Alchemised is the debut fantasy novel of American author SenLinYu. The book was published in September 2025 by Del Rey Books[1] in the United States and Penguin Michael Joseph in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.[2] Described as both dark fantasy and dark romance,[3] the standalone novel follows the life of a former alchemist, Helena Marino, as she recovers her memories of a civil war.[4][5] It reached number one on the New York Times best-seller list in the week after its release.[6]
In February 2024, it was announced that the North American publishing rights to Alchemised had been acquired by Emily Archbold[14] at Del Rey in a two book deal[14] and that SenLinYu had begun the process of redrafting Manacled in December 2022.[8] SenLinYu has stated that they were inspired to adapt Manacled into Alchemised in part because of unauthorized monetisation of Manacled by fans, with Alchemised being a way for SenLinYu to benefit from the works popularity.[15][16] In a 2024 interview with Rolling Stone, they described the process of removing references to copyrighted intellectual properties from the work as "liberating" but "definitely hard".[17][18] The book's plot is largely similar to the original fanfiction[19] with SenLinYu stating they maintained scenes that they felt had been integral to Manacled.[11]
Plot and structure
Alchemised is mostly told in third person limited focusing on the experiences of the main character, Helena Marino.[20][21] The book is divided into three parts, with the story being continuous between parts one and three and, in part two, shifting to focus on four years before the events of part one.[22]
The novel follows Helena Marino, a former alchemy student and resistance healer, imprisoned after the end of a civil war. After waking from 14 months of stasis, Helena is interrogated and tortured before discovering that her mind has been magically altered leaving her unable to remember details of her life before the end of the war. After being fitted with magic (referred to as Resonance) nullifying manacles, she is transported to the home of The High Reeve, and her former academic rival, Kaine Ferron, for experimentation to recover her memories. Whilst imprisoned, Helena repeatedly undergoes Transference, in which Ferron enters her mind, causing her to suffer from temporary brain inflammation and seizures. Unable to escape the house, she repeatedly attempts to kill herself, being prevented each time by Ferron. Eventually, The High Necromancer who now rules the country, Morrough, determines that Helena erased her own memories. Helena later discovers, via the newspapers to which she is allowed access, the re-emergence of The Resistance through the assassination of the warden, Mandl, who had initially imprisoned her.
Without her knowledge, Helena's sterilization is non-consensually reversed by Morrough's scientist, Doctor Stroud. She is forcefully enrolled in the country's Repopulation Programme and told that she and Ferron must conceive a child within two months. Over the course of a week, Ferron rapes Helena daily. Two weeks later, Stroud determines that Helena is pregnant; as Helena becomes increasingly depressed and physically weakened she eventually recovers her lost memories.
Beginning four years prior to the events of part one, the story begins to recount Helena's lost memories in part 2.
The story then returns to the point at which Helena regained her memories in part 3.
Publication
In September 2025,[23] Alchemised released with an initial print run of 750,000 books in anticipation of high demand.[24] The book was initially translated into 21 languages.[25] At the time of its release, Alchemised was Penguin's most pre-ordered debut of 2025.[21]
The book's cover was designed by Eva Eller.[26] A black and white interior illustration by Avendell, the artist who had created the cover and illustrations for the fanfiction Manacled,[11] was featured in the book.[2] Eleven additional scene illustrations were released as a pre-order incentive.[27]
SenLinYu promoted the book through USA and UK wide book tours[25][28] as well as appearances at the 2025 San Diego and upcoming 2025 London comic cons.[29][30]
Reception
Alchemised received mixed critical reviews. In a unstarred review by Kirkus Reviews, Alchemised was described as having "a fresh feel" as a result of the book's "superb worldbuilding coupled with unforgettable imagery" but that the book's "melodrama sometimes is a bit much".[31] In another review, the Daily Mail described Alchemised as "a work of staggering ambition" that's "gothic claustrophobia wraps the reader in its dark embrace."[2] The book was similarly praised for its "sweeping dark romance" as well as its "fast paced narrative and brisk feel despite its massive bulk" in a review by Lucy Baugher Milas at Paste Magazine, although the review also criticised the "repetitive" nature of the book's romantic scenes as well as the "story's secondary characters and relationships", describing them as "fairly thinly sketched at best, with many serving as little more than plot devices" that "count on the fact that many readers will simply default to mapping Harry and Hermione's relationship" onto that in Alchemised.[22] A review by the Guardian further described the book as "very readable".[32]
The book's wider reception was mostly positive,[33] with an average rating of 4.61 out of 5 from over 25,000 ratings on review site Goodreads 3 weeks after its release.[34] In its first week, Alchemised was reported to have sold 145,000 copies in the United States according to publishing platform BookScan. The book was an instant number one bestseller in the New York Times,[6]USA Today,[35]Los Angeles Times[36] and Indie[37] bestseller lists.
Adaptations
On September 10, 2025 it was announced that the movie rights to the, at the time unreleased, novel had been purchased by production company Legendary Entertainment in a seven-figure deal.[38][39] The deal was made as part of a pre-emptive offer to prevent expected competition for the book's adaptation rights, and is thought to be one of the highest amounts paid for a book's movie rights: exceeding $3 million.[40] In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, SenLinYu stated that they "were honored by Legendary's incredible enthusiasm for the project and can't wait to see the world of Paladia come to life".[39] The movie is not yet in production.[41][40]
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