indecentink finished reading and wrote a review...
Okay… Alchemised broke me. It is honestly more heartbreaking and gut wrenching than Manacled, but in a totally different way. Instead of leaning on trauma and graphic scenes, it digs deep into the horrors of war, espionage, and survival. It rips out everything I hated about Manacled and replaces it with something way more meaningful.
The way intimacy is written here also feels so much better. The sex scenes are not exploited or overly graphic, they are hinted at and nuanced, which actually makes them hit harder.
The prose itself is far more academic than Manacled, which makes it heavier to read at times. I think the book would have been more enjoyable if it had included a glossary to help with all the terminology and world building.
And the magic system? Chef’s kiss. It feels much more structured, kind of like Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, which makes the world feel richer and the stakes higher.
Instead of feeling like exact copies of each other, Manacled and Alchemised read more like they belong to the same genre. They share the grit and darkness, but Alchemised delivers it through war and survival instead of trauma centered romance.
If Manacled was a dark romance wrapped in trauma, Alchemised is pure war, raw, brutal, and unforgettable.
indecentink commented on a post
Post from the Alchemised forum
Post from the Alchemised forum
indecentink commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum
I’m in need of a good audiobook so if you have any recs you enjoyed listening to as compared to reading let me know and PLEASE don’t say project hail mary my library doesn’t have the audiobook version in right now
Post from the Alchemised forum
Hardest part about this is trying to figure out/remember who the manacled counterpart of these characters are. But once you realize this is different enough from manacles you can read this like it’s an original text
Post from the Alchemised forum
indecentink started reading...
Alchemised
SenLinYu SenLinYu
indecentink finished reading and wrote a review...
This is just another book of a girl who’s not like the other girls and who’s arrogance and ignorance is supposed to make her charming. It’s got some similarities to Mary Pearson’s Remnant Chronicles while being a why choose and smutty but only at the last hour of the book. It’s a an instant attraction that frames itself like a slow burn enemies to lovers but the tension makes that clunky, awkward, and the attraction inexplicable.
indecentink wants to read...
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The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)
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indecentink DNF'd a book
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The Eye of the Bedlam Bride (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #6)
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Warrior Princess Assassin
Brigid Kemmerer
indecentink finished reading and wrote a review...
This was a good follow up, though it definitely shifts focus compared to the first book. This one leans more into court and political intrigue, spending time on the schemes, power plays, and development of side characters. The romance is still there, but the slow burn is even slower, which makes the whole story feel more drawn out. Because of that, it is a slower paced book overall, but if you enjoy world building through politics and seeing secondary characters come into their own, you will likely appreciate this installment.
indecentink finished reading and wrote a review...
Plot devolves into a bully romance that disengages you from the world and I found I just couldn’t care about the characters anymore
indecentink finished reading and wrote a review...
On Wings of Blood had all the classic ingredients of a romantasy with brooding love interest, lush world building, magic and danger, and it even felt like Zodiac Academy at times with its magic school setting and bully romance elements. It started out refreshing instead of redundant, but the heroine’s stupidity and pride became a reoccurring theme that dragged her into the same insufferable FMC mold we see in far too many romantasy books.
indecentink finished reading and wrote a review...
Fairydale starts off strong as a unique romantasy filled with intrigue, mystery, and the charm of a sleepy little town. Unfortunately, pacing issues, shifts in the writing style, and a sudden turn into a stereotypical monster romance muted much of the initial excitement for me. The story ended up feeling just okay, with an ending that was both rushed and unsatisfying
indecentink finished reading and wrote a review...
The Dragon Wakes with Thunder suffers from second book syndrome, which is especially disappointing since it is the finale of a duology. The story leaves you confused and lost because there is no clear plotting, and the first part drags to the point of being a slog. I found myself rushing just to reach the end. This is a common issue with books based on well-known myths: once the main story is finished, the content runs thin and the scraps meant to reengage the reader only end up disappointing. This book would have worked far better if it had been merged and re-edited with the first into a standalone, giving it stronger pacing and a more engaging overall experience