Name: A Forbidden Alchemy
Series: A Forbidden Alchemy #1
Author: Stacey McEwan
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Format: Hardback
Genres: Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Spice Rating: Behind Closed Doors 🌶️🌶️
Rating: (Actual Rating: 4.75)
Synopsis: Goodreads
Nina Harrow and Patrick Colson are twelve years old when they are whisked away from the shadows of their disenfranchised mining towns to dazzling Belavere City to discover their magical potential. Those who pass Belavere’s test will become Artisans, wielders of powerful elemental magic destined to fulfill the city’s grand ambitions. For Nina, the Artisan School symbolizes a dream and an escape from her harsh reality, while Patrick yearns to return to his Craftsman family, whose extraordinary physical strength serves the idium mines keeping the city alive.
And then they uncover a devastating truth: Artisans aren’t born, they’re chosen. They part ways on very different paths, leaving them to carry the burden of this secret alone.
In the years that follow, a Craftsman revolution ignites, thrusting Nina and Patrick into opposing factions of a brewing war. Now an elite Artisan with the very rare talent for charming earth, Nina has turned her back on the fight, haunted by the loss of her found family. But fate intervenes when she is captured by Patrick’s rebel group. Despite the years and conflict that separates them, Patrick hasn’t forgotten Nina. He desperately seeks her help for a mission that could shift the tides against Belavere City. Reluctantly, she agrees, battling the sparks flying between them. But when Nina’s first love reappears, asking her to betray Patrick for the sake of the Artisans, Nina faces an impossible choice that could alter the fate of their world.
Review:
Guys, I ate this up. I loved A Forbidden Alchemy! It’s a brilliant romantasy with a love story brewing that I am totally here for – and questioning whether we’re going to end up with a love triangle – all while there is a class system that has resulted in a rebellion that’s turning deadlier by the day…
Are you intrigued? You should be! We follow Nina and Patrick, who begin the story on the same side – they’re both crafters’ children, who turn 12 and are invited to the siphoning. This is the moment they find out whether or not that they have magical abilities that would change there status from Crafters to Artisans… only it doesn’t go to plan as they discover the system is rigged. Nina therefore choose to join the Artisans and Patrick chooses to remain a Crafter.
I really liked how this book was written. The beginning starts with chapters that are very quickly going through time as we pop in and out of Nina’s time at school learning how to use her abilities, until we join her at graduation and of course this is when all hell breaks loose and the story really begins. Stacey has a large cast of characters, but has managed to make them all feel unique!
In addition to that, what started out (for me) as a predictable story that I was having fun with, quickly turned into anything but predictable. I was impressed with Stacey’s ability to catch me totally off guard! This could be down to how convinced I was that I knew exactly where things were going, so maybe I missed sign posts, but I don’t think so. I think she wrote a really clever story that I am completely invested in and I can’t wait for more.
The pacing was off in places, which was the only reason for the slightly docked rating because otherwise this would have been a 5. The style, the characters, the plot were all brilliant. And that little bit of ‘off’, was not enough to pull be out of the book! Final rating is 4.75 Stars!
“I’d be a fool not to ensure I have all my knives sharpened.”
Reading With Tyler 
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