Review~ The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

The Alchemy of Forever
by Avery Williams
Series: Incarnation #1
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release date : January 3rd 2012
Genres: Romance, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 256
Source: Purchased | Format: Hardcover
Goodreads

In the first novel of the Incarnation series, the immortal Serephina grapples with a wrenching truth: Falling in love might mean succumbing to death.People say “love never dies”…but love might be the death of Seraphina.

Seraphina has been alive since the Middle Ages, when her boyfriend, Cyrus, managed to perfect a method of alchemy that lets them swap bodies with any human being. Sera ran away from Cyrus years ago, when she realized that what they were doing—taking the lives of innocent people—was wrong. Yet she doesn't want to die, so she finds young people who are on the brink of death, and inhabits their bodies.

Sera has just landed in the body of a girl named Kailey who was about to die in a car accident. For the first time, Sera falls in love with the life of the person she’s inhabiting. Sera also falls for the boy next door, Noah. And soon it’s clear the feelings are returned. But she can never kiss Noah, because for her to touch lips with a human would mean the human’s death. And she has even more to worry about: Cyrus is chasing her. If she stays in one place for long, she puts herself—and the people she’s grown to care for—in great danger. Will Sera have to give up the one thing that’s eluded her for centuries: true love?

Review

 The whole idea of reincarnation completely fascinates me. I was excited to read this book so imagine my glee when I found it on the bargain shelf at my local book store. The premise of the plot was intriguing and the whole concept on how the incarnates were created was different; the use of Alchemy. And actually taking over a live body vs coming back after dying. Sadly though, that was the only thing I really liked about this book. I felt the whole book just lacked.

I have no problem with short books. You can easily connect with a character and be engrossed in the story. When done right. This book just didn’t have that. Save for the prologue and first few chapters, the flow was choppy and lacked an easy flow. The pacing of the book was pretty fast but not in a good way. I wasn’t able to engage myself into the story or really care what happened next. There wasn’t a whole lot of back story on the history of Alchemy as well as the characters. I wanted to know more about the incarnates. I wanted to know more about Sera and Cyrus (as well as everybody else).

As for Sera. There’s not a whole lot of say about her, really. All I know about Sera is; she’s 600 years old. She was 14 when she became an incarnate. She hates her life and wants to end it. She is terrified of her (boyfriend?) Cyrus. That’s it. I could see why she wanted to leave, or end things, as it were. But let’s be real here, 600 years is a long time to be that naive and suddenly grow and conscience. She’s childish, whiny and just all around aggravating.

It was implied that Kailey had some issues in her life, but we never knew what. So, why plant that idea? Who is this girl? That mysterious intention was not necessary and irritating. For love supposedly being the main motivator for Sera, it felt forced. And the “romance” was boring. The relationship build up between Noah and Sera was juvenile and more on a friend basis vs “true love”. I didn’t buy it. Not to mention, it’s obvious that Noah has been harboring feelings for Kailey for quite some time, so I didn’t like the impression that he was falling in love with Sera in Kailey’s body.

Overall- I’m not a fan. This book had so much potential, had things been explained in more detail and had more depth to the characters. I’m not invested and quite frankly, interested, to continue on and read the second book.