This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend. Read the full disclosure here.
Book: “Red City” by Marie Lu
Publishing Info: Tor Books, October 2025
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: 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: I’ve met Marie Lu twice now, and both times she was incredibly kind, interesting, and did a fantastic job selling me on the concept of her upcoming title. I was particularly interested in this one, as it was her first venture into writing adult fantasy. Beyond that, the familiar-yet-appealing premise of deadly rivals who fall in love will likely always hold some appeal. Unfortunately, all of this promise didn’t live up to the reality of the book.
Overall, my primary emotion while reading this book was boredom and disconnect. But before getting into my struggles, I do want to quickly touch on some aspects that did work for me. For one thing, of all the relationships and characters presented, I was by far the most invested in the complicated, painful nature of the relationship between Sam and her mother. We don’t often see a mother/daughter relationship explored in this way, and whenever we got back to Sam’s POV (my preferred of the two, by far), I was always intrigued by the added layers of complexity that were given to this dynamic.
Beyond that, I liked the idea of this world, with rival alchemical gangs duking it out in an alternative Los Angeles. Even here, however, while my curiosity was piqued, I never felt like aspects of this world and magic were ever fully drawn together. At times, it felt like disjointed pieces floating in a world full of potential, but not much more.
All of that said, I really struggled to keep reading this one. If I didn’t have an ARC copy, there’s a decent chance I would have DNF’d this. For one thing, I really hate books that are written in present tense. I think authors have been made to fear both third person and past tense, being told by publishers and various TikTok accounts that all readers care about in their books is the ability to self-insert, something they claim is only possible with first person and present tense. I simply don’t think this is true. And while it is definitely possible to write excellent novels using different perspectives and tenses, I do think that others flop more often than not. Sometimes readers will review a book and mention not being able to “connect” with the story, and my personal theory is that this often comes down to the wrong choice being made with regards to tense and perspective. Here, the present tense style repeatedly kicked me out of any ability to immerse myself in the story. Others may enjoy this style, but I found it to be restrictive more than anything for this story.
Beyond that, the pacing was incredibly slow, especially at the start of the book. I can get on board with a story that builds slowly, but to do that, I must feel invested in either the characters or the world pretty much from the start. Here, I just couldn’t get myself to care about either of these characters. Sam was by far the better one, especially with her strained relationship with her mother. But Ari was just a blank, with very little actual characterization holding him together. We’re told that he’s pretty and charming. But that’s pretty much it. I can take the author’s word on the prettiness, but the charm has to at least be present on the page, and we didn’t even get that.
The plotting was also strange. It’s clear that the romance is pretty much the central point of the book/series, but that made various plot points in this book feel as if they were just thrown in to elongate the book. For example, both characters end up getting together with other characters at points in the book. And, knowing where the book was going, I just couldn’t care less about any of this. I felt like my time was actively being wasted, being asked to care about relationships that were so clearly being set purely as stumbling blocks to the primary romance.
So, yeah. I didn’t enjoy this read. It felt like a chore more than anything. This was all the more disappointing as I think Lu is a very talented author, and I was super excited by the concept of this book going in. However, the execution just wasn’t there.
Rating 6: I really struggled to get through this one or to care about anything that was happening. But those less bothered by present-tense writing may enjoy it more!
Reader’s Advisory:
“Red City” can be found on this Goodreads list: All the New Fantasy Books Arriving in October 2025
The Library Ladies 