Lily Crozier

Totally different works that I have to hold in my head at the same time.

So I read the original, I think, I think it was a midway through 2023.

Okay.

So actually it wasn't that long ago.

It wasn't that long ago.

No.

Cause I think it came out originally 2019 or something.

So I was quite late to it.

And then I read Alchemist for the first time.

It was in the editorial period.

So it was March, 2025.

And so there was not long of a gap that was still very familiar at that point.

I was the first person in Australia to read it.

I personally didn't find it as confronting.

This is again where I'm holding two versions of two similar books in my head.

But I the way Alchemist had been built up for me was in fan fiction culture, there's kind of a like an idea of a dead dove fic.

And so that refers to dark themes that are explored in a way that is not necessarily comfortable and not necessarily respectful or either.

And so if you haven't read Alchemist, there is a perception that it glorifies all of the dark themes.

And so I went into it not really sure how Sen had handled it.

And so reading what I ended up finding, it was actually, it ended up being less confronting than I'd prepared myself for, which I think is not most people's experience going in.