Artemis
Written on Jul 6, 2012
After spending six hundred years on Earth, Seraphina Ames' eternal life provides her with the world's riches, but at a very high price. Centuries ago her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to take the bodies of other humans by 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. But then sixteen-year old Kailey Morgan gets inbto a horrific car accident right of front of Seraphina and Sera accidentally takes over the body while trying to save Kailey. For the first time Sera finds herself enjoying the life of the person she's inhabiting, and falling for the human boy next door. But Cyrus wants Sera back again. Will Sera have to give up the true love that's eluded her for centuries?
- ISBN10 1442443162
- ISBN13 9781442443167
- Publish Date 3 January 2012
- Publish Status Out of Stock
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Simon & Schuster
- Imprint Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 256
- Language English
Reviews
lizarodz
Written on Jun 1, 2012
Sera is a strange character. She has been alive for a long time, and has finally had enough of living and of taking lives in order to do so. I do understand her disillusionment and eagerness to just stop, I just don’t agree with the way she went about it. She did make an awful number of mistakes with her escape plan; I don’t want to go into details so I don’t spoil the story for you. Sera is a good person, but also a bit lost since Cyrus always took care of everything. When she takes over Kailey’s life she has to pass herself for a teenager, without having a clue how to act. It’s apparent that Kailey was very controlling, a bit volatile, with strong opinions on everything and a snob. Sera/Kailey acts in a complete different way that it’s out of character, but since the changes are good everyone is will to accept them at face value.
Cyrus was an evil, controlling, and intolerant and I don’t understand why Sera didn’t find a way to get rid of him instead (sorry of the violent thoughts!) Noah was actually very sweet, he is Kailey’s childhood friend and he is obviously in love with her. Their romance was believable, and didn’t feel ‘instant’.
One of the things I love the most was Kailey’s family dynamics, this is actually a very close knitted family, which is always refreshing to see.
The plot is a new approach to alchemy that involves ‘body hopping’, but unfortunately the ‘body’ needs to be dead for the alchemist to take over. This part is a bit creepy and totally unnatural; I wish that there was more background information about it and about the life of the coven. The story is quite short, the writing is easy to read and with a comfortable pace. The ending was a cliffhanger which I never appreciate :(
Overall The Alchemy of Forever is a quick, easy read. The next installment, The Impossibility of Tomorrow, will be published in January of next year and will patiently (*cough*) wait for it.
About the cover: The cover is truly beautiful, with a little sheen to it. In it we see Sera and various reflections of her.
Amber
Written on Mar 6, 2012
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Review here: http://www.booksofamber.com/2012/03/alchemy-of-forever-by-avery-williams.html
The Alchemy of Forever is a very short book at just over 250 pages. At first I was wary, because I often find that authors don't flesh out the characters or the plot in shorter novels and they're trying to keep it compact, and then I end up disliking the book. This wasn't exactly the case with The Alchemy of Forever though. I did enjoy it, just not as much as I was hoping to.
Seraphina is the main protagonist and she is over 600 years old. Over these 600 years, she has been stuck with the same guy - Cyrus - who made her what she is. Sera is a really nice protagonist, who feels it is now her time to die. Instead, she is transferred into the body of a dying girl and she ends up living with this girl's family and friends, living her life.
I have to admit, we don't know much about Seraphina. Does she have any hobbies or interests? The lack of hobbies may be explained by her backstory, as she grew up in the 1400's and her main interest was finding a husband, and then her life revolved around Cyrus after that. I don't know, though, I just thought we'd learn more about her than we did.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading about Sera and how selfless she could be. She really did want to just leave this world instead of killing people so she could take over their bodies. I loved reading about her as she settled into her new life, however brief that may have been. I have to say, though, that for a 600 year old she really did make some stupid decisions. She claims that she knew Cyrus as well as he knew her and yet... Well, that would be a spoiler. Let's just say she doesn't know him as well as she thought, or she is just ridiculously naive.
Cyrus is one scary guy! He was probably my favourite part of the novel. He's an excellent antagonist and whenever he was on the page I was holding my breath, waiting for him to make his move.
Noah is the love interest, but he didn't really do much. I liked him well enough, but he wasn't the most interesting character. At all. He seemed really sensitive and plain, and that's just not my thing.
The Alchemy of Forever is very gripping and fast paced. I read it in just five hours, before I went to bed, and I am so glad I stayed awake to finish it! Avery Williams has a fabulous writing style which makes what could have been an average book ten times better!