A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Inkyard Press for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a flawless combination of The Poppy War and Fullmetal Alchemist, while still maintaining its own story. The main character (Zilan) needs to become a royal alchemist so she can help financially provide for her family - and her two cousins/siblings are also attempting to take the civil service exams for the same reason. Alchemists have discovered the key to immortality, and joining the royal family as an alchemist comes with a significant amount of prestige - but there lies the risk of serving them forever. It’s also revealed that Zilan has discovered how to bring the dead back to life - an illegal use of alchemy that she does to keep their family business afloat.

While reading this book I could see a significant amount of references to Fullmetal Alchemist - clearly by someone who loves the series as much as I do. However, you in no way need to have watched/read FMA to understand this book - it’s more like easter eggs hidden in plain sight.

This book is amazingly fast-paced and there was never a dull moment to me as I read. Even when Zilan is doing her training as a royal alchemist, or talking with the prince, there is always something going on that will very quickly raise the tension and the stakes.

I also wasn’t expecting to love the romance in this book as much as I did. I thought the buildup between Hong and Zilan to be organic, as well as super sweet to read about - even amidst all the bloodshed of everything else going on in the book. I liked that despite how passive Hong can be, Zilan forces him to become a better version of himself despite his reservations. They make each other grow more as people, without ever trying to change each other into different people.

Finally - I know this book has a lot of inspiration from Fullmetal Alchemist. But. Could the ending have been slightly less Fullmetal Alchemist. Just as a treat? Did you HAVE to rip out my heart like that? .