Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

4 reviews

miranda_lynn1234's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I haven’t read a book this quickly in a while I was gripped the whole time. It’s a very sad story but written extremely well.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Classism, Confinement, Death of parent, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexism

ceredonia's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Very good start to a great story. FMA vibes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Violence, Death, Child death, and Murder

Minor: Animal death and Cursing

sundayfever's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Classism, Body horror, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, Child death, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Cursing, Xenophobia, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Self harm

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Death of parent, Sexism, Classism, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Child death, Vomit, Cursing, and Kidnapping