Babel meets Jade City 
Alexis: I got an ARC of Red City from my fave indie bookstore at the beach, and it didn’t disappoint!
The story takes place in an alternate Los Angeles called Red City, and the city is the perfect gritty backdrop. The magic system of alchemy was interesting and well thought out, and even though the first half of the story was slow paced, it really allowed you time to learn alchemy and learn the stakes of the story in time with both of the main characters.
The beginning of the book follows Sam and Ari, two separate alchemy students, during their school years. It definitely has dark academia vibes and some parallels to Babel by R.F. Kuang. The second half of the book is much more Jade City, with dueling alchemy groups that are essentially mobs and some political intrigue.
Lu discusses this a little in the back of the book, but Red City dives into the grittiness of immigrant families and was inspired by her own family’s immigrant story. This is really where I felt the heart of the story was; her exploration of the hardships of the immigrant family was devastating—and in different ways when it comes to Sam and Ari.
This is a darker story (and Lu’s adult debut!) and deals with a lot of dark themes—including grooming, drug use, murder, violence and more. And the tagline of “power always has a price” certainly rings true throughout the story. This was so close to being a five-star read for me, but there were some plot points at the end that didn’t quite work for me.
VERDICT: 
Is Red City on your tbr? Special thanks to Tor Publishing Group for the copy in exchange for a review!
takes two to book review 