Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 432 pages
Author: Kylie Lee Baker
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Release Date: October 3rd, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she’s trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table—resurrecting the dead, for a price.

When Zilan finally has the chance to complete her imperial exams, she ventures to the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country in tasks she’ll be lucky to survive, let alone pass. On top of that, her reputation for raising the dead has followed her to the capital, and the Crown Prince himself seeks out her help, suspecting a coming assassination attempt.

The more Zilan succeeds in her alchemy, the more she gets caught in the dangerous political games of the royal family. There are monsters lurking within the palace walls, and it’s only a matter of time before they—and secrets of Zilan’s past—catch up with her.

Thank you to Inkyard Press for the eARC.

GOOD START.

I really love how unique Kylie Lee Baker’s stories are. I love the historical aspects (and the notes about them at the end!), the diverse cast and how it’s a lot more main character focused over a romance (though I admit to wanting the romance to be a bit more woven in here).

The alchemical aspects were cool and I appreciated that I could follow along with the magic system. It’s complex, yet manageable and all of the morally gray decisions are thrown in to make this a dark tale.

There were some good twists, lots of monsters (gruesome book folks!), and complicated family dynamics to keep the pages turning. The historical and fantasy combination is one of my absolute favorite genre blend and the storytelling is fantastic. Looking forward to book two!!

Overall audience notes:

• YA Dark Fantasy
• Language: very little
• Romance: make-out
• Violence: high
• Trigger/Content Warnings: blood/gore depiction, murder, loss of life, loss of family, kidnapping and torture, creature attacks, weapons violence, medical experimentation

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