Book Review: Alchemised by SenLinYu

In a war-torn world ruled by necromancy, Helena awakens in captivity with no memory of who she is or what she once fought for. As one of the last surviving members of a fallen resistance, she becomes the focus of a powerful and feared enforcer determined to unlock the secrets buried deep within her mind. Trapped in a dangerous game of control, memory, and survival, Helena must piece together her past while navigating a world where power comes at a devastating cost. As fragments of truth begin to surface, the line between enemy and ally—and even right and wrong—starts to blur.

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Alchemised

SenLinYu

Publisher: Del Rey

Published Date: September 23, 2025

Genres: Dark Fantasy Romance, Gothic, Retelling

1031 Pages / 36 Hours 14 Minutes

Date Read: March 5-21, 2026

Format: 📱+🎧

Source: Kindle Purchase + Audible

* Originally published as the fanfiction Manacled on AO3 by Aug 2019.

As always, if you prefer a spoiler free review please read my quick review instead of the in depth review below.

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About the Book

A Resistance healer and skilled alchemist, Helena Marino, is a prisoner of war. Helena suffers from an uncharacteristic memory loss of the months leading to her capture causing her enemies to wonder: Was the Resistance hiding a truly significant secret within her mind? Helena was tasked to the High Reeve, one of the most ruthless necromancers, to retrieve her memories. Helena must fight for herself as she uncovers much deeper secrets within her prison and of her captor.

Quick Review (Spoiler Free)

I was so sucked in. I started with the audiobook and could not believe it was a 36+ hour listen. I listened to just under 12 hrs of it and finished the remainder on Kindle because I needed to know what was happening. This was another 4 am realization that I had to put it down and take a break. I now understand why everyone loved Manacled so much!

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Now, let's get into the details!!

(Note: Some text may appear to be blocked out, just highlight that text to read it.)

I absolutely love the Draco x Hermione fan fics. I have not tackled Manacled at this point because I knew it would it would be a long one. I knew that it would be a heavy emotional read and even reading Alchemised it was still everything I had expected it to be.

Helena is based off Hermione and Kaine is based off Draco. The way that the characters were all arranged was nicely done. I really enjoy a good enemies to lovers read and especially when we get to see Draco being his typical asshole self and then start to fall in love with Hermione. I did not expect the events to happen as they did. When it shifted to Part Two I did not realize it would jump back to the past and I was like 'oh no you don't... I need answers'. And then I got gut punched with everything that brought us back to the end of Part One when Part Three started. It was such a good way to do a flashback and I ate it up!!

Now that I'm finished I just really feel bound to these characters. It was such a good story and I wasn't ready for it to be over. Even though the first half of the book had some slow points, it was all worth it when the details started coming together in the end.

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Ratings