Alchemised

it had me in the first 320 pages, but after that it was a lesson in how long can i tolerate helena. her continued self sabotaging allegiance to her oppressors and refusal to choose happiness became grating. at no point did it ever feel like helena escaped the cyclic nature of her elective subservience, even when she had the means to do so. she constantly criticized everyone else for their self sacrificing choices and never once looked in a damn mirror. i suppose it means she was a well written flawed character, but jesus fuck was she frustrating. kaine’s narrative redemption in the flashbacks did very little to endear me to him. his deliberate and continued aggressive violence in “training”never became charming, but his wretched sob story was actually well handled. these two fucked up little weirdos truly found their match in each other. someone to sacrifice yourself for every day an also let beat the shit out of you from time to time. also i don’t think any of the combat was well written but that’s really not the point of the story anyways is it.