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A review by andreiaoh
The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
three stars is GENEROUS for that ending (edit: yanking it down to 2.75 upon further reflection. the more i think about it the more things im finding that annoyed me) but the writing was actually great the entire way through, and i thought the first half of this (pre zilan becoming a royal alchemist) was really compelling and paved the way for a pretty unique fantasy story. the only thing that bothered me about the writing was that it often read very very modern - from the author's note i understand that she didn't want to lean too much into real ancient chinese history and language in order to make it accessible, but at times, it didn't read like it was set in the tang dynasty which broke me out of the story. as much as this is a fantasy story, it's also a period piece: the way this was written could have highlighted its ancient atmosphere more clearly through the lanaguage chosen.
zilan gradually became so irritating as the story went on. i frequently had to pause my audiobook to gesticulate wildly at the wall because of her dumbass decisions. she was so incredibly childish !!!
also, i just didn't care for li hong and zilan's relationship. don't understand how they got to an 'i love you' stage after knowing each other for like 2 weeks (im being facetious here. it was more like 2 months) and having nothing in common except not wanting to die by his mother's hand. their entire vibe was very much telling me how much they liked each other, instead of actually showing their supposed love in the text.
i won't even talk about how this ended. very unhinged (and not in a good way).
i'm still very intrigued by how the hell this story is gonna wrap up in the second book because i genuinely can't predict what nonsense zilan is going to get up to next (outside of what was already told to us at the end of this book).
i actually don't think this was Bad with a capital B, and i do think younger readers will enjoy it more, but too many aspects of this pissed me off for me to look at it favourably.
zilan gradually became so irritating as the story went on. i frequently had to pause my audiobook to gesticulate wildly at the wall because of her dumbass decisions. she was so incredibly childish !!!
also, i just didn't care for li hong and zilan's relationship. don't understand how they got to an 'i love you' stage after knowing each other for like 2 weeks (im being facetious here. it was more like 2 months) and having nothing in common except not wanting to die by his mother's hand. their entire vibe was very much telling me how much they liked each other, instead of actually showing their supposed love in the text.
i won't even talk about how this ended. very unhinged (and not in a good way).
i'm still very intrigued by how the hell this story is gonna wrap up in the second book because i genuinely can't predict what nonsense zilan is going to get up to next (outside of what was already told to us at the end of this book).
i actually don't think this was Bad with a capital B, and i do think younger readers will enjoy it more, but too many aspects of this pissed me off for me to look at it favourably.