The Alkahest: A Dark Academia Alchemy Romantasy (The Alchemy Trials) by Rachel Vincent

Still haunted by amnesia, alchemy student Amber Fallbrook must uncover the cause of a plague turning citizens into metallic-toned statues. But the rot at the heart of the realm runs deeper than even she suspected. New York Times bestselling author Rachel Vincent (Soul Screamers, the Shifters) pens a dark paranormal romantasy centered on alchemy magic—and those who dare harness it. After the shocking truths uncovered in The Alchemary, Amber Fallbrook has been forced into an uneasy alliance with an enemy. But her trials—both literal and personal—are far from over. The Alchemary has been ordered to work with its rival, the Alkahest, to find a cure for the aurum plague. To avoid derailing the third-year trials, the schools will host a combined Red Trial at the distant Alkahest campus, hidden deep inside a remote mountain. With distrust of alchemy at an all-time high, a sentiment the traditionalist Toolkeepers enflame for their own use, Amber must work with new rivals and old friends to prepare for the Red Trial, design a cure for the plague, and make sense of returning memories that threaten to upend everything she thought she knew. As if that weren’t enough, the Alkahest has secrets of its own, and the two brothers bonded to her by love, friendship, and alchemy seem to have conflicting ambitions. As allegiances shift and dark corners of alchemy take hold of students and professors alike, Amber isn’t sure who she can trust. And the closer she gets to a cure, the more of a threat she becomes to the secret force determined to take over an entire kingdom. . . . Read more