The Scarlet Alchemist

The Scarlet Alchemist follows Zilan, a girl with dreams to become a royal alchemist and provide for her family. She has to go through many dangerous trials. The more she becomes involved with the royal family, the more danger she is becoming entrapped in. While struggling to handle the dangers, she learns more and more about the secrets surrounding her. The more I read this book, the more I fell in love with Zilan's character. Zilan is a strong protagonist who is able to defend herself. The more challenges she faces, the more she is able to prove her strength. I also enjoyed reading about the setting of this story and thinking about the what ifs of the situation. The relationships between the characters was also developed well and felt natural. The interactions between characters evoked many emotions, ranging from joy to anger. I was hooked on this story from beginning to end.

Welcome to the dark world of alchemy, where the dead can rise again (albeit sometimes a bit gooey inside) and those with means can live forever like the Empress has been, eating the life gold created by the alchemists in her employ. Zilan longs to be one of those royal alchemists and escape the bonds of poverty along with her brother and sister (AKA cousins). I really enjoyed that trio and the way they stuck together which made the ending pretty awesome with how it was solved even though I now can't wait for the next book to see if Zilan can bring about the impossible in bringing everyone back without the price of evil attached to it. I will admit when the Empress named Zilan the Scarlet Alchemist, I got very strong Full Metal Alchemist vibes. Kind of the same in the regards that the royal alchemists are working dark magic for a powerful Empress who has her own agenda which does not include anyone else in power (like a certain Crown Prince). I am glad this book focused more on familial bonds, rather than just rushing headlong into romance between Hong and Zilan. Though they were cute and I hope they get a happy ending (along with Durian the duck!).