This story absolutely blew me away. It was impossible to put down and was exciting and suspenseful from start to finish.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This books is a mix of Chinese historical fiction, full metal alchemist style alchemy, and romance.

The story is set in a fictional Tang dynasty era China where empress Wu Ze Tian has been ruling as regent for around 100 years in place of the emperor who is very "ill".
Our story follows Fan(Su) Zilan who is orphaned and taken in by her aunt and uncle. She is not always treated so well in the society she lives in due to being a mixed race girl. She is very close to her two cousins and together they help run a mingqi shop( clay or wood funerary objects that are buried with the dead so they are not lonely in the after-life.) But as the upper class have found something close to immortality , they have to turn to secret resurrections to make ends meet. All while preparing to take the civil service exams to become officials and out of poverty. However, sometimes it is better to be careful what you wish for. She finds an ally with a handsome prince and together they struggle to survive the craziness of the court.

The use of alchemy is more fantastical in the sense that stones can produce magical responses and of course, resurrect the dead.

I absolutely love historical fiction and like other takes on Empress Wu , she is often portrayed as evil and strategic , to the point of killing off her own children to rise in rank. This version of events is not much different but still a creative take on her reign and relationship with her son.

This book does have its fair share of suspense and , at times, gore. Including burning at the stake. We also get some interesting interactions with zombie-like monsters. So that is something to be aware of when deciding if this is the right book for you. I am always here for a good suspense horror so it did not bother me but it could be triggering to others. This is why I included this part in my review.

Overall, this is definitely one of my top reads of the year and we are only in March. I cannot wait to continue this adventure with the characters in the next book. I do not know how I will wait around a year but it will be a good opportunity for a reread.

This was a fascinating book dripping with detailed asian historical culture. It had magic users (alchemists), a mad queen, a dorky prince and a conflicted alchemist. It is very detailed and has a fascinating premise. The world certainly bears continuation. I enjoyed reading it and had trouble putting it down. If you love ancient Chinese history, historical rewrites with fantasy influence then you will like this one. I did.

Zilan wants to be a a royal alchemist to provide for her family. She riased the dead to earn a living even though it's illegal. She gets caught up in court politics....

I love how all the characters are complex and morally gray. The plot is interesting too. Loven Zilan especially. It's an interesting read.

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

There is very little I love more than a book set in historical Asia. No matter which Asian country it is, and no matter what historical period it is. I LOVE IT. Because you know what it means? It means the ROYALTY X COMMONER TROPE!! Zilan and the prince were just so cute but I’ll be honest, I feel like the romance could have been better. Like, give me the yearning. Give me the painful class divides. Give me the HURT AND COMFORT!!!

Also, for a character with as much raw talent as Zilan, I wish that she didn’t sabotage herself with her stubbornness. There were times I rolled my eyes because girly, you are SO MUCH SMARTER THAN THAT!! You got the power to the raise the DEAD and you’re acting like a baby?! STOP!! Yufei too, these two girls were so stubborn it’s a miracle Wenshu is able to deal with them.

Finally, I just want to shoutout the magic system of this book. Alchemy is just so super cool and I truly think we need more books revolving around it (think, Full Metal Alchemist).

This was such a good read! I absolutely loved the characters and the journey they went through. The author did an amazing job of keeping the story interesting with twists and turns. I will be recommending this book to everyone and looking out for future books from this author.

I highly enjoyed this, I had read the authors Keeper of night duo and fell in love with her writing. This book was fantastic and highly entertaining. I can't wait to see what comes next!
I just reviewed The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker. #TheScarletAlchemist #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

This book took me for a journey! Kylie Lee Baker did an amazing job weaving Chinese folklore and alchemy with an engaging plot featuring one of Chinese history’s most famous rulers.

this was a really good! I liked the characters, and they were super well-developed. the plot was super cool and fun to read, and the writing was also smooth and easy to understand
highly recommend

Id loved Baker's debut, Keeper of Night, so I was super excited to get my hands on an ARC of this one. And it definitely didn't disappoint!

What this book did so well was ask the question of, "how much is too much?" Not a single character in this is wholly good. Zilan especially was flawed in the most beautiful way. Her family was her priority, and she would do anything to protect them. Anything. In order to claim justice, she was willing to burn every bridge and betray ever bond. I loved this for her and I can't wait to see how it further develops in Book 2.

I especially loved how Zilan's character was tempered by Hong and Durian. Hong was just so adorably endearing. He was by far my favorite character, and he had me giggling so many times. His bond with the ducks (Durian especially) was so cute!! I want more scenes of the evil alchemy duck in Book 2!!!

I'll admit, I have yet to read The Empress of Time... It was one of my most anticipated books of 2022, but I still have yet to get to it. I loved this one so much though, that I will definitely be making it a priority!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book shattered me and then put me back together in duck shaped pieces. From top to bottom, I cannot stress how brilliant is. Vibrant worldbuilding, incredible writing, and characters that nestled in close to my heart and haven't left (I want to give all of them a hug so bad).

It's full of rage and full of heart, and damn does it deliver in blood, loss, and enduring love.

4.5/5 stars. my gosh, i stayed up until 2AM devouring this book in a single sitting, because it sucked me in and just would not let me go. brilliant, chinese-inspired premise that was well-executed with a great cast of characters. kylie lee baker has a beautiful, evocative writing style, and this book was amazing.

we follow fan zilan, a half-chinese, half-white mixed race alchemist who can raise the dead and has made a business out of it.

<i>“if you want your brother back, then i’m your new god.”
“i don’t want your prayers,” i said. “i just want your money.”</i>
zilan's straightforward personality was a delight from start to finish.

she and her two cousins study and train for a set of royal examinations, aiming to eventually arrive at the capital and its promise of a brighter future. there, they encounter a web of politics as well as royalty, with a powerful empress, her team of alchemists, and a sweet crown prince who just really loves his ducks. i can’t say whether li hong was cuter or his ducks, really. there’s also a duck named durian, while adds an entire star on its own. absolutely adorable.

the magic system was intriguing and discussed in just the right amount of detail, with certain stones tying into the chinese elements when used in alchemy. all of the historical references were well done, and i especially appreciated the author’s choice to use mandarin and cantonese despite the setting, and her rationale for this. the twists caught me by surprise and made this an exciting, engrossing read from start to finish.

i wish we could have learned just a bit more about the supporting cast, especially the moon alchemist and her team, but overall i'd highly recommend this. the ending. the ending was amazing and makes me regret having read this so early, because the wait for the next book will be painful.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

Fan Zilan is a poor merchant girl with a special gift: she has the power of alchemy. Together with her two cousins, she plans on becoming a royal alchemist for the Empress in order to send money back to her ailing aunt and uncle. Much to her surprise, palace life and the royal family are not what they seem, and soon Zilan will have to choose between saving her family and doing what is right.

Right away the plot of this book sucked me in. Children raising the dead with alchemy, and then competing against other alchemists to become part of the royal alchemists? Heck yeah! And that was just the beginning! There was so much to this book, I could honestly talk about it for hours.

The characters in this book were absolutely fantastic. Fan Zilan is my favorite kind of female main character: isn't afraid of anyone or anything. Li Hong is so sweet, I just wanted to hug him. The villain? Downright terrifying. There were multiple times throughout this book where I had to put it down to just process the evil things that happened.

I adored this book. It was so beautifully written. I devoured it in a day and a half, and I would have finished it sooner if I didn't have to work. This is definitely a series that I will keep my eye out for, and even though this book isn't even technically out yet, I am anxiously awaiting the next one.

tl;dr
An incredible read, featuring dark magic, an engrossing plot, a strong lead, and a genuinely terrifying villain.

Thoughts
The Chinese novel plot line of "get summoned to the palace to compete for stuff" plot is so SO delicious to me, and I was delighted to see the author's notes even touch on the historical roots of this plot. And while the fact that it's one of my favorite tropes certainly didn't hurt, this book is also just very good. The narrative skips right over asking if we "should" raise the dead and leaps straight into the cost. The consequences are quiet at first, ramping up into a terrifying fallout and a high adrenaline ending that had me screaming. Zilan is firey, powerful, and often out of her depth. Her determination mixed with insecurity is palpable, and oftentimes utterly relatable. And the villain! WOW! It's rare to find one so clever and coldly terrifying. I'm breathless. That ending's going to be stuck in my head for a while, and I am counting down the days until the next book.