The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

4.08 AVERAGE

barnesbritt's review against another edition

4.5
adventurous dark emotional

claireperkins's review against another edition

4.0
adventurous dark 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
rainbowsandbookshelves's profile picture

rainbowsandbookshelves's review against another edition

3.75
adventurous mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
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n8deaf's review against another edition

4.0
I liked the concept of alchemy. The protagonist's sheer will made this exciting to read. 

geanabobeana's review against another edition

3.75
fast-paced

bookish_dm's review against another edition

5.0
Yet again what I thought was a very good 4-star book hits those last 100 pages and slaps me across the face for assuming it wasn't spectacular.

courtbirky326's review against another edition

3.75
adventurous challenging 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

hannahp17's review against another edition

4.5
adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense 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: Yes
mirailex's profile picture

mirailex's review against another edition

4.75
adventurous dark tense
Plot or Character Driven: Character
saneginger's profile picture

saneginger's review against another edition

3.0
adventurous dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
I REALLY WANT TO READ THE NEXT BOOK TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS BUT idk if i can stand going through it again. okay, to be fairrr the scarlet alchemist is a good idea conceptually but i didn't find it to be executed as good as i imagined it could have been. i love the internal turmoils we see in zilan's character and i love her relationship with yufei and wenshu. the romance i was promised felt a bit lackluster in the sense that it didn't feel real, felt very insta-love you know? i love the setting and i lovee the magic system, it was unique and gory and magical rlly. BUT I HAVE ONE GRIPE THAT KNOCKED SO MANY STARS DOWN and that is the pacing :) it felt so slow and so fast at the same time which made me dread reading it because like so many things happened but it didn't fit right.

things i liked:
  • i love the complex characters and their relationships
  • MAGIC SYSTEM IS SO COOOLLLLL
  • i love the setting and i was craving a historical fantasy too soo i ate it UPPPPP

things i didn't like:
  • li hong and zilan's relationship not being built up with good momentum
  • the plot points felt weird in its succession, some felt too long and others felt too short and some parts i feel like i'm just missing the intensity and adrenaline i was supposed to feel
  • the pacing... it was just off throughout this whole book for me tbh