Alchemised by SenLinYu
Like with many fantasy novels, there is a war between good and evil. But this book starts after that war has ended and evil prevailed over good. A woman held captive by the aforementioned evil, turns out to be an undocumented prisoner and when she's discovered, her captors are determined to learn her identity. As far as anyone can tell, Helena Marino is a glorified nobody but somebody went to a lot of trouble to erase her memories.
Enter the High Reeve, Kaine Ferron. He's cold, calculating, and vicious; he's one of the most powerful necromancers of all time. It becomes his task to repair Helena's broken mind and he's willing to destroy it trying.
Book One of this 1000+ page novel is absolutely brutal. I think the story opening with evil in control was unique and set the tone for the whole story, but SenLinYu keeps on going, exploring terrifying wartime themes like torture, execution, eugenics, and rape with our terrorized protagonist at the heart of it all.
I liked that instead of having Helena come roaring out as a brave, never frightened, alway on the side of justice stereotypical kind of heroine, we recieved a character that is more realistic for the situation. She's a prisoner of war and isn't depicted as anything else; she's sad, afraid, desperate, trapped, alone, and suffering from PTSD.
Book Two of Alchemised can't easily be summarized without creating spoilers, but to keep it simple I will say it details Helena's lost memories, memories of the war. It details who she knew, what she did, why she did it and why she can't remember any of it. I suppose I can safely tell you that she was a healer in a military infirmary during the war, and in that time period she became everything we expect of a hero in a fantasy novel. I can't say that because she was braver the story was happier; the whole of Book Two takes place during a war where half the combatants are reanimated dead controlled be villainous necromancers.
Book Two and Book One were expertly woven together and despite their major differences, the author manages to evoke an overwhelming sensation of deja vu and dread. And just before I reached Book Three, I stopped reading and didn't pick the book up again for over a month. I liked these characters... Chapter by chapter I'd grown attached and the brutality of the book began to affect me emotionally. I wanted there to be a light at the end of the tunnel and worried how I'd feel if there wasn't.
Book Three is even worse to try to talk about in terms of spoilers because it's the conclusion. And based on the past two sections we have no reason to believe that we are headed toward a happy ending. Except I am going to spoil that just so you don't have to take a month-long intermission like I did: we get a happy ending.
After the last page was read, I looked back at the characters, the settings, the plot and found nothing to critique. And it isn't every book that can pull such real emotional responses from me, I've never had a book make me afraid to finish it.
Definitely hit the mark for a 5 star read.
That sounds like a powerful trilogy, but I'm not sure that I am going to read it. I am easily moved by what I read and often put a book down, especially before bed. I'm not sure I'm strong enough to endure the intensity that you describe.
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