r/TheAlchemised

I have been interested in these books recently, I know technically I can read both one by one, but I don't know which one will wow me the most, like the "I'm glad I read that one first" feeling. And I might not have patience later for the same type of plot as they are quite similar.

For more information, I had been a big Harry Potter fan years ago, found Draco hot and even shipped dramione. So I wouldn't have any problem with the world building or even the characters. Infact I was thinking of reading Manacled first. But people say Alchemised is finer and more well written.

Some other things I have heard is that Manacled is more angsty, fmc is more broken, which for me is a good thing. But then again, I might feel slightly inclined to discontinue if Hermione and Draco are not acting the way I had expected or perceived their characters. Which makes Alchemised a better option.

So people who have read both, which one would you prefer to read first?

Try not giving too many spoilers 😅.

Since I finished the book, (about 2 months) I've been wondering and I haven't found any answer anywhere. It's a little silly, nothing significant, but I have a problem with the pills that Kaine and Helena take. What are they taking? Does anyone know? An explanation, I mean, beyond the text, and why?

Well, actually it's more than a simple question, I hope I'm being somewhat coherent.

So, 1) What pills does give Kaine to Helena to annihilate her fears. But the real question is, why does he treat her differently while she's under the effects of them? He says he has no charm to upset her when she can't be upset. But something makes me think there's another explanation.

2. What kind of pills does Kaine take (the same as Helena before ? ) when the SA occurs.... If they are the same why does he go to the bathroom to throw up? Shouldn't they have blocked his emotions too ?

3. Where does Kaine get the stone to give her at the end of the first part to help her withstand the pregnancy ?

If anyone has any ideas or answers, thanks in advance.

Is it me or is Helena treated badly by the head cheeses of the Resistance? Is it because she suggested using Necromancers to help out their depleting army?

Just it! i don't know if it is a stand alone or a saga and think i once heard it was based of a Draco Malfoy fanfic ?? that could be total bs, just wondering if people actually liked the book cause i've seen it in a few bookstores and it caught my attention. i don't even know what it is about cause it is so easy to find spoilers on Goodreads, just that it is romantsy and has some sad parts i guess

I know there has been some fanfic written on kaine’s POV and I was wondering if anyone knew where to find it? Cheers

Okayy so I am 73% in Alchemised and I have developed quite a hate-love relationship with it. At some points and for straight 50 pages in between, I love it but then again when the plot slows down and reverses back, it feels so slow and dragged.

I was loving it so far and finished 100 pages at a time but as I reached the 700th page, I again slowed down because it felt like the same event was happening in repeated cycles just with slightly different outputs and results. The realizations and epiphanies never set in, the emotions and consequences never set in because it goes back over and over again. It's the same cycle repeated through.

It's frustrating at this point because even my reactions to this book are going in a loop. I love it and I hate it when it slows down, but I love it again when it picks up and something actually plot focused happens.

I am going to get through the other 27% because I gave crazy money for the paperback but I just wanted to express my frustration anyway.

Edit: I finished it and OMGGG I wasn't ready for my heart wrenching in part three. It was worth it. But also, is reading manacled after this worth it? I am so so excited to read it but I can't rn because I wanna recover from Alchemised now 😭.

I’ve read Alchemised but not Manacled, and I’m really curious about this.

I know Alchemised was originally inspired by/reworked from Manacled, and I’ve seen people talk about Helena and Hermione, but having read the original Harry Potter books, I honestly can’t see much of Hermione’s personality in Helena at all.

So for people who have read both: how was Hermione actually written in Manacled? Was her personality already very similar to Helena’s, or did Helena change a lot when Alchemised became its own story?

I’m especially curious because when I think of book Hermione - her stubbornness, bossiness, confidence in her own intelligence, how outspoken she can be, etc. - she feels VERY different from Helena to me.

I don’t mind Manacled spoilers.

Or at very least, Helena didnt spent 14 months in stasis like in canon, but much less, like said 2 weeks, how would this change the timeline? Specially, considering >!Kaine became High Reeve in order to find Helena!<.

(I'm sure this has been talked about) but I think it's so beautiful, even in the midst of so much unthinkable pain, how Helena was able to built up these elaborate walls within her mind and then also hold the key to unlocking them. Like, it was not someone else who built up these elaborate walls to barricade her memories. It was her. And ultimately, it was her body, battered and broken, that overpowered the resistance in her mind while she rested.

Her body knew the way back, even when her mind didn't.

So much powerful symbolism in this story!!!

It reminds me of how whatever barriers are in my mind causing low self esteem, or hopelessness are self created. And if I created them, then surely I can bring those walls down. Maybe not through just thinking my way back to better mental health, but through my body - making the most of rest when I can get it. I don't have to know how it all works or what the timeframe is or how to optimize each and every moment. I just have to take it step by step and trust that it will happen.

Hi all experience Alchemised lovers. I need help SO BAD LOL. I have had the hard copy of alchemised for about 2-3 weeks now and I’ve also had manacled sent to me. I desperately need somebody to help me decide which one to read first because I’ve now wasted three weeks without reading either of them (could have probs been finished both by now lmao) because it’s conflicting me so badly.

So essentially I’ve been a Harry Potter fan forever and I love Draco and Hermione and I’ve never read a fanfic of them before so I really want to read manacled, but I’m scared that if I read it first, I’ll be ruining alchemised for myself because I’ll already know what happens and I won’t be able to separate Draco and Hermione from Helena and Kaine.

On the flipside, I don’t want to read alchemised first and ruin manacled because I will already know the plot and I’ll already know what happens therefore there will be no element of surprise and I may not enjoy it as much, so please if you could consider both of my points and somehow help me, I would be forever appreciative lol!!!

I was wondering: did Helena ever recover her full memory? I know in part three things gradually came back to her, like she started to remember her and Kaine‘s intimacy before she got caught.

But some things were never mentioned again: like how her research, experiments and advancements in using vivimancy were used after the war to torture her own people. She invented the manacles. At least the concept. But there was no realisation on her end, right?
Knowing her character, she must have felt immense guilt over it.

I always wondered whether Shiseo earned his spot, working in Central to install the nullium cuffs, by giving the Undying Helena’s concept of how to completely surpress the resonance.

It made me wonder whether she every fully regained her memories of what her contribution was. It was her who wanted to test and perfect transference. Yet it seemed that it was never fully resolved to her where the idea came from.

What do you think, did I miss anything?

I just started Part 2, and I'm a bit confused about something.

Throughout the book, vivimancy is described as being considered impure and even a "blasphemy" against the faith, among other things. Helena is accepted as a healer because (besides the fact that they need one) people see her healing as being "sanctioned" by Sun, and it seemed that she was the only one.

But now, in Part 2, Helena also says that other healers are able to practice for decades because they don't heal mortal wounds or bring the dead back to life.

So my question is: are there healers who aren't vivimancers? Was Helena the only vivimancer healer of the Eternal Flame? Also, we're told that physicians have to obtain an alchemical certification, so what's the difference between physicians and healers? Supposedly no one openly displayed their vivimancy abilities, but the book constantly refers to healers in the plural. Even when Ilva gives Helena the amulet, she says it’s customary for healers to wear one. So there have to be more of them, right?”