Reviews

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

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princessbilbo's review against another edition

mysterious 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

Man did I enjoy this book. I'm so surprised! I'd loved the world and magic system. The main character was just amazing. I didn't go into this book expecting to love it so much, but here I am!

sudili's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

melaniegrace91's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.0

anharu's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

lyakimov's review against another edition

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3.0

I don't really know what my opinion is on this book. The entire story was very entertaining, but some of the characters fell flat for me and the relationships between characters felt weird. There, of course, was insta-love, but I liked how the main character chose to resurrect her brother at the end instead of her love interest because it showed her family was more important to her. Kind of hilarious that she is in the body of the prince's mom when she was literally his fake-concubine/kind-of girlfriend.

I think the prince just had no personality and I felt so apathetic any time he was on-page. It is crazy to me that everyone in this book was getting their arms ripped off and being skinned and then they just get resurrected from the dead like nothing happened. The plot was pretty interesting and I appreciate how much effort was put into the plot instead of the romance. I think the ending was solved so quickly that it just felt like a big blur and I couldn't process anything that was going on.

I think I will continue the series because I am interested how it's going to play out, especially since the ending shows the siblings at a completely different point compared to the beginning of the novel.

phoenix2's review against another edition

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3.0

The Scarlet Alchemist is a historical fantasy book about a girl who wants to become an royal alchemist in order to prove herself and support her family, but gets more than she bargains for.

The story starts out strongly, with an intriguing 'magic' system, the royal competition, the blood alchemy, and the palace full of horrible secrets. Kylie Lee Baker brings out once again that dark atmosphere, with the horror elements blending nicely into the story. And, just like in her previous duology, her main character is enjoyable and endearing, even though she often moves into a grey moral area.

However, I can't say that the story wasn't predictable. The whole relationship with the prince was unoriginal, even though it was nicely fleshed out. Still, for Zilan to be interested in him that quickly was off, but understandable to some extent. Yet, the romance was not the book's strong suit. Rather, the mystery of the palace was more intriguing and entertaining to read. However, I would have liked for the Queen to be a tiny bit more intense as the evil character.

Nevertheless, the book sets a strong foundation for the second one, where I hope we explore the blood alchemy in more depth.