Red City by Marie Lu

Title: Red City

Author: Marie Lu

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Series: The New Alchemists # 1

420 pages, Hardcover

Publication: October 14, 2025

Source: Libby Library

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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.

MY THOUGHTS

I read Lu’s Legend series back in the day when the dystopian genre was big and booming, so I was surprised and excited to hear that she had finally published an adult novel. Red City felt like a long time coming. The concept of crime syndicates mixed with alchemy intrigued me enough to pick this one up.

The opening chapters introduce us to a young Sam and Ari during their school years, from junior high through high school graduation. It’s during this period that they become involved with opposing syndicates: Sam joins Grand Central and Ari joins Lumines. From there, the story jumps ahead five years, and the two don’t cross paths again until a major syndicate event.

It took me a little while to settle into the story. I appreciated the background, but some of the childhood scenes felt unnecessarily long and drawn out. I found myself wondering if a flashback structure might have been more effective than concentrating their entire childhood arc in one chunk of the book. However, once the narrative shifts to the present day (five years later) the pace picks up quickly. By then, Sam and Ari are fully established in their respective syndicates and have made names for themselves in the criminal underground with fitting code names.

The worldbuilding was straightforward and easy to follow, but the magic system took longer to grasp, especially regarding its hierarchy and abilities. Sam’s powers, enhanced by a drug called Sand, make her hard to notice or remember, almost like invisibility, and allow her to transmute organic matter into inorganic material. Ari’s bioalchemy lets him influence molecular structures within the body. Every alchemist can transmute weapons from organic or inorganic sources; turning water into acid, pulling a blade from a brick wall, and so on but I still found certain parts of the system confusing in terms of how and why these abilities work.

Despite the lengthy section dedicated to Sam and Ari’s childhood and the story centering around them as adults I didn’t connect with them as strongly as I expected. I was more drawn to the side characters, especially Sam’s mother, Connie, and Diamond’s son, Will. Given how the book ends, I’m curious to see if Will appears again in future books. Their backstories felt more compelling and tragic, and they helped me understand their motivations in a way the main characters didn’t quite achieve.

Overall, Red City is a solid start to a new series. The book held my attention for most of the journey, and the fight sequences were excellent. I’ll definitely be checking out the next installment.