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The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker
Series : The Scarlet Alchemist #1
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 to the capital, 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.
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When I saw the cover reveal for this one back in February I think I swooned, and reading the blurb had me wanting to get my hands on it immediately!❣️✨ Anyway, I'm glad that I could read this one early because it was amazing!😍 It's been a while since I devoured a fantasy read as quickly as I did with this one!
Set in an alternate Tang Dynasty China where alchemists have managed to extend lives with alchemical gold, this book follows Fan Zilan, the daughter of a merchant family who yearns to become a royal alchemist and she won't let anything get in her way. To make ends meet while she stays with her uncle, aunt and cousins, she brings the dead back to life(for a price of course) even though she doesn't know the exact ramifications of going against nature. As she and her cousins take part in the imperial examinations and travel to the capital, Zilan who's mixed race faces more challenges and becomes even more determined to succeed. But, the closer she's to attaining her dreams the danger also increases - with monsters in the Imperial Palace and power struggles within the royal family.
Zilan was such an interesting MC - a bit brash, ruthless to herself and others, and eager for quick success. But I think these flaws made me love her more because it made her feel so real and provided room for a lot of character development. The bond between her and her cousins stood out because she loved her family more than anything. She had a lot of sharp edges but is soft on the inside and had me wanting to give her a hug at times. On the other hand, the Crown Prince Li Hong is her opposite as he's quite clueless and naive(somewhat of a himbo at times😂) but this makes him very endearing. Honestly, any other prince would have beheaded her for the amount of disrespect that she showed him lol😂
The alchemical aspect made this one very unique and interesting. And what surprised me was the spooky touch with the monsters and the subsequent events that kinda veered this toward dark fantasy. I think what made me enjoy this one even more is the fact that unlike other YA books - Zilan underestimates her opponents at times and faces the consequences. It shouldn't be that easy to bring down an antagonist who's like 10 times your age right😂 So this made it more realistic for me as Zilan acts the way any teenager would. It was so fast-paced and the action ramps up in the second half. I literally couldn't bring myself to put this one down and after that ending, I'm dying to get my hands on the next book!
Do read this one if you're in the mood for an amazing historical fantasy with a determined MC and some alchemy(along with a reanimated 🦆)!
You can also find this review on my bookstagram here
*I was provided with an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest
review*
Kylie Lee Baker grew up in Boston and has since lived in Atlanta, Salamanca, and Seoul. Her work is informed by her heritage (Japanese, Chinese, & Irish) as well as her experiences living abroad as both a student and teacher. She has a BA in creative writing and Spanish from Emory University and is pursuing a master of library and information science degree at Simmons University. In her free time, she plays the cello, watches horror movies, and bakes too many cookies. The Keeper of Night is her debut novel.
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