful reading...700 pages this insane 😳

I just started Part 2 and the only thing I can think of is maybe I’m not connecting with the characters because it is 1 star read for me so far.

Mai wrote: "That sounds like a very painful reading...700 pages this insane 😳"

Actually, it's a 1000-plus-page book. But part 2, for example, is like 43 chapters (400/500 pages, more or less) of the same scene playing on repeat over and over. Almost every single chapter is "Helena goes to the Outpost," and it goes on and on and on. It's taking all of my strength to keep going, 'cause it's exhausting. Also, it plays on the same tropes as always. She's a healer, so you know, he comes injured not one but multiple times, so she can heal him and have these moments of forced proximity. Or he trains her, because God forbid not to have scenes where the MMC trains the FMC, because that's so hot (forced proximity, again). She even gets a pair of daggers, because every FMC nowadays has to have her own pair of daggers.
It's bad, and it's making me side-eye the people rating this 5 stars. You can't set up for such low quality.

Misty wrote: "I just started Part 2 and the only thing I can think of is maybe I’m not connecting with the characters because it is 1 star read for me so far."

Same. So far, it's barely a 1-star read for me.

Noelia (thisbookishlove) wrote: "Mai wrote: "That sounds like a very painful reading...700 pages this insane 😳"

Actually, it's a 1000-plus-page book. But part 2, for example, is like 43 chapters (400/500 pages, more or less) of t..."
Oh my...that sounds awful and dull.
It's as if the writer doesn't know how to create scenarios or good events that's full of depth to bring them together so they got the one idea that can work and played it on repeat. This is crazy.
I got you with the hight reviews, I've seen people praising this one left and right then I saw your review ans it was the first in the see of 5 star reviews.

The marketing of this book was insane so maybe the reviews are paid or something? Cause wtf?

There is no way that people are genuinely rating this book 5 stars. I feel like some of those people are either got paid to review the book or to just.... to rate it 5 stars. The publisher prolly did that cause they have invested a lot, I mean tell me one new author who got the deal to randomly published a 1000+ rape-kinked fanfic into a published book beside this one

Mai wrote: "Noelia (thisbookishlove) wrote: "Mai wrote: "That sounds like a very painful reading...700 pages this insane 😳"

Actually, it's a 1000-plus-page book. But part 2, for example, is like 43 chapters (..."

It's full of filler. And it's pretty clear that an editor didn't even bother to edit this book. There's no way this story is worthy of 1000 pages. No way. Part 2 is 43 chapters. 43. That's like 500 pages, just to tell a super slow burn. And that's it.
I can imagine stuff like this working as a fanfic, because in those cases, as far as I know, authors upload a chapter every week or every fifteen days, like a serial. I imagine that you get the chance to be repetitive if you feel a little bit uninspired. People just want you to upload something. But when you get the chance to read the story as a whole, in one sitting, things change. Then, you start to notice what you didn't when it was just a serial you came to read every week. You see the repetition, how some scenes just don't work together, and how the story feels stagnant.
Well, that's exactly what happens here. The story is super stretched to make up for the fact that actually, it doesn't have too much to say in the first place.

♡Hey_Hayley♡ wrote: "The marketing of this book was insane so maybe the reviews are paid or something? Cause wtf?"

Yeah, I can imagine something like that happening. In this particular case, I'd also add that the publishers are benefitting from an already well-established fanbase (Manacled fans or Dramione shippers), so I wouldn't be surprised if 95% of those five-star reviews were just fans bombing that rating.

Nadia wrote: "There is no way that people are genuinely rating this book 5 stars. I feel like some of those people are either got paid to review the book or to just.... to rate it 5 stars. The publisher prolly d..."

The answer is fans. The publisher is benefiting from a well-established fandom, one they knew would back up the book, bombing reviews and ratings to hype this up.
As a nonbiased reader, I can already say that this book is not worthy of a 4.60 rating here on Goodreads. It's barely a 1-star read. Maybe 2 if you're feeling generous. But there's no way of denying its poor quality, besides some other problematic topics.