And they were roommates...

Alchemy of Souls is a YA fantasy standalone featuring a dozen popular tropes like fake dating, forced proximity, and academic rivals. It can be a bit simplistic at times, so it leans on the younger side of YA, and it also caught me off guard in that it's not high fantasy but actually set in our world (with cellphones and Porsches). Still, I found it entertaining, and I think a younger me would've devoured it in a day.

Eloise Belrose comes from a family of Laborers, so her acceptance into University to become a Mage is quite unexpected. Grayson Stone, on the other hand, is the Chancellor's nephew, and despite his skill with magic, his entrance exam goes wrong...all thanks to Eloise. Eloise and Grayon's fates are intertwined when they're given two weeks to summon the Key to the Archives or face the consequences. They'll need to rely on each other and their magic if they want to uncover the Key before it's too late. The plot is fairly simple; Eloise and Grayson alternate between classes, secret mystery-solving sessions, and typical young adult activities like parties and hangouts with friends. The plot wasn't necessarily slow, but the extra scenes with parties and typical "teen" stuff bogged down the pacing at times. The twists were fairly predictable, but probably would've caught a younger me by surprise. Similarly, I think the ending was a bit convenient, and it's probably the reason I didn't rate this higher. The ending is still satisfying, though I wouldn't be surprised if this gets expanded into a series. It's definitely a fun read, but I don't know that I'm currently invested enough to continue if it gets more books.

I think the characters are going to be either loved or hated by most readers, and I don't think there'll be much in between. Eloise is one of those soft but stubborn YA FMCs; she cares about her family and justice, but she's also devoted to hating on Grayson every chance she can get. I found her a bit bland at times, just because she's very similar to a lot of other FMCs, but she wasn't intolerable, and I liked that she actually seemed to enjoy the schoolwork. Similarly, Grayson is your trademark MMC who speaks fluent sarcasm but has Dark Secrets and wants to protect everyone around him. I thought his motivations were a bit more complex and interesting than Eloise's, but he gave me the ick on a few occasions (was there a reason he had to drive a Porsche?). I didn't have any huge issues with the side characters, other than I wanted them to be more relevant and complex. Maggie - Eloise's best friend - deserved much better than being ignored for the sake of the plot, though I guess Grayson's friend, Bas, also got ignored a lot. Adrien and Naomi only exist to complicate the relationship between Eloise and Grayson, so they annoyed me a bit. Overall, I didn't mind any of the characters, but they could've used a bit more depth.

Alchemy of Souls is a YA fantasy taking place in a magical school, with similar vibes to Ava Reid's A Study in Drowning and Mara Rutherford's The Demonic Inventions of Aurelie Blake. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.75/5