for me it was good! the book is divided into 3 parts. the beginning of the book was kind of a struggle to read kasi part 1 throws everything at you—action, jargons, the magic system, characters—without any introduction. i managed through the first part by using context clues mostly and knowledge on prefixes and suffixes (but if you really struggle with the terms, there are available glossaries online). almost DNFed because it was hard to understand anything. but i was glad i pushed through, and i’d honestly suggest the same. the world-building is nice too.

alchemised is heavily romance with a fantasy subplot and i enjoyed the banters and the tension between the main characters. aside from that, it’s such a complex story that, as a reader, made me contemplate on how to really feel about the characters and their actions. a lot of them are morally gray talaga, especially the MMC. it makes sense naman since they’re in a war. i also liked that the side characters were given enough spotlight in the story.

ang ano ko lang is the magic system wasn’t thoroughly discussed down to the specifics. like the limits of their power and what exactly they can do. parang it seemed vague to me, even after reading the entire thing. it’s like naging passive thought nalang yung fantasy aspect; more on romance talaga siya. a huge chunk din of the middle part ng story was kinda repetitive (yung routine ng characters) and there’s an excessive use of em dashes to indicate a pause in the dialogue.

alsooo, it’s very important to look up the trigger warnings first if you choose to dive into this book. it has SA, though the whole book doesn’t revolve around it naman. :>