The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

The Alchemy of Forever

by Avery Williams

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?

Reviewed by e_rodz_leb on

4 of 5 stars

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I had high expectations for The Alchemy of Forever and I’m sad to say it didn’t entirely meet them.


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.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 1 June, 2012: Finished reading
  • 1 June, 2012: Reviewed