Review | Red City (The New Alchemists #1) by Marie Lu

Review of ‘Red City’ (The New Alchemists #1) by Marie Lu. Discover the pulse-pounding adult fantasy debut from Marie Lu, where shimmering glamour meets ruthless ambition in a high-stakes tale of alchemy, loyalty, and love. Set in an alternate Los Angeles glittering with danger and possibility, Red City blends mob drama with magical warfare in a way that feels like The Godfather collided with The Magicians. With vivid world-building, unforgettable characters, and the kind of twisty romance that’ll have your heart in knots, this is the fantasy you didn’t know you needed.

I don’t have the words for how good ‘Red City’ by Marie Lu is… but here’s my attempt

Synopsis

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.

Review

Okay. I’m obsessed. If you’ve been here for a while, you know I’ve loved Marie Lu ever since Legend. So the second I heard this was her first adult novel, I knew I had to read it. And oh my god, it did not disappoint. Like… I’m still recovering.

Note: I am so overwhelmed with how I loved this book that I feel like I don’t have the right words. So my apologies if I’m just rambling at this point.

Let’s talk about the characters. Sam and Ari? My babies. The kind of complex, achingly flawed characters that make you root for them even when they’re on opposite sides of a very dangerous game. I loved every little moment. Every stolen glance, every betrayal, every time they had to question if the person they once knew was still there under all the ambition and bloodshed. Ugh!!! And then there’s Will, who surprised me with how much depth he had honestly. And Connie, Sam’s mom, who honestly broke my heart. She just wanted the best for her daughter in a world that doesn’t give people like them many chances. It was so nice to also get her background and read about what she had experienced.

And yes, let’s take a moment for the romance. It’s giving friends to enemies to lovers (yes, I’m a sucker for pain), mixed with this emotionally charged, friends-with-benefits-but-make-it-angsty kind of energy. I couldn’t get enough. What really made it work for me was that Sam and Ari had a real friendship before everything went down. That shared history, that unspoken understanding between them… it added this extra emotional weight to everything. It made their love feel so much more real and heartbreaking, because you knew they saw each other in a way no one else did. The way it all unfolds? Perfection. There are also quite some graphic sex scenes, just so you know. I think they fitted right into the story; but beware if you’re not into that.

The setting is another major win here. It’s technically urban fantasy I think? But with this alternate world twist that makes everything feel just a little off-kilter in the best way. I loved recognizing familiar cities and places while being fully immersed in a magical underworld of syndicates, politics, and the dangerously addictive drug known as sand. I loved the way Lu described the feeling of being on sand and the effects of has on the people taking it. It felt so real.

Speaking of which. The alchemy system? Incredible. Probably one of my favourite thing about this book. The magic in this world is messy, violent, and utterly fascinating. It’s gory, yes (so heads up), but it’s written with such clarity and cinematic flair that I felt like I was watching an IMAX movie in my mind. You can feel the transformation, the pain, the power. It’s just that good and unique.

I don’t know how many times I have to say this but the way Marie Lu writes just speaks to me. She is such an incredibly talented writer and proves it once again. Fantasy or science fiction? Young adult or adult? She does it all and I read it all.

If I had to nitpick one little thing, it would be that the early chapters set in the past dragged a tiny bit. I definitely get why they were important and really liked the Ari chapters, but I was so eager to jump into the present storyline that I found myself wanting to skip forward in the book and get to the present time. That said, once the story gets going, it goes. I flew though Red City and read it in a couple of days. So so good. And the ending? I almost cried. Actually, I would have cried if I hadn’t been driving while finishing the audiobook (which is amazing, by the way, I highly recommend it if you like listening to your books). I was so invested in this story that I read the physical book at home and the audiobook while on the road.

Final thoughts? If you love morally complex characters, sharp world-building, enemies-to-lovers romance, and stories that toe the line between magic and mayhem, Red City should be at the very top of your TBR. Marie Lu’s adult debut absolutely delivers. I’m already obsessed.

Rating

10/10

Details

• Trigger warnings: Graphic violence, graphic sex scenes, drug use (magical substance), gore, murder, themes of grief, class inequality
• Representation: Includes a racially diverse cast (Chinese fmc and Indian mmc), LGBTQ+ side characters
• Genre: Adult contemporary fantasy
• Pages: 432
• Publication date: July 15, 2025
• Publisher: PanMacmillan | Tor
• About the author:
  Marie Lu is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 15 novels, including Legend, The Young Elites, Warcross, Skyhunter, and Stars And Smoke. Her adult debut, Red City, released on Oct. 16, 2025. She graduated from the University of Southern California and jumped into the video game industry, working for Disney Interactive Studios as an artist. Now a full-time writer, she spends her spare time reading, drawing, playing games, and getting stuck in traffic. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.