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A review by anneliseb23
The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker
4.0
3.5, rounded up. This was a well crafted story on what could have been if an alternate version of the Tang Dynasty in China existed, where alchemy successfully allowed people to essentially live forever, if wealthy enough. Zilan is the fmc. She is a poor young woman, gifted in alchemy, who lives with her cousins - both gifted in academics. She is biracial, her mom was Chinese and her father was from Scotia, so she is looked down upon by everyone in her village. She wants to become a royal alchemist so she can provide money for her aunt and uncle and live with her cousins in the capital where they'll (hopefully) work as scholars. Along the way, Zilan meets the crown prince, Li, who believes in her and her skills and would like her help since he fears he'll be assassinated soon.
Zilan was a fine protagonist. The romance here is definitely a grumpy/sunshine wherein she is grumpy and he is sunshine. She has a very realistic view of the world, coming from poverty, and she would call Li out when his sheltered and spoiled lifestyle resulted in ignorance. Li was just a good-hearted guy who wants to see change and he's just blatantly smitten with Zilan, which is great.
The author did a good job of depicting the class differences between the wealthy and the poor. There was an undercurrent of a mystery throughout the plot as well - there were some pretty gruesome depictions of death too, both human and animal. Something about the plot just didn't do it for me. It felt a little scattered for me. The trials Zilan had to undergo to become a royal alchemist were one focus, but then Li's potential assassination were another focus, but then there were the monsters that were killing people and it just didn't feel seamless to me. The magic system was very interesting and I wish it had been explored a bit more. This book moved at a very fast pace and I think some things could have been removed or less of a focus to allow time for Zilan to practice alchemy more.
But maybe that will come with the next book. I'm not sure I'll read it... I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the end really. I was a bit disappointed with it, but maybe that's because I'm coldhearted and don't agree with Zilan.
Zilan was a fine protagonist. The romance here is definitely a grumpy/sunshine wherein she is grumpy and he is sunshine. She has a very realistic view of the world, coming from poverty, and she would call Li out when his sheltered and spoiled lifestyle resulted in ignorance. Li was just a good-hearted guy who wants to see change and he's just blatantly smitten with Zilan, which is great.
The author did a good job of depicting the class differences between the wealthy and the poor. There was an undercurrent of a mystery throughout the plot as well - there were some pretty gruesome depictions of death too, both human and animal. Something about the plot just didn't do it for me. It felt a little scattered for me. The trials Zilan had to undergo to become a royal alchemist were one focus, but then Li's potential assassination were another focus, but then there were the monsters that were killing people and it just didn't feel seamless to me. The magic system was very interesting and I wish it had been explored a bit more. This book moved at a very fast pace and I think some things could have been removed or less of a focus to allow time for Zilan to practice alchemy more.
But maybe that will come with the next book. I'm not sure I'll read it... I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the end really. I was a bit disappointed with it, but maybe that's because I'm coldhearted and don't agree with Zilan.