The Alchemy of Forever by Avery Williams

The Alchemy of Forever (Incarnation #1)

Author: Avery Williams

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

Pages: 256

Rating: 4.5 Stars!

Seraphina’s first love made her immortal…her second might get her killed. 

Incarnation is a new series that introduces a fresh mythology perfect for fans of bestselling series like The Immortals by Alyson Noel and Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. 

After spending six hundred years on earth, Seraphina Ames has seen it all. Eternal life provides her with the world’s riches, but at a very high price: innocent lives. Centuries ago, her boyfriend, Cyrus, discovered a method of alchemy that allows them to swap bodies with other humans, jumping from one vessel to the next, taking 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. 

Then sixteen-year-old Kailey Morgan gets into a horrific car accident right in front of her, and Sera accidentally takes over her body. For the first time, Sera finds herself enjoying the life of the person she’s inhabiting—and falls for the human boy who lives next door. But Cyrus will stop at nothing until she’s his again, and every moment she stays, she’s putting 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?~Goodreads

This book was so flawlessly written. The pages and the chapters all blended together so incredibly well that it was basically impossible to put this book down! The writing and the descriptions in this book were so stunning and honestly gorgeous (even more so than the cover!)  I found myself rereading sections and pages 2 or 3 times.

I mean is this not an amazing excerpt:

“They say Halloween is a time when the veil over the world of the spirits is the thinnest, when ghosts can cross over and whisper in our ears or touch us on the cheek. I want to believe this—and I don’t.”

The imagery in that quote is...just...no words. I can’t even explain to you how much I love that quote! The writing style in The Alchemy of Forever has a very delicate feel to it. Almost like every word is very carefully placed to create a brilliant sentence. Or maybe that’s just the main character’s voice. Either way...I loved it. 

We meet the main character, Seraphina, during a masquerade ball where her troubles all begin. There, she falls for the Alchemist’s son, Cyrus, and the rest is history. But I can’t blame her, I totally would’ve fallen for him too! His bright blonde hair, brilliant blue eyes, sweet smile, and witty remarks...*swoon!* But after Cyrus turns Sera into an Incarnate, he becomes extremely protective and overbearing (I still found him completely sexy. Evil, but totally sexy. Just sayin’!) He makes her feel trapped, constantly dictating everything her and the other Incarnates do.

Oh man! I wish there would’ve been more of the coven! Jared is described as a sexy pirate who acts as a bodyguard from time to time. And Sera’s best friend, Charlotte, was so adorably cute. From the little I read about the other Incarnates, I liked them a lot!

So anyway, after 600 years of being alive, Sera’s ready to be done. She’s ready to be done stealing innocent lives, dispersing souls and switching bodies, she doesn’t want to be trapped in this life anymore.

But things don’t go quite as planned and she ends up taking over Kailey Morgan’s body and life. And dudes, Kailey’s family is awesome! Her mom and dad are such....parents! I loved it. And her brother, Bryan, is hilarious! He’s constantly teasing her and she gives it right back. Bryan also likes Kailey’s best friend and he’s so adorable when he gets all flustered!  Yep. I love her brother. I basically loved all the boys in this book. What a surprise, right!? :P

The only thing I can complain about is that I wish the book would’ve been longer! The story unfolded so quickly, and I whipped through it so fast, I found myself wanting more! More details, more descriptions, more flashbacks, more Noah! Ah! Noah. He is the sweetest thing ever.

The ending was a complete SHOCKER! I honestly did NOT see it coming! (How did I miss that?!)

The Alchemy of Forever is an incredible, suspenseful, fast-paced debut and I canNOT wait to see how things play out in the second book!

Another quote I heart:

“I picture each life I’ve led like beads strung together on a necklace to make me who I am, the sum of all these jewels. And each shiny bead turned to a puff of smoke, a necklace made of ghosts, one bead for one lost girl.”