The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Suspense, romance, science fiction and fantasy in one!
In the Year 775 Guangzhou, China, 17yo Zilan lives with her aunt, uncle and two cousins who have all accepted her as part of the family. She has the ability to resurrect people and brings extra money to the family with this skill. She wants to be a royal alchemist and travels to the palace to fulfill her wish. She survives trials against prejudice with her cleverness and some help from the prince. Once Zilan begins to train, she’s named the Scarlet Alchemist and she discovers how dangerous and awful the Empress is, what she’s using the alchemists for and why she needs Zilan.

Likes/dislikes: I love the Prince because he’s funny, innocent and has a kind heart. Zilan is an interesting character because of her skills and background. I enjoyed reading the book and the suspense, romance and the science fiction made it easy to dive into.
Language: R for 29 swears and 2 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for kissing.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Chinese is the main ethnicity. Zilan had a Chinese mother and a foreign father.

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

Posted on by lynndellwatson

Retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death!
18yo Seraphina lives trapped in Eldridge Hall with the Royal Family, servants and courtiers since the plague began three years ago. Seraphina masquerades as Princess Imogen after the real princess died four years ago. The Royal sisters were terrified of how the king would react if he discovered Imogen’s death so the sisters found a look alike Jewish girl, Seraphina, and took her away from her family. She’s been Imogen ever since. 19yo Nico goes to Eldridge Hall to see if there are any survivors. He soon discovers that the man who saved him from the mori roja plague years ago, and who claims to be helping plague survivors, is really a monster. Now Nico is compelled to save everyone he can in and around Eldridge Hall.

Likes/dislikes: I love retellings and this is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death with added supernatural and historical elements. The author shares her background and reasoning for creating this story and I’m impressed with her forethought and hindsight. Wonderful characters bring the book to life.
Mature Content: PG for kissing
Language: R for 43 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for deaths.
Ethnicity: Royal family falls to white. Jewish descendants Seraphina and Dalia have olive skin. Lord Greymont has bronze skin. Elisabeth has olive skin. A dark skinned man is mentioned. Colin has brown skin.

Kingdom of Sea and Stone by Mara Rutherford

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Characters with strength and integrity!

Zadie and Nor row home and surprise their parents. Talin arrives and the three of them leave on his small ship but see Ceren’s soldiers attack their home as they’re sailing away. Nor seems unsure about the future she wants and when Talin mentions staying together, she panics inside. They travel to Galeth to look for Sami and ask the people for support against Ceren. They make a discovery about the bloodstones and how Ceren uses them to manipulate and control his soldiers. Talin’s four year old sister is queen as the next female heir. Since she’s too young, their mother is representing in her stead. She’s going to war with Ceren and his bloodstone soldiers but she’s using every citizen who’s twelve and older in her army. Nor faces Ceren, trying to talk sense and logic to him. All he wants is power and control no matter how kind and longing for love he might have been when Nor sees a younger Ceren in her visions. He’s a lost soul. This second and last book in the duology finishes the story up nicely with strong characters full of integrity and loyalty, 5 stars!