I absolutely love this book. I have read the debut series from this author, and I was lucky enough to have an opportunity to meet her when she released this book and this book is her best work yet!

This book follows Zilan who wants to escape her poor life to become a Royal Alchemist. After studying and working hard and having a disadvantage to all the other alchemist, she sets her sights on completing the alchemy exam and fulfilling her dream.

However, dreams are not always what they seem to be and Zilan finds out very quickly that there are monsters all around her. A story of forbidden love, family secrets, personal growth, and discovering truths the story is entertaining from beginning to end.

I was really surprised on how much blood and gore was in this book considering it is marketed as a young adult so please have that mindset going into it. I personally loved it and it felt so raw and real and goes to show that life, even in books, have losses and devastation that you can’t come back from. Unless you have the power of an alchemist… then maybe the laws of life can be bent a little!

I definitely felt like this book needed just a little more romance to really build up that feeling of love between The two love interest in this book. But I like how the romance did not take away from the plot fantasy and political intrigue of the story. Yes this book has a sprinkle of historical fiction. But this author takes a lot of liberties in creating her own world from some historical facts which means that a lot of what happens in the book is not actually historically accurate which I felt just made it more fun and enjoyable.

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.  

This was so wonderfully written and features one of my favourite historical figures, Wu Zetian. Loved the action and twists and every clever way the protagonist managed to get out of a seemingly-dead end.

I wasn’t the biggest fan of the main leads’ personalities for most of the story however, but can also appreciate the character growth.

Super keen for the sequel!

I absolutely love this author! Kylie Baker is awesome at fusing  mythology and mysticism with history and real events. 

Most of her books have an absolutely insane twist at the end that is absolutely tragic. This book is no different, though this books ending is a little less “OMG” than her  Empress of Time series. 

This book is extremely bloody and gory with vivid descriptions of humans being torn apart, blood and gore, and mass death.

Her take on alchemy is awesome and unique involving everything from eating stones for element, to specific stones with special properties like earth, air, or fire.

Cant wait to read the 2nd book in her series.

Really exciting and fun read! I’m looking forward to the sequel. 

At times it’s a bit brutal with the gore but I really enjoyed it. 

I recently finished The Scarlet Alchemist, and I have to say,I found the story quite interesting, especially with its setting in ancient China, based on a real dynasty, where alchemy is real and humans have mastered the art of creating longevity elixirs and resurrecting the dead. The concept of using alchemy in this context was refreshing and reminded me a lot of the Fullmetal Alchemist anime.

The first half of the book was really compelling. I was drawn in by the main character’s fierce determination to become a royal alchemist. Her single-minded focus on her goal, even with the male lead in the picture, was admirable. I also appreciated the strong family bonds, particularly the loyalty between the protagonist and her cousins, which added depth to the story.

However, as the story progressed into the second half, my interest started to wane. The protagonist began making frustratingly childish and irrational decisions, which led me to pause reading a few times out of sheer irritation. While I liked the depiction of her family relationships, I wasn’t sold on her romance with the crown prince. Their love story didn’t resonate with me, and I found the crown prince to be the least interesting character—despite being different from the typical male lead, he didn’t contribute much until the very end.

I enjoyed the climactic fight toward the end, but the cliffhanger has left me undecided. There’s a sequel coming out, but I’m still debating whether I’m interested enough to pick it up.

Overall, The Scarlet Alchemist offers a unique take on historical fantasy with its intriguing alchemical elements and a strong start, but the second half left me feeling conflicted. If yo 're interested in historical fantasy and curious about alchemical concept this book has, you might want to give this one a try.

This was a very easy read, and I was happily entertained by the story. 

That being said, I also think that Zilan has been very immature and kind of a jerk to the people around her, which was unpleasant to read about since it never really changed. 

What bothered me most is

the fact that everyone seems to be smarter than Zilan. I understand she is up against adults who have lived for a decade or more but reading about the Empress outsmarting her for the umpteenth time is pretty unsatisfying.

I'm kind of put off by the ending though because what the fuck? Im not sure I can really forgive that.

But generally I found the idea and setting very interesting and cool to read about. I would have loved to see this book not as a YA but as an adult story with a mature protagonist that is better equipped to deal with the horrors thrown at her.

Zilan has a lot of quirky/sassy and downright rude people around her. Zilan herself is training to be an alchemist in spite of her father, whom she believes betrayed her and her mother. The story is good enough to keep you moving forward but there is some downright GORE in this book that I was not expecting or ready for when I started the book. The breaking and changing of monologues and internal thoughts really needed some help and I winded up having to re-read things several times to understand when the change happened. I would have rather had some break on the page or even just a new chapter to show there was a break. At one point you loose an entire day or two (I'm still not sure) and just pick up in the next timeframe with no warning.
 Once Zilan learns everything she can about her past, present and possible future for this book, it kinda of ends on a cliff hanger and.. I'm still not sure if I'll read the second at this point.