The Scarlet Alchemist hooked me from the first page…. nothing like starting a book off with a corpse that needs resurrecting. And it only got more interesting from there.

Zilan lives in Guangzhou, China, with her Aunt, Uncle, and two cousins—Wenshu and Yufei. They help run the family míngqì business and also happen to resurrect dead people on the side—a forbidden alchemy performed by Zilan. However, the three of them have dreams to move to Chang’an, Wenshu and Yufei to become scholars, and Zilan to join the royal alchemists. Of course, the whole plan almost gets derailed when a man shows up begging for Zilan’s help in resurrection, offering her a large sum of gold, only problem is that it’s him and he’s still alive. Zilan, though, doesn’t let that stop her and turns him down…. But, it certainly isn’t the last time she sees him.

This story really doesn’t let up from start to finish with political intrigue, corpses piling up by the dozens, alchemical magic, monsters, a love story between a cinnamon roll prince and a head-strong Zilan, and an Empress that will stop at nothing to retain her power and youth. Oh, and a very cute duck.

Thank you HarperCollins Canada for the opportunity to read early! Loved this one and can’t wait for the sequel!