Synopsis
Alchemy is the hidden art of transformation, an exclusive power wielded by crime syndicates who market it to the world’s elite 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 from 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.
Review
This is so addictive?!!!
Romeo and Juliet, magical alchemy secret society edition.
Sam has an unquenchable thirst: this desperation to make something big of her life, to matter to someone. Driven by her mother who wants her daughter to be able to escape the life she had as an immigrant.
Plucked away from his family as a boy from India to become a Lumines apprentice, Ari is one of the syndicates’ brightest rising stars.
Neither one knows that after their childhood friendship, they will find themselves back in each other’s lives in enemy syndicates.
So, a dystopian LA where alchemy is used in very different forms to kill, influence, torture, drug….
Magic that requires pain to transform…
Childhood friends to enemies…
A heartbreaking backstory and drive from both main characters….
Love is alchemy. It is the belief that your time spent with this person is better than your time spent without them. Like alchemy at its worst, loving the wrong person can destroy you, piece by piece, until you are nothing but ash. And like alchemy at its finest, finding your soulmate can remake you, elevate you to your most perfect state.
If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you know I usually skip steamy scenes. Marie Lu put CRACK in this. Each physical interaction is so intrinsically linked to the characters’ mindset that it is both sensual and heartbreaking to read.
It is definitely not Young Adult, yet it was as bingeable as one. You won’t want to put it down.
There are also Easter eggs to The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu (Mozart and his sister). Not in the sense of returning characters, but just a throwaway line. I’m probably overthinking it.
It did not end on a massive cliffhanger, but has left a setup for an epic (urban dystopian) fantasy series.
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