The Alchemy of Forever (Incarnation #1)
Avery Williams
256 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Release Date: January 3rd, 2012
Rate: Loved it
Being an Incarnate is far more dangerous than Serpahina thought when she was fourteen years old in the Middle Ages and Cyrus saved her from dying. But not for her. For the humans that they prey.
Being an Incarnate means immortality, thanks to alchemy, but tricking death has a cost: they have to take an innocent live in order to keep living.
Seraphina is sick of the monster she's and of being strangled by Cyrus possessive love. She's willing to let it go forever, not sure what is in the other end for a being like her.
However, her plans don't turn out like she expected them to be. She escaped from Cyrus and her Incarnate family, but she was willing to die, not entering by mistake in a dying teenage girl named Kailey.
What Sera wasn't expecting was falling in love with Kailey's live: her friends, her parents... and with the boy next door, Noah. She starts to think that she has a second chance in live, when Cyrus finds her. Well, at least he knows that she's in Berkley and in Kailey's high school, but he doesn't know that she's in Kailey's body.
With Cyrus chasing after her, promising harm to those who come between them, how can Sera let Noah risk his life without knowing it? Will she sacrifice their true love in order to keep Noah safe?
I've read some stories about Alchemists and never fall in love, like madly in love, oh-my-God-I-need-to-know-more kind of way, but Avery Williams accomplish that.
We have had this book in our to-read shelf for a while now, since the book came out (so ashamedright now to saw it), and we don't know why we didn't read this book sooner. The story is well built and it keeps getting exciting and unraveling with every page you read. The characters, each have their own personality and have their roles set in motion in the book that makes you want to keep reading it until the end.
Mixing up a theme like Alchemy and Immortality may be difficult, but Avery Williams creates a perfect story. In Serpahina's, Cyrus is the alchemist. He lived with his father in the 1300s and they meet in a romantic kind of way in a masquerade ball when Serpahine is fourteen. The misfortune in their story is that some muggers try to steal from them and instead they end up killing Seraphina. In a desperation act, Cyrus saves her with a little bit of alchemist help tying her soul into the woman that killed her.
That's where their possessive and strangled love story starts. Since then Cyrus is being possessive about Sera and is shown as an abuser companion. We understood the need Sera had to flee, because Her relationship with Cyrus was a poisonous one that she was clever enough to try to run from it.
We also undertood why Avery Williams writes about Sera's desire of ending her life forever, turning into dust. Although she's afraid of not meeting an afterlife with her beloved ones for being an Incarnate, she wants to stop living like a monster, taking innocent lives in order to live forever.
It's nice to meet Sera. She's a good person, kind and cares about other people. That doesn't mean she has no character. She's as well strong because living an abusive lover is not easy. And when that abuser is an almost ancient Incarnate and with Incarnate minions that they do what he pleases is far more complicated.
On the other hand, we have Noah. He's sweet and also tormented. He has a difficult family background, but he keeps smiling. He's nice to Kailey although we read through Sera's point of view that Kailey was more interested in her reputation than in her friendship with the boy she grew up with and is friends with. He's also a good person and that's why we think that he totally fits with Seraphina and were heartbroken when we saw the ending of the first book.
The bad guy, Cyrus, a part from being the abusive jerk we have talk about its shown as a scary character. He's crazy in love with Sera, so much, that he is willing to do mad things for her. He's afraid of being alone and he cannot bear to think of Sera leaving him or being with another person. Total stalker, murderer kind of way.
The ending of this first book left us without words. We weren't expecting it at all (or at least we were hoping not to read that). We were shocked, furious with one of the characters and sad. Really, really sad. Which lead us to read immediately the second book (*Thank God we didn't have to wait a year to know about it! We couldn't have wait!*). We already told you that this book is unexpected, unraveling and full of excitement and romance.
We are really happy that we started to read this series and sad that we have finished both books in one day. We want more Incarnation books! (*Has become an obsession*).
So Book Addicts, if you want to feel the Incarnation Fever the only thing you need to do is start reading this first book, The Alchemy Of Forever. You'll get hooked from the first page with Seraphine's story and would want to know more about the Incarnates and Cyrus!
Avery Williams you made our hearts ache for more, so you have a well-deserved five gorjuss doll in our unofficial ranking and we would give you a six, but our ranking ends in five.
Book Addicts, don't miss this story!
India Eisley as Seraphina "Sera"
Brant Daugherty as Noah
Lindsay Ellingson as Kaitlyn
Matt Barr as Cyrus
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