This is quite honestly a 6 star read, one of the best books ive read so gar this year! This is my first read from Marie Lu, I requested the ARC after seeing Page&Wick potentially teasing a special edition and their books choices are always impeccable. I am now going away to check there is going to be a book 2 because I need more of Sam and Ari!

Holy shit this book was amazing. It's one of those stories that feels all encompassing, that you can loose yourself in. Sam and Ari's story is by no means a happy one, it's filled with blood and violence, but also a love that divides loyalties and brings two people together against a backdrop of gang violence in an alternate Los Angeles.

Sam and Ari were both so incredibly well written. Sam the daughter of an immigrant who never feels like she fits in, feels almost invisible in life. When she first hears the word 'Alchemy' she is instantly intrigued, knowing this might be her only chance out of obscurity, to be able to give herself and her mother the lives they deserve. Ari's natural Alchemical ability, his strong soul, caught the eye of another Alchemist who takes him from his family in India under the guise of a better life for all of them. When Sam and Ari first meet there is an instant connection, an instant friendship made through school and notes passed to each other, but neither are willing to delve too deeply into the personal, Sam seeing Ari's car picking him up from school every night knowing he must be someone special, and Ari unable to mention his Alchemy to anyone outside of a chosen few. They will never know each others truths until their eyes meet across a room years in the future, a moment that will change both of their lives.

In Sam and Ari's version of Los Angeles Alchemy is real and it runs the world. Rival gangs fight for control over ground, but also a substance called Sand which allows Alchemists to increase their ability. Lu really brings her version of LA to life, we traverse a large portion of it thanks to Sam and Ari's jobs for their respective syndicates: Grand Central and Lumines. Think the Montagues and Capulets, the sharks and the jets. Both syndicates are vicious, clawing at each other for control over the city they call home, willing to main and kill to claim it, but we only start seeing the true depths of their depravity as the story progresses. Through them, Sam and Ari become something more, something different but not better, instead they become what they fear most. Sam, a ghost, someone who can pass through a room unnoticed, who can secret information away from competitors without them even realising. And Ari becomes the opposite, he walks in a room and everyone notices him, feels drawn to him, wants to claim some part of him.

I loved Lu's take on Alchemy, that it relies on the strength of a soul, that each time to use it a little bit of your soul dies and it causes incredible pain. That in of itself was interesting enough, learning about all the different kinds of alchemists, those whose abilities lie in the physical; being able to change someones mood with a simple touch. Those that use their ability in the art of war, who can draw weapons out of walls. But Lu creates an extra depth to these abilities with the addition of Sand, a drug derived from The Philosophers Stone that enhances an Alchemical ability. Though it doesn't simply affect Alchemists, humans can also use it to make them more beautiful, movie stars become more charming, scientists make more breakthroughs etc. The reliance on Sand for both Alchemists and humans plays a large part in the story, showing the dangers of addiction and reliance on something to make you better than who you already are.

The romance in this shouldn't really work. Sam and Ari spend so little time together on the page, and each have their own complicated love interests separate of one another, but boy was I here for the doomed romance vibes. These are two people who loved each other when they were nothing more than themselves. They didn't need alchemy, didn't need sand to develop those feelings, they loved the base version of each other, and that is something hard to strip away despite opposing loyalties. They will always be each others firsts, the ones that got away, and when they finally meet back up again as adults, with all the guises and secrets in the light, despite the pain they've caused each other, they still cling to each other, to the people they were before alchemy. Despite me being firmly on the Sam and Ari bandwagon, I did enjoy their other relationships. Sam and Will, the son of the leader of Grand Central. Sam has an almost rosy-eyed view of Will, who is not a good person in the slightest, but he is the first person who recognised her power, her ability, the first person to find it useful. Ari and Isla, his first tutor in alchemy and fellow Lumines.

I said this book felt all encompassing and it did, Lu transported me to her alternate LA through her descriptive and prosaic writing, but it was more than that, it was the emotions, the danger and despair woven into the story that really gripped me. Her characters both being immigrants, how she delves into the feeling of belonging, or lack of, that comes with that. The truly complex relationship between Sam and her mother who wanted nothing more than to protect her daughter, give her a better life, but constantly struggled with the how. It's beautifully tragic in so many ways, it broke me more than once and had me gripping the pages more times than I could count and I am so desperate to return to the world and characters after the absolutely shock filled ending we were left with.

I am old enough to remember reading Marie Lu when I was a teenager firmly in YA during the height of YA books.Now being an adult to enjoy her adult debut was a beautiful full circle moment.

This is a multi-pov urban fantasy, alchemy, secret societies, mob drug war, romeo and juliet retelling. Yeh it’s got a lot!

Very slow start to really give the background information on both the fmc (Sam) and mmc (Ari) which reaches ‘current day’ for the plot at around 25-30%. Which although it might feel slow, I don’t think the characters and their relationships would be as fleshed out for the reader to care, if they hadn’t gotten all the background lore. I did prefer Sam’s pov and including her mums pov I thought was so good at adding to the complexity of their relationship.

The magic system of being our world but with alchemy was super interesting and the political games being played. However I do think this book is Romantasy dressed up as urban fantasy. Which there is obviously no issue in but I always feel like when books are marketed different than they are, it never benefits the book, the reader or the reviews. As people go into it expecting one thing and getting another.

But I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to see how the series continues

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Oooh, this was really good! Dark but with rays of light, romantic yet tragic, I really enjoyed this adult debut from Marie Lu, a childhood favourite author of mine. Both Ari and Sam felt fully fleshed out as characters, and the prose was quite beautiful at times. In terms of the world, this is low fantasy, but I loved the details about the syndicates and sand. Perhaps a slightly slower start, but a great read all together!

Action packed ‘slightly matrix vibe’ magic, alternative LA urban fantasy, intrigue and unresolved love story.

I’ve read many of Marie Lu’s previous books, which have been Teen/YA and up. I’ve enjoyed each one. Based on that pre-knowledge Red City surprised me in its direction and content.

This is book one in a series for adults, with content to match. The author has taken her familiar tropes and stretched upwards and out. Basing some of the story’s path, she tells us, on her own life’s journey.

Loyalty matters. But when the cracks start to appear is loyalty to the sunken claws of a devious employer more important than to your own heart.

Sam and Ari have a history and choices to make, and someone is going to be hurt.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine freely given.

Wow this was amazing! I'm a sucker for a star-crossed/rivals/enemies romance and Red City hit all of the markers. The tension build up between Sam and Ari was delectable and this intriguing world of magic and politics drew me straight in and wouldn't let me go. I am now eagerly awaiting the sequel, desperate to find out what will happen next!

Red City blew me away! I’ve adored Marie Lu’s previous YA books and with Red City she proves that she gets better and better as a writer. This is such a perfect romantasy read set in a reimagined LA full of yearning and the most endearing MMC and MFC. I hope she writes a sequel to this cause I want more.

✨ 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 & 🍵 𝗧𝗲𝗮 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
In a shimmering but savage alternate Los Angeles, alchemy is controlled by crime syndicates using “sand” to turn clients into more beautiful, charismatic versions of themselves. Sam, the scrappy daughter of a poor single mom, wants into Grand Central for a shot at security. Ari, raised by the rival syndicate Lumines, is their brightest young alchemist. Once friends who possibly loved each other, they’re now on opposite sides of an escalating power war.. and no transformation may be enough to save them both.

I cannot with this book.. it’s wild, messy, and completely addictive. The city is alive in the creepiest, most glamorous way, full of people scheming, flirting, and straight-up plotting your demise while you’re trying to eat your breakfast. Sam is chaotic perfection, Ari is infuriatingly magnetic, and the tension between them will have you gasping, giggling, and clutching your phone like a life raft. Every scene hits like a neon punch.. I was laughing, yelling at characters, and lowkey imagining what I’d do with a vial of “sand” in my hands.

🫶 TYSM to @panmacmillan for the gifted copy!

✨ Star-crossed ambition
🏙️ Gritty alternate LA
🧪 Alchemy as dangerous magic
💔 Family ties & betrayal
⚔️ Syndicate warfare
💎 Gorgeous and dark worldbuilding

This is so addictive?!!!
Romeo and Juliette, 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….

<b>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.
</b>
If you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you know I usually skip steamy scenes. Marie Lu put CRACK in this. Woah.

It is definitely not YA, 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.

Physical arc gifted (and signed) by Tor and the author.

Red City is set in an alternative version of our world where Alchemy is a power that can be exercised ed by certain people. It is controlled by powerful syndicates across the world although most of the population are completely ignorant of this. The most obvious element of their power is the control of the drug Sand which makes everyone into the best version of themselves.
The story is focused primarily around Sam and Ari who end up being trained by the two rival syndicates in Angel City. We see them meet at school and become friends even though Ari has a secret life that Sam knows nothing about. I enjoyed this first part of the novel although I know that other people feel that it is very slow. I didn’t find it especially slow paced and liked the way that the world was introduced and we got to know both Sam and Ari.
We meet Sam and Ari again when they are both adults and on opposite sides of the battle for which syndicate runs the city. Due to the secrecy around alchemy, neither of them know that the other is involved in this at all until they see each other at an event and realise just who they are now. The pace of the book definitely steps up in the later two thirds with political manoeuvring, violence and sex all playing a part.,
Sam was definitely the character that I was most invested in. Her life just seemed far more interesting than Ari’s. This might be because Sam’s story was written from the author’s own experience and so maybe that’s why if just felt more authentic. Her relationships, first with her mother Connie and later with Will were messy and complicated but I really cared about what happened to her. I didn’t get the same sense of empathy with Ari. He is supposedly so good looking and charismatic but I just didn’t feel that at all. They are both flawed characters and both do whatever they have to in order to support their family and clan.
The magic system was brilliantly thought out. Alchemy is the art of transformation and is more actual Science than magic It involves manipulating and changing the atoms themselves and can result in skin being changed to metal or a knife being pulled out of a wall. However, this power to transmute atoms comes at a price. There is huge pain in learning how to use the power and a loss of part of your soul each time you do something. This means that many alchemists have a short lifespan. I really liked the fact that the use of power has a price.

Red City was definitely a book with a dark side. The violence is brutal on occasion and graphically described. The sex aspect did make me slightly uncomfortable as there was a definitely an aspect of grooming for both Sam and Ari and although the sex was always consensual, there was definitely drug use involved too which made it more of a grey area..
Red City was a book that I found hard to put down and I am hugely interested in where the story goes next.
Huge thanks as always to Net Galley and the publishers Pan Macmillan for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Marie Lu crafts a world full of magic, intrigue, danger, and longing. The beginning is slow and steady, but when it hits, it hits hard. This book left me gasping for air and desperate for more. I’m incredibly grateful to have received a copy of this ARC. Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan. I’ve long been a fan of Marie Lu, and her writing never fails to impress. Her craft, her style, and the way she weaves stories always leave me eager for more. This is up there as one of my favourite reads of 2025 so far.

Tropes you'll love you be begging for more;
Godfather/Alchemy vibes
Forbidden Love/Longing
Friends to Rivals
Multi POV
Betrayal & Twists
Found Family
Warring Syndicates
Strong FMC/MMC

Sorry but, try as I might, I could not get into this book. And I really did try. There were moments when the story picked up for a chapter and I was like "Okay, this is it. I'm engaged." and then it would go back to being so slow and dry.

Marie Lu has created an alternative Los Angeles where war rages between rival alchemist syndicates. At the centre of this conflict is "sand" — a drug that makes the user more beautiful, more charismatic, more perfect. We follow two characters — Sam and Ari — from childhood where they are classmates into adulthood as they climb the ranks in their opposing syndicates. The premise shows potential but when it came down to it I found there was very little I actually cared about.

I see that some other reviewers said this book started slow, which it does, but I'm genuinely not sure at what point it stopped being slow for others. If I hadn't been reading an arc I would have quit.

We creep through their childhoods with lots of listening, learning and pre-training, where almost nothing happens except Sam and Ari exchanging flowery notes. Then they get older and there's a bit of mafia action (snore) before we introduce some more romantic angst by having them both begin relationships with other people. This felt like so much filler and wasted time because, come on, we all know that's not the end game, right?

Also, I feel like Ari was a much bigger barrier to my enjoyment than Sam. Any moment when I became vaguely interested was during Sam's pov, and I especially enjoyed the portrayal of the complicated messy relationship with her mother, Connie. I actually think this was by far the most interesting thing the story had to offer. But who the heck even was Ari? So beautiful, so charismatic (allegedly), but I couldn't care less about a pretty face and that charisma was not coming through these pages. His good looks seem to be his whole personality.

But even Sam's slightly more engaging perspective could not carry the book for me. I grew increasingly indifferent to her as well, especially once her relationship with Will began (for the reasons noted above).

And I cannot shake the feeling that no matter how much alchemy and gang warfare goes on, this is all just window dressing for what is, at its core, a romance. None of it feels particularly serious. Everything that happens feels like filler to delay Sam and Ari being together. That's just the impression I got. Who knows? I hope I'm wrong. Maybe this will go West Side Story on us in book two. Let me know.

I’ve read some of Marie Lu’s YA books and enjoyed them well enough that I was interested in her debut adult novel. I must say, I enjoyed this the most out of what I have read by her. I especially love that this does not end with a cliffhanger even though it is a book 1 in a series. I will definitely be continuing on with it.

Red City is a gripping urban fantasy set amid rival alchemy syndicates. In this alternate reality, alchemy was discovered in the 1980s and has rapidly become the hidden power behind modern society. Alchemists have influence at every level, far more than the public realises.

We follow protagonists Ari and Sam from their school days through drastic life changes into adulthood, where the heart of the story unfolds. There's a dramatic tone shift as their lives become increasingly intense and dangerous. The closer they get to the power held by alchemists, the higher the stakes. The story becomes much more exciting as it progresses, following a somewhat slow start. The slow start at least helps us understand Ari and Sam and their motivations more deeply.

I have read some of Marie Lu's YA work, and this is a brilliant adult debut. It is grittier and more violent, but still presents a fascinating world and well-built magic system. Red City is labelled as the first in The New Alchemist series, but it works well as a standalone for now, with many plot threads wrapping up satisfyingly. There is still an open ending that hints at an interesting future for our protagonists, but thankfully no shocking cliffhanger! If the series does continue, I will definitely be returning to this world.

Recommended to urban fantasy fans.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy. This is a hard review to write, because there was a lot here that I really really liked. I loved Sam and the way she was written, her backstory, trauma and relationship with her mother was among the best character development I have read. I also liked the magic system, especially the way that using it has consequences, It's not just a way to conveniently move the plot along. I liked Ari, but I feel he was a little blander than Sam overall, i did like how their friendship developed. Most of the side characters were also very well developed, Now, something I had a little bit of an issue with is child grooming, which is very clearly present for both characters. It was uncomfortable to read. However, as you go on you see how truly messed up these organisations and the people in them are. Overall, I don't see it's inclusion as problematic as some reviewers have but I do think there readers should be aware going in. I am not sure how I felt about the ending overall. it did not have the same clout to me as the events leading up to it, In summary I enjoyed this and look forward to reading more of the Author's adult work.

4 stars ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ I ended up rooting for the wrong man, uhm 🧍‍♀️🥴

"Here’s what they don’t tell you. 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. Often, you will spend your entire life searching in vain. And sometimes, you simply find out too late."


This book served so hard. The characters, writing and magic. How Marie Lu incorporated and weaved this new, very meticulous magical system into every day life and presented it to us— it was one of my favourite things about the book. It was suprisingly sciencey, in terms of physics and chemistry, but completely digestable for someone who wasn't a great STEM girly.

VIBES—
🦁 Yearning
🦊 Spice (not with the love interest)
🦁 Childhood friends to strangers to enemies to lovers
🦊 Emotional Damage
🦁 Very cool magic mafia system
🦊 POC main characters- South Asian MMC & East Asian FMC

I loved this book. It made me feel so many things but first and foremost I didn't want to put it down. God I loved it, mainly the start when we were learning about this new magic system and our 2 main characters— Ari & Sam.

Ari's back story was absolutely devastating. I can't reveal too much but it makes me want to cry because I know many will kind of relate to him to some extent due to colonialism (there are no depcitions of colonialism but when you read the book I think you'll understand). My heart goes out to him and I think I hate how vulnerable he made me feel. He was a character who's always been soft at his core and there wasn't a moment in this book where he had pure evil intent, he is our soft lover boy :( That being said... I did think he wasn't exciting enough for me as a love interest but I'll get into that later.

Sam's story was phenomenally sad too but so beautifully written. Her relationship with her mother pulled at my heart so much because of how beautiful it was written. And the amount of depth. Kill me. (why do both of these MC's have such sad back stories). Sam was someone who had grew up with poverty and we saw it stay with her through to adulthood even when she was racking in thousands of dollars. This representation felt so true and authentic but when I read the acknowledgements :(

Will and Diamond. God. So firstly, I adored Will, sue me. And secretly I wished he was the male lead. I wish Will got a chapter in his POV since he was such a detrimental character. He was so interesting and aghh tortured. I don't know how Marie Lu can write him and expect me not to love him. I'm actually shocked and lowk dispaoointed he didn't get a chapter. I appreciate that Diamond got a chapter— but she needed more, and the one she got had not enough depth for what it was attempting to convey. Will, oh my heart. [plus he was sexy too y'all]

The chemistry... hm. I feel like in the early part of their lives, the romantic chemistry in their friendship needed more building up so that when they'd 'reunite' years later I'd instantly feel their pull. However, instead I felt an insane amount of painful angst (which honestly could be a good thing still but I needed more of something). They were so complicated. There were so many dirty, messy things done yet yearned so deeply. I nearly thought that they weren't salvageable. Overall, I feel like there was so much hurt between them I don't know why or how it kind of resolved. I expected more of a careful fix.

The ending was good. I don't know if I was underwhelmed. But I know I was hurt. So hurt. I shed some tears and was in disbelief kind of. I felt betrayed. But then when everything went down right at the end I don't know if I was just... expecting MORE. The reason why I keep saying IDK though is because I feel like this book ending was just a set up for the series yet I still feel like I should have felt more. However the fight at the end between a few unnameable characters, hahaha Marie Lu mark your days! How things kind of resolved at the end... I felt it to be fairly random? I would explain why but I can't spoil 🤞

Clearly I can't make my mind up about this ending but shit, I really think everybody should read this book.

4 stars

I’ve only read the Legend series by this author and that’s up there as one of my favourite YA series. It’s sometimes hit or miss the transition from YA to adult but I think Marie Lu does an excellent job, especially with some of the themes in this story. I also liked how the author put her own personal experiences into this story which adds a little more depth.

I thought that it had quite a slow start with a lot of focus on the magic system, which was actually really interesting, but I felt like everything else got slightly pushed under the rug in terms of setting up the story which did hinder my enjoyment slightly. Thankfully, things soon picked up and I did mostly enjoy this story overall.

“𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐰.”

I’ve been a fan of Marie Lu’s writing since her Legend days, but this? From the very first page, I was hooked. The writing is sharp, immersive, and addictive in a way that only Marie Lu can deliver. The worldbuilding is breathtaking. It’s layered, intricate, and impossible not to get lost in. And the characters? Complex, flawed, and so vividly drawn that I still can’t stop thinking about them. This book has everything I crave in fantasy: high stakes, morally gray choices, and prose that lingers long after you close the book. It’s dark, captivating, and absolutely unputdownable. I already know it’s going to be one of my favorite reads of the year, and I’m counting down the days until everyone else gets to experience it.

This is perfect for fans of Vicious by V.E. Schwab, Jade City by Fonda Lee and Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong (read all of those please and thank you!!)

🧪✨🌃❤️‍🔥

Marie blew me out of the water with this one, I was a huge fan of her books growing up and now I'm happy to say I'm still a fan as she dives into the adult genre!

I have to be honest- I have strong and conflicting feelings about the Red City. There were a few themes I made me uncomfortable but more of that later.
I enjoyed the Romeo and Juliet vibe of the book on a background of mafia and gangster inspired Alchemy. The descriptions of Alchemy in the book are vivid - some of the fights scenes with people creating weapons from brick or using alchemy to creatively torturing people jump off the page. Sam and Ari are the two main point of view characters and the star crossed lovers. Ari and Sam are also outsiders in Angel City, being both poor and being immigrants, making them vulnerable to being exploited by the two main crime families who turn them into weapons. Sam’s childhood scenes are inspired from the author’s own childhood and are harrowing to read but also help us understand how Sam could turn to Alchemy despite its darkness. Ari’s story as child who longs to go back home to India but can’t because of how much he has changed was also heartbreaking.
It takes a while before we get to the magic and action but once its starts, the pace is unrelenting, and I had to keep reading till the end.
Now to the bits that I found uncomfortable. In my view it does feel like Sam and Ari have been taken advantage of sexually by people in positions of power. Even though these encounters are consensual, it does feel ‘icky’ given the context of the how disadvantaged Sam and Ari actually are. Normally books with similar scenes would have me refusing to finish the story but I couldn’t stop reading this book and will be reading the other books in the series!