Reviews

Fan Zilan lives a fairly humble life in southern China – orphaned, she lives with her aunt, uncle, and cousins, a merchant family barely scraping by – but she has big dreams. Someday, she has vowed, she will become a Royal Alchemist, making a living by creating the life gold that the wealthy consume in order to stay supernaturally young and beautiful. Once that dream is realized, her family will want for nothing. But until she can take the exams that will let her achieve her goal, she provides for her family through a forbidden form of alchemy – bringing the dead back to life. There is a rule of alchemy - you cannot create good without also creating evil. Zilan has been practicing this dangerous alchemy without knowing what kind of evil it costs. She pursues her dream with single-minded determination, heedless of the danger she is putting herself in by raising the dead and getting involved with the power-mad Empress and her political games. And when she discovers the consequences of her actions, it may unravel everything.

This is the second YA-alternate-history-fantasy that I’ve read in a row, and I loved this one just as much as the last! The worldbuilding is solid and extensive, with the fantasy elements well thought out as well as being heavily grounded in historical research and facts. I loved all of the characters, and the writing was fantastically vivid (including the gory parts, of which there are many, so if you’re squeamish be warned.) All in all this was an excellent book, though it ends with a lot of loose ends that are going to make it REALLY hard to wait for the next one.

Representation: Chinese characters and biracial main character written by Chinese-American biracial author

CW: colorism, racism, classism, gore

blankpagepanic's review against another edition

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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

aloy_all_along's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional

4.25

yamiresse's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

Loved the historical Chinese background and the impulsiveness of the protagonist and the quiet shyness and eventual strength of the prince. Can't wait for the next installment

emilyb_chicago's review against another edition

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4.0

The first two thirds of this book was amazing. The rules of the world were unique. Teaching the reader about the magic system and the environment were excellently integrated into the story. The side characters were a little thin, but I loved the main character. Her spunk and obstinateness was amusing - though as the story progressed she clearly lived in a fictional world with few ramifications. The lack of consequences became more apparent in the final third of the story where too much happened too quickly. I didn't feel the emotional weight of some of the situations. At the end the story felt guided and her snark was just out of place.

The audiobook narrator was amazing and enhanced the story with her reading.
I will think about this magic system for long while and will pick up the next books in the series.

There was also a historical note at the end of that was particularly interesting. I love when an author points out the changes made to create an alternate history and points out some of the parallels to our history/ world that stayed in the story. It makes me reflect on the complete story and consider the world in a deeper way.

Note: This is not stand alone. The final chapter does set up clearly for the next book in the series.

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