My thoughts
Narrated by André Santana; Eunice Wong; Natalie Naudus; Sid Sagar How wonderful they did bringing this story to life. Magnificent....
My first book by Marie Lu and I loved it. Adored it. Ravaged it. This book is so well written and so engrossing. I am mad at myself for starting it a few months ago and then laying it aside. I know there was a reason but for the life of me I can't remember now. This book was excellent. Just what I needed. Now if I could only get the sequel....
This is a modern day, fantasy, other worldly but set mainly in the US. It's not your typical modern day though. It is so much more. A friendship to somewhat enemies. A forever love. A story that will reck havoc on your heart but also keep you hopeful and turning the pages.
It's kind of like a town with big gangs. Each trying to outsmart or outkill the other. You kill one of ours and we come after one of yours.
Two key players are coaxed into these groups. Sam, a female whose mother came to find a better life. What she went through to provide for her only daughter. How she is involved in the Alchemists groups. What happens to her. Then to her daughter Sam. Sam who only wanted to be seen. Be loved. Be accepted. To provide the best she can for her mother.
Ari was taken from his family and his homeland. Put in the school to learn how to be the best of the best in Alchemy. How to use his inner self to do whatever it takes to survive. He is doing it for his family. He misses them so much. He and Sam become the best of friends.
Sam/Samantha and Ari are friends. They are separated by the city elites. Each has to do what their superiors thrust upon them. Eventually they have to face each other. Will they fight. Will one kill the other. Or will their friendship prevail. Will their love?
There are a few characters in this story. A few I didn't like at all. But they are very relevant to the story. How they treat these two young people. What they make them do. And that ending. WOW.. Though it does end with a cliffhanger so be warned.
I can't wait for the sequel....
I was given an ALC via NetGalley, MacmillanAudio. I also bought the book from BOTM. This is one good story.
Five stars
About
The Godfather meets The Magicians in the sweeping adult debut from #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu. Perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab, Red City is a dark and deadly contemporary fantasy of magical warfare, star-crossed ambition, and the pursuit of perfection at any cost, set in a glittering alternate Los Angeles.
Alchemy is the hidden art of transformation. An exclusive power wielded by crime syndicates that market it to the world’s elites 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 across 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.
Alchemy is the hidden art of transformation. An exclusive power wielded by crime syndicates that market it to the world’s elites 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 across 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.
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