Shakespeare – LairOfBooks

Title: Red City (The New Alchemists #1)

Author: Marie Lu

Pub. Date: October 14th 2025

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Format: Hardcover

Publisher: Tor Books

Pages: 432

☆☆DRC PROVIDED BY PUBLISHER IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW☆☆

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╰☆☆ “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.” ☆☆╮

Red City by Marie Lu was one of the Book Of The Month selections from October last year pitched as The Godfather meets The Magicians. An easier time at choosing my books has never happened but also, this is Marie Lu’s first adult fantasy debut and my first book of theirs. I immediately imagined rival gangs at war, armed with magic, and an impossible romance and that’s exactly what I got! Set in an alternate Los Angeles, we are introduced to our main characters Sam and Ari while they’re still children living with their respective families. You get a sense when meeting them that they are unique in their own ways, observant of their surroundings, and destined to eventually cross paths. There are eight crime syndicates who import/export Sand, the substance responsible for mainstreaming Alchemy to any who care to enhance themselves. This can be for beauty, charisma, or simply to be more than who they are without Sand. Angel City is run by two of the crime syndicates, Grand Central and Lumines. Both actively recruit people who have “strong souls” in order to teach them Alchemy, a science that will allow them to wield magic at a price. A piece of their soul in exchange for power and perfection.

Ari – Living in India with his parents, siblings, and extended family when a member from Lumines notices his strong soul and recruits him for Lumines. Ari is described as being shy and struggles with anxiety, ironically when he’s under Sand he is charming and a social magnet. Ari has a tough journey learning Alchemy but makes for one of the strongest recruits for his networking/persuasive abilities.

Sam – Already living in Angel City in a small apartment in the not so great part of town with her singe mother who is just trying to make ends meet. Sam has been alone most of her life since the age of two while her mom works long hours to put food on the table. She has a photographic memory and came into close contact with Alchemy at a very young age. Sam seeks out Grand Central’s leader as an answer to the poverty she and her mother face. Under Sand, Sam’s sight is even sharper while she becomes sort of invisible to those around her. A valuable asset for a crime syndicate trying to make moves in silence.

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At it’s core Red City is the well known story we all know of gangs having turf wars over drugs and power and yet this story is so much more than that. Sam and Ari both come from humble beginnings prior to being thrust into having it all. Sam’s mother boarded a ship from China to Angel City with Sam when she was just a baby, she had dreams of having a better life there. Like many immigrants, she had aspirations of obtaining a well paying job to provide that life for her child but instead quickly found out that wasn’t what Angel City had to offer them. Instead they experience poverty in a fast paced city where baby Sam felt the absence of a parent at home. Sam’s mothers struggle is well known in real life to many single moms who have to choose between career or being a stay at home mom. Many can’t afford to do the latter, such is the case with Sam’s mom who we get to know through her POV chapters. Hers is not an easy story but its a very real account of what many immigrants face outside of this fictional story. The inclusion of her POV made the pain between mother/daughter feel deeply emotional and heart wrenching. Sam’s recruitment into Grand Central gives her access to a life she envisioned but always felt out of her reach. More than access to wealth, Grand Central is where she feels seen.

Ari on the other hand had a childhood rich in love and presence at home, leaving that all behind leads to feelings of displacement in a strange land and a broken link to his mother land. He didn’t really have a choice in his recruitment, he simply was obedient to his parents who believed that letting him go would mean a better life. The promise of financial security for his family is what motivates him to excel in Alchemy. The friendship Ari develops with Sam is rooted in innocence, two strong souls taken down dark paths destined to cross paths time and time again. I am HIGHLY anticipating the next installment of The New Alchemists.

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New Boy by Tracy Chevalier

Publisher: Hogarth

Publication Date: May 11th, 2017

Genre: Fiction/Re-telling

Pages: 204 pages

Format: eGalley (Netgalley)

Rating: ★★★★ (4 Stars)

*Cover = Goodreads

From the New York Times bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring comes the fifth installment in the Hogarth Shakespeare series, a modern retelling of Othello set in a suburban schoolyard

Arriving at his fifth school in as many years, a diplomat’s son, Osei Kokote, knows he needs an ally if he is to survive his first day so he’s lucky to hit it off with Dee, the most popular girl in school. But one student can’t stand to witness this budding relationship: Ian decides to destroy the friendship between the black boy and the golden girl. By the end of the day, the school and its key players – teachers and pupils alike – will never be the same again.

The tragedy of Othello is transposed to a 1970’s suburban Washington schoolyard, where kids fall in and out of love with each other before lunchtime, and practice a casual racism picked up from their parents and teachers. Peeking over the shoulders of four 11 year olds Osei, Dee, Ian, and his reluctant girlfriend Mimi, Tracy Chevalier’s powerful drama of friends torn apart by jealousy, bullying and betrayal will leave you reeling.

This is my first read from the Hogarth Shakespeare collection & it will not be the last. Originally I had plans to start with another Hogarth title, Margaret Atwood’s Hag-Seed but I’m glad I opted to go with this one. A short read coming in at just about 200 pgs., New Boy by Tracey Chevalier packs a hell of a punch! Seeing as this is a short book, I decided to go with my thoughts & not go too in depth with plot for fear of spoilers. I was drawn to this book once I read “tragedy of Othello is transposed to a 1970’s suburban Washington schoolyard” in the Goodreads blurb & thought YES PLEASE! I was the kid in Junior High School who actually enjoyed the classics & read as many as possible (prob why I read so much YA now lol) so this was like music to my 7th grade self. This will def not be the last Hogarth title I read, I found the writing easily accessible when compared to the Ol’ legend Shakespeare himself. I’m all for a modern take on the classics when it’s done right & Tracy Chevalier delivered a poignant re-telling.

95% of this story takes place in the school yard & the main characters are 6th graders aka the seniors. We follow our main character Osei Kokote who has just transferred into the school about 7 mths prior to graduation. Osei is the son of a diplomat & no stranger to being the new boy in school/playground. This school however is a bit tougher to adjust to with Osei being the only child or for that matter, the only person of color. Osei is a very quiet, observant, and wise for his age child. Still, at the end of the day he is just a child in a all white school during the Nixon era which sadly made him the target. We see the trickle down effects of racism from the adults to the children. The atmosphere on the playground changes whenever Osei is around & the tension is palpable to the reader. From the children staring & whispering to the teachers who immediately peg him as a problem child, the build up leaves you with a bad feeling in the pit of your stomach.

I felt a range of emotions reading New Boy, anger was a big one. Chevalier didn’t hold back, providing us with the POV’s of both the children and the teachers. Many times I found myself wondering who was worse, the children who were taught to hate a skin color or the teachers with racism embedded in their hearts. Osei made one friend on that playground, Dee who found herself fascinated by him because he was different. Dee found herself wanting to spend all her time with Osei, talking about all he had seen while traveling with his parents. The attention Dee gave Osei was immediately noticed by all others. Playgrounds are known to be the scene of many dramatic events between friends and foes. Also, they typically have some sort of hierarchy with cliques that form & dissolve at the blink of an eye. This story has it’s bully aka aggressor, his name is Ian & throughout the course of this book we see him plot & scheme. Although you see the typical childhood dramas unfold, it isn’t without an underlying sense of danger.

This book made me think for days about what the younger generations are being taught at home. Not the lessons you get from books but rather the ones passed on by the older generations. How racism isn’t something you are born with, it is taught. The kids in this book were repeating things they heard at home but lacked conviction. There were moments when they included Osei in games & you almost thought they’d forgotten they feared him. Then an incident would occur & serve as a reminder of who they were taught to keep their distance from. I’ve never had a book invoke this much emotion to leave me shaking, making New Boy a read I’ll never forget. It’s short & to the point. Raw & unapologetic til the very last sentence. A relevant read given our current social & political climate. I highly recommend this one to all my book blogging buddies & readers. If you do decide to pick this one up, feel free to contact me to talk about this read.