I loved the first half of the book, but it took me longer to enjoy the second half of the book

This book was wild and the ending was a batshit gory blood bath. I appreciated how chaotic it was and how it isn't your typical fantasy story about magic and resurrection. I loved the mixed race representation. The "lessons learned" here are very different than your typical story. The plot twists felt so unbelievable and hard to follow though.  Read like gory indulgent violent fantasy, which I guess isn't my thing. 

Zilan is an orphan living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in the southern region of China in an alternate history where Chinese alchemists were successful in finding an elixir of immortality.

Only the rich have access, and while they don’t age, they can die through other means. 

Zilan is an alchemist, and she and her cousins, Wenshu and Yufei, perform illegal life alchemy that brings the recently deceased back to life to earn the money they need for their family to survive. 

Their dream is to move to the capital, Chang’an, for Zilan to become a royal alchemist, and her cousins to become civil servants; but to become a royal alchemist, Zilan has to pass the entrance exams, and the odds seemed stacked against her. 

Can she pass, when it seems like almost everyone is against her? And is being a royal alchemist really everything she thought it would be?

This book was amazing! The plot is creative, and the twists are so well done. I was hooked from the first chapter, and I can’t wait for the next book in the series.

 Also on Snow White Hates Apples.

A captivating and vivid reimagining of Chinese history during which the only (regarded as) legitimate female Emperor Wu Zetian ruled, The Scarlet Alchemist is a new addition to a growing and much-loved subgenre that needs to be read.

Here, we have Zilan, half-Chinese and half-wailao who’s without a mother and father, but much loved by her aunt, uncle and two cousins — so much so that they’re practically immediate family. Together, they run a mingqi business, which despite death being a daily occurrence, isn’t doing well. The poor are too poor to buy mingqi for their deceased loved ones while the rich are too scared of death to die so they resort to eating life gold which gives them longevity.

Nevertheless, an extended life doesn’t mean that one can’t die so what do the rich do when one of their own dies? When they’re desperate enough to pay any price to bring back the deceased? Why, they go to a backwater village, walk through the part of the neighbourhood even the villagers themselves turn their noses up at, and find Zilan who has that exact ability they’re looking for.

It’s breaking all sorts of laws — in fact, anything related to the necromantic/blood alchemy Zilan does defies the balance and can have severe consequences or less-than-ideal results, But, for Zilan, it’s a means of survival for her family because the gold the rich pays to stay alive can bring rice to their table, can improve the health of her ailing aunt and uncle, can allow Zilan and her cousins to travel to the capital for the imperial exams that can better their lives should they pass both the exams and the political games that are undoubtedly there.

So, Zilan’s willingness to go against everything for her and her loved ones’ sake? That’s admirable. I really like how she braves her fears and how she takes on the challenges that come her way with cleverness and viciousness. Zilan may come off as rude or selfish to some, but I think it makes her complex and more relatable.

Other than that, I like that Prince Li Hong is a more lighthearted character in contrast to Zilan. He isn’t as strong, as smart or as brave, but he’s sweet, loves his ducks dearly and provides the story with seamlessly integrated touches of humour. Though, I must admit the romance between him and Zilan felt unbalanced. It’s clear that Li Hong likes Zilan more than she likes him, so this makes all the romantic parts feel out of the blue. Still, I think that this simply means more opportunity for Zilan’s feelings to develop and strengthen in the next book.

(Also, idk about you but that moment when Zilan had to choose between the two in her life? Amazing. 10/10 the perfect choice. I bawled at that scene.)

Anyway, if a BAMF female lead who can resurrect people and a gentle male lead who loves his pet ducks caught up in the typical political games of the upper class isn’t enough of a win for you, consider the following plusses: undead made of gems, stunning twists and turns, and fast-paced action. (Yes, you need to read The Scarlet Alchemist ASAP!)

 

Inspired by ancient China, this book re-imagines what might have happened if Chinese alchemists had figured out the secret to immortality. It's definitely a twisty fantasy, and Zilan, our protagonist isn't necessarily the most likable main character, but she is fierce and defiant and knows what she wants. Baker incorporates a lot of plot twists in relation to her character, and I enjoyed that overall, it kept me constantly guessing as to what was going to happen next.

Of course, the ending is left a bit open, leaving room for a second book. I believe it's going to be a duology, but I've been wrong in that aspect before. However, the events in this book are pretty much wrapped up for the most part, just leaving some loose ends that will likely be addressed in the second book. 

The way Baker used ancient Chinese alchemy as her inspiration and ran with it made the magic system feel unique. I was invested and intrigued for this entire book, and I'm excited to pick up the second book when it eventually comes out!

↠ Content warnings: death, written depictions of dead bodies, child death, resurrection, murder, gore, cussing.
↠ Pages: 424
↠ My Rating: ★★★★☆


Thank you so much to Bookishfirst, and Inkyard Press for my physical arc copy. I am voluntarily leaving this review.

This book immediately interested me upon seeing the description on BookishFirst. I have never read Kylie Lee Baker before, nor asian fantasy (even though The Keeper of Night has been on my TBR for like 4 years now oops). But strangely enough, Wu Zetian and the Tang Dynasty and their ‘alchemists’ are a topic that have fascinated me as history buff for a long time. So seeing it in fiction had me HOOKED. And the author did a brilliant job satisfying the history buff part of me.

I thought this book was really good, not flawless, but exciting and interesting with a main character who is scarily clever and persistent. Zilan feels like she can keep up with all other character’s in the book, believably so. I loved her anger, I was sympathetic to it, I know that many called her unlikeable but I adored her. The girls no nonsense attitude made a LOT of sense based on the historically accurate treatment of the merchant class, and her struggle to survive. Of course she was rude, she often was in a more primal state where she didn’t know when her next meal would come. Manners are something only some people can afford to have, in Zilan’s own words. She was constantly in a state of trying to be taken advantage of and had to put her foot down to everyone before she even fully knew their intentions. Either they tried to take advantage of her or treated her badly for being a woman, being a hunxie, or being poor. She has to be one of my favorite female characters ever. Zilan’s sheer intelligence made me love the book, but then the author decides to just take away her intelligence for two scenes halfway through the book, I was so frustrated, it felt like it directly contracted all her character traits (including her paranoia and double checking) and her intellect. It came off like the author ripped it all away for a scene or two just to drive the plot forward, and I wasn’t a fan of that. And then her reaction:

There is some romance in this book as well, in regards to the prince, who seeks Zilan out initially for her powers. There is <b>NO spice</b> in this book, just basic kissing and innocent sort of fraternization. Which was cute. The prince, Li Hong, was very sweet - but I felt nothing for him as the romantic interest. Nor did I understand Zilan’s fascination with him. It developed way too fast, and was too one dimensional. It was too quick for the bare minimum info we had on the prince. He could completely be summed up as ‘cinnamon roll prince is the black sheep of his family, likes ducks, and mom wants to kill him.’ and this is the entire extent of his character. I hope the next book really expands on him despite his *ahem* predicament. 

There were so many twists, and twists rarely get me but these were very well done! It actually had me dropping my book and my jaw. The queen is FEARSOME, I was actively scared for Zilan and the prince because of how intelligent and capable she was. There is a dinner scene in this book that I won’t spoil, but had me SHOOK. She did, at times, have caricature-like attributes still. For all her imagination and wit, I hated how she had no active ability to manipulate Zilian without brutish force or threatening. She was way too clever for that, I thought at least there would be some level of manipulation that targeted Zilan’s lack of a mother figure, or that made Zilan doubt the prince’s version of things. And it never happened. This is why I gave it 4.0 stars instead of 5.

If you like:

♡ Dark Academia and Fantasy
♡ The Keeper Of Night
♡ Strong FMC’s who are angry at the world
♡ Capable villains
♡ Historical Fiction (with a lot of fantasy elements)