Red City (The New Alchemists #1)

Red City (The New Alchemists #1)

Marie Lu

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 4.5Plot: 4.0

The Godfather meets The Magicians in the sweeping adult debut from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu. Perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab, Red City is a dark and deadly contemporary fantasy of magical warfare, star-crossed ambition, and the pursuit of perfection at any cost, set in a glittering alternate Los Angeles. EXCLUSIVE DELUXE EDITION—a stunning hardcover edition featuring dark crimson sprayed edges Alchemy is the hidden art of transformation. An exclusive power wielded by crime syndicates that market it to the world’s elites in the form of sand, a drug that enhances those who take it into a more perfect version of themselves: more beautiful, more charismatic, simply more. Among the gleaming skyscrapers and rolling foothills of Angel City, alchemy is controlled by two rival syndicates. For years, Grand Central and Lumines have been balanced on a razor’s edge between polite negotiation and outright violence. But when two childhood friends step into that delicate equation, the city—and the paths of their lives—will be irrevocably transformed. The daughter of a poor single mother, Sam would do anything to claw her way into the ranks of Grand Central in search of a better life. Plucked away from his family as a boy to become a Lumines apprentice, Ari is one of the syndicates' brightest rising stars. Once, they might have loved each other. But as the two alchemists face off across opposite sides of an ever-escalating conflict, ambition becomes power, loyalty becomes lies, and no transformation may be perfect enough for them both to survive the coming war.

Publication Year: 2025


From the Forum
  • Thoughts from 90%
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    1
    comments 0
    Reply
  • Thoughts from 85%
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    1
    comments 0
    Reply
  • Thoughts from 80%
    spoilers

    View spoiler

    1
    comments 0
    Reply
  • View all posts
    Recent Reviews

    Your rating:

  • Aprilthebookqueen
    May 23, 2025
    Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 4.5Plot: 4.0

    I made 15 discussion posts about this book, so I'm sure it's no surprise that I have a lot to say. Okay, so my plans for today were to read a couple chapters, get some stuff done and then continue on with the paperback I started yesterday. That is not what happened. I applied for an ARC for this because the premise sounded interesting, and I loved the cover. I thought it would be an enjoyable read, but I did not expect it to blow me away the way it did. I could not put this down. I ended up finishing the book today and it is pretty much all I focused on today. I loved the writing style and the characters and world instantly drew me in. There were a lot of great quotes that I saved, but will not be sharing due to this being an ARC copy. I will likely be sharing them once I get a copy of the book when it's published though. Getting to switch between different POVs was really interesting, and really offered another perspective on things. There were times I didn't know who I was rooting for. The characters were morally ambiguous and I loved that. There was no obvious good side or evil side. Both had good and evil, and it really depended on whose lens you were viewing the world through. This book felt really dark, but beautiful at the same time. The world itself was dark. The violence, the threats and the bad things that happened. But the characters and the relationship between Sam and Ari was so beautiful, and the writing style really made everything feel beautiful. The complexity and depth of the world and characters was really well done. I really loved Sam, and I really loved Ari. The side characters didn't really stand out to me, but that was probably because of how amazing the main characters were. Seeing their struggles with each other and with their decisions and lives was intriguing. Sam I found especially interesting because something you see as a negative at the beginning (her being unnoticeable) is actually something that becomes a power to her. There were parts of this book that made me a bit squeamish, but I mean this in a good way. The wording and imagery painted was really fantastic and well done. I don't read a lot of urban fantasy books, but I am so glad I read this one. This book absolutely amazed me. One thing I hate about ARCs is having to wait that much longer to read the next book! But I will absolutely be watching for the release date of that one and will be immediately scooping up a copy of this one when it officially releases. Thank you so much to Tor and NetGalley for this ARC! All thoughts in this review are my own!

    3
    comments 0
    Reply
  • View all reviews
    Community recs if you liked this book...