Money can make desperate people do desperate things. 

 

Zilan knows it’s true from either side of the spectrum: the rich will do whatever is needed to squeeze whatever money they can out of the poor, and the poor will do some extreme things in order to stay alive for another day. She and her cousins squeak by, month after month, trying to keep themselves and Zilan’s aunt and uncle alive until they can pass their civil exams and move to the capital where the work is. Zilan means to be a royal alchemist, an achievement her absent father never managed to reach before he abandoned her and her mother. She and her cousins just have to manage to stay alive and out of trouble. If only becoming a royal alchemist was that easy. 

 

This book has been sitting on my shelf for quite some time: At first it was because I didn’t have time to read it when I got it, but then I decided to read it right before I was going to tackle the early copy for The Blood Orchid once I found out I’d been granted a copy. I always knew I was going to end up liking it. Why? I don’t know, really. Sometimes I just have a gut feeling about books. I look at it and go, “Ah, yes, you. You and I are going to vibe.” 

 

Zilan and I did, indeed, vibe. I think I was vibing with all of the female characters in this book, even the Empress (our antagonist). Zilan and her cousin, Yufei, definitely serve morally grey, but the Empress gives morally black and I’m here for it. Am I dismissing the male characters in this book? Yes, a little, but I think they’ll come more into play with the plot of book two so I’ll deal with it there. 

 

There’s something about alchemy plot lines that draws me in, and I wasn’t even a watcher of Fullmetal Alchemist. If I find out a book has alchemy in it I just want to read it. You add in political intrigue, strong female characters, moral quandaries, really high stakes, and rooting for an underdog and it’s hard for me to say no. When I started reading and found out just how ruthless these people could be, I was totally sunk in. 

 

File Under: 5 Star Review/AAPI Fiction/Book Series/Coming of Age/Dark Fantasy/Fantasy/Romantasy/Fantasy Series/Historical Fantasy/Political Fantasy/YA Book Series/YA Fantasy/YA Romantasy/YA Fiction