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thebooknerdscorner 's review for:
The Scarlet Alchemist
by Kylie Lee Baker
Wowza!!!! One of my top reads of the year, for sure!
I've been on a lucky streak of reading phenomenal books the last couple of weeks; "The Scarlet Alchemist" was yet again another platinum read! There was hardly anything I disliked about it, but I'll go into a bit more detail about the top five reasons that I loved it.
1.) The Characters
I literally fell in love with every character that graced my presence in this story. The only character I hated was the Empress, and since she's the main antagonist, that's kind of the point.
The protagonist, Zilan is fierce, protective, yet filled with reasonable self-doubts. I think she is very realistic, and it is super interesting to see her experiment with life alchemy.
Her siblings/cousins Yufei and Wenshu are also spectacular characters. Wenshu was such a dork and I really appreciate the fact that he is a germaphobe in the year 775. Yufei is always hungry and super aggressive, though one has to be when there are so many potential suitors who want to marry her. I really appreciate them as side characters, and am excited to see more of them in the rest of the series!
But my favorite character by far is the Crown Prince of China, Li Hong. He is naiive in the best of ways, seductive and charming, and a bit of a goof. Plus, he is obsessed with ducks, which is a bonus in my book. I think he worked phenomenally as the love interest in this story and I am so down to ship him and Zilan to the ends of the Earth!
2.) The Magic
The magic in this book is some of the most interesting I have ever read (and I have read a lot of fantasy). I loved the exploration of using alchemy, the five elements, and a person's qi to manipulate the very world itself. Watching Zilan experiment with her alchemy is super intriguing and I cannot wait to learn more about the limits of this world's magic in the next book.
3.) The Setting
The fact that this book takes place in China in the year 775 is super cool. I love how Kylie Lee Baker did a ton of research to make this alternate history version of China as accurate as she could and she openly admitted to when she changed things to better fit the world she has created. Readers can tell when an author puts their work into a book, and this one most definitely feels well researched and thought out.
4.) The Suspense
"The Scarlet Alchemist" really kept me on my toes. The monsters present in this book are so terrifying and they only get scarier as the story progresses. I think the element that made this book the most suspenseful is the fact that Baker was willing to kill ANYONE at any moment. I guess that is a benefit to making a major plot point of the story be about life alchemy; it always gives one the opportunity to resurrect the characters later. I was literally shocked by how many times monsters jumped out of the closest and mercilessly murdered characters without me being ready for it.
5.) The Ending
I'm not going to give anything away with my description here, don't worry. I did want to say that going into this book I was expecting it to have the worst cliffhanger ending on the planet (mainly because this is the first book series that I have started in years that all the books haven't been out by the time I started it). Luckily, the ending wrapped up most of the major plot points of this book and catapulted the series in a whole new direct. I must say the ending scenes had me physically sweating as I worried for the characters. And then it made me cry, so there is that. Either way, it really toyed with my emotions. Very powerful writing, it is.
Overall, I love everything about "The Scarlet Alchemist." It will be super hard to wait for the next installment, but it has also been a while since I've been this excited for the next book in a series. This book is being slingshotted to the top of my list of books to recommend; it was that good. I would seriously recommend this book to anyone that loves to read dark fantasies. The book is morbid and a bit disgusting at times, but I'm quite squeamish and I made it out fine, so I'm sure you will too. Seriously guys, as soon as you possibly can, get your hands on a copy of this book!!!
I've been on a lucky streak of reading phenomenal books the last couple of weeks; "The Scarlet Alchemist" was yet again another platinum read! There was hardly anything I disliked about it, but I'll go into a bit more detail about the top five reasons that I loved it.
1.) The Characters
I literally fell in love with every character that graced my presence in this story. The only character I hated was the Empress, and since she's the main antagonist, that's kind of the point.
The protagonist, Zilan is fierce, protective, yet filled with reasonable self-doubts. I think she is very realistic, and it is super interesting to see her experiment with life alchemy.
Her siblings/cousins Yufei and Wenshu are also spectacular characters. Wenshu was such a dork and I really appreciate the fact that he is a germaphobe in the year 775. Yufei is always hungry and super aggressive, though one has to be when there are so many potential suitors who want to marry her. I really appreciate them as side characters, and am excited to see more of them in the rest of the series!
But my favorite character by far is the Crown Prince of China, Li Hong. He is naiive in the best of ways, seductive and charming, and a bit of a goof. Plus, he is obsessed with ducks, which is a bonus in my book. I think he worked phenomenally as the love interest in this story and I am so down to ship him and Zilan to the ends of the Earth!
2.) The Magic
The magic in this book is some of the most interesting I have ever read (and I have read a lot of fantasy). I loved the exploration of using alchemy, the five elements, and a person's qi to manipulate the very world itself. Watching Zilan experiment with her alchemy is super intriguing and I cannot wait to learn more about the limits of this world's magic in the next book.
3.) The Setting
The fact that this book takes place in China in the year 775 is super cool. I love how Kylie Lee Baker did a ton of research to make this alternate history version of China as accurate as she could and she openly admitted to when she changed things to better fit the world she has created. Readers can tell when an author puts their work into a book, and this one most definitely feels well researched and thought out.
4.) The Suspense
"The Scarlet Alchemist" really kept me on my toes. The monsters present in this book are so terrifying and they only get scarier as the story progresses. I think the element that made this book the most suspenseful is the fact that Baker was willing to kill ANYONE at any moment. I guess that is a benefit to making a major plot point of the story be about life alchemy; it always gives one the opportunity to resurrect the characters later. I was literally shocked by how many times monsters jumped out of the closest and mercilessly murdered characters without me being ready for it.
5.) The Ending
I'm not going to give anything away with my description here, don't worry. I did want to say that going into this book I was expecting it to have the worst cliffhanger ending on the planet (mainly because this is the first book series that I have started in years that all the books haven't been out by the time I started it). Luckily, the ending wrapped up most of the major plot points of this book and catapulted the series in a whole new direct. I must say the ending scenes had me physically sweating as I worried for the characters. And then it made me cry, so there is that. Either way, it really toyed with my emotions. Very powerful writing, it is.
Overall, I love everything about "The Scarlet Alchemist." It will be super hard to wait for the next installment, but it has also been a while since I've been this excited for the next book in a series. This book is being slingshotted to the top of my list of books to recommend; it was that good. I would seriously recommend this book to anyone that loves to read dark fantasies. The book is morbid and a bit disgusting at times, but I'm quite squeamish and I made it out fine, so I'm sure you will too. Seriously guys, as soon as you possibly can, get your hands on a copy of this book!!!