Zilan has lofty dreams of becoming a royal alchemist; of being able to pull herself from the bloody streets of her village, provide a better life for the aunt and uncle who have raised her as their own since her mother died and her father left when she was a child, and continue to support her cousins who are more like siblings. She wants to make a name for herself the world won’t soon forget. In the meantime, to make ends meet, she resurrects the dead in her village for their loved ones at a high price, even though this is an illegal form of alchemy – no good can be created without also creating evil.

After the first round of exams, she is approached by a man who’s heard of her ability to raise the dead and asks for her to resurrect him, as he expects an assassination plot soon. Zilan ignores his pleas and continues going about her life as normal. She can’t avoid the spotlight forever, though. She and her cousins travel to the capital for more examinations and she is tested time and time again with all the odds against her. Despite the odds, she catches the eye of Empress Wu, the other royal alchemists, and even the Crown Prince…whom she recognizes. 

Zilan soon realizes she is stronger than she thought and is soon the object of desire for the power-hungry around her. She becomes mired in the politics of the royal family, encounters monsters beyond her own imagination, uncovers long-kept secrets of her past, and begins to truly understand the cost of the alchemy she’s been practicing for years..

This book has everything! Grisly alchemy and a very cool magic system; an evil Empress; a little grumpy x sunshine, slow burn romance; political intrigue; MAJOR PLOT TWISTS that I never saw coming; and one hell of a cliff-hanger. I kept wondering where Baker was taking the plot (she really keeps readers on their toes!), and tore through the last 200 pages of this book. If you have enjoyed books like The Poppy War, She Who Became the Sun, or Strike the Zither, this book had a lot of similar vibes (and I’m fairly certain the author was inspired by The Poppy War, but wanted to write YA). I am ready to tear through the second book in this duology ASAP!