Book Review: The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

Series: Incarnation #1
Genre: YA Paranormal
Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Format: ebook
Pages: 256
Source: PulseIt website

After spending six hundred years on Earth, Seraphina Ames has seen it all. Eternal life provides her with the world's riches but at a very high price: innocent lives. Centuries ago, her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to take the bodies of other humans from jumping from one vessel to the next, ending the human's life in the process. No longer able to bear the guilt of what she's done, Sera escapes from Cyrus and vows to never kill again.

Then sixteen-year old Kailey Morgan gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her, and Sera accidentally takes over her body while trying to save her. For the first time, Sera finds herself enjoying the life of the person she's inhabiting--and falling in love with the boy who lives next door. But Cyrus will stop at nothing until she's his again, and every moment she stays, she's putting herself and the people she's grown to care about in danger. Will Sera have to give up the one thing that's eluded her for centuries: true love? (goodreads.com)

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I'd heard amazing things about this book before starting it, and I've really been into incarnation and reincarnation lately. So as you can imagine I was really excited to start this book, though I still didn't really know what it was about. I can't say that I am head over heels for it.

It starts with a prologue. Something you may or may not know about me is that I very rarely like a prologue. And the one in this novel especially didn't work for me. It felt very rushed and unbelievable. I was extremely hesitant to continue on after that, but of course I did. I found that parts of the book had the same rushed feeling, but it wasn't too bad to the point where I wanted to give up again.

The plot was interesting, though I always struggle with the "pretending to be a person you're not" storyline. I mean, how does the family and friends not realize that  a person has COMPLETELY changed. Sera enters the body of a teenage girl -- something she hasn't been for centuries. This teenage girl was an artist and she had friends and loved ones. She had a complete history that Sera didn't know, and yet she managed to pass as this girl without raising many questions. Uh hello? Am I the only one who just doesn't believe that? But I did really like how Cyrus was after her. There was a definite tension throughout the novel that couldn't be ignored.

Sera was an okay character. She got kind of annoying at times and I really just wanted to smack her. In the beginning she kept going on about how she needs to die. I understand why she believed that and why she kept thinking it, but I don't want to hear about it over and over. It sounded so....emo. And then she was too weak to stick to a decision. She kept saying that she was going to run away, because it was the right thing to do. Then she wouldn't run away, and she would rationalize that STAYING was the right thing to do.

Th romance was all right. It wasn't the heart-thumping kind, but it was still really sweet to read and I was rooting for Sera and her love the entire time. The writing was gorgeous and I love the way that the author incorporated alchemy into the story, though I would like to see a little more of that in the next book. The ending was fabulous, though! It made me eager for the next book and broke my heart.

All in all, this was a book that many people will enjoy, though it didn't particularly rock my socks. I you're looking for a super quick read packed with great tension and an awesome premise, I'd say you should pick up The Alchemy of Forever.