The Scarlet Alchemist
Ratings13
Average rating3.7
You cannot create good without also creating evil. 'DAZZLING' Chloe Gong Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she's trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table - resurrecting the dead, for a price. When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she'll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt. The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it's only a matter of time before they - and secrets of Zilan's past - catch up with her. A dark YA fantasy duology set in an alternate Tang Dynasty China, where alchemy has led to income inequality as the rich eat gold to achieve eternal youth, and a poor biracial girl with the ability to raise the dead gets caught up in the dangerous political games of the royal family.
Tags
Content Warning
Series
Featured Series
2 primary booksThe Scarlet Alchemist
The Scarlet Alchemist is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2023 with contributions by Kylie Lee Baker.
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Oooh this was good! Very bloody and fun. Super excited for the sequel!
I can't decide between 3.75 and 4 stars, so I will decide later while the books sits with me for a couple of days.
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The Scarlet Alchemist is a fun ride that features tons of alchemy, resurrecting people from the dead, zombie monsters and is one that isn't shy to pull some punches.
I have thoroughly enjoyed The Scarlet Alchemist. It is a very brigeable book with a fun concept and a bigger focus on the characters than the story. Zilan, our main character, is a bit of a mess. She does some questionable things in order to survive, but does have a moral compass. She reminded me quite a bit of Rin from The Poppy War (though Rin's moral compass is debatable), a lite version of her anyway. Both make a lot of rash decisions out of desperation and have to face the consequences later. The story makes Zilan acknowledge that she might have been too cocky and insecure, and she has to live with the consequences of her actions from before the book began, as well as what she had done during the length of the book. If you do not like very flawed characters, Fu Zilan might not be the character for you but I personally had a blast watching her make bad decisions and the book being aware of that. Gimme more of that!
Our love interest, Li Hong, was also quite refreshing. He is a soft and sensitive guy who tries his best. I am tired of every other YA having a broody, mysterious guy in every book so it was nice to see a different kind of love interest (I don't dislike them, i just want variety). I also appreciate that while the book had romance and it definitely was important, the focus was more so on the politics, familiar bonds and, most importantly, Zilan's character and her potential to grow in the future installments.
I do have a few complaints however!
The world-building isn't rich and there were a few situations in the book that just do not make logical sense. They happen to move the plot forward and to make the situation seem more dire, but it was hard to take it seriously when it didn't make much sense. The plot was also quite predictable for the most part, there were only 2 revelations that I did not expect, but i don't think it makes the book bad by any means but it does lower my rating a bit.
I think this series has a lot of potential and I can't wait for the sequel. While this book wasn't afraid to pull the punches, I am hoping Kylie Lee Baker ups it even more and we are going to get emotionally destroyed in the next installment. I need my dose of pain and suffering from my books.
Definitely an extremely fun ride and I have to thank my friend Emily for being so enthusiastic about recommending this book because I wouldn't have picked it up otherwise and that'd be a shame!
