Larkspur Lee, a first-year American student on scholarship, is well aware of the precariousness of her situation at Université Meurdrac. Without social standing or family connections, Lark must use her fierce ambition and hard-earned knowledge of alchemy to survive. When the opportunity arises for a coveted apprenticeship with the immortal Petronelle Flamel, she grabs the chance to access the hidden web of alchemists that thrums beneath society; it offers a pipeline to immortality and a chance to outrun the devious mentor she left behind in California. The school descends into chaos with Flamel’s murder, as a dangerous sect, the Promethean Genesis, threatens Lark’s world once again. As an official investigation into Flamel’s death unfolds, Lark is haunted by bloody memories and the sight of moths constantly flickering in her vision. The past seems to be nipping at Lark’s heels; her complicated relationships with her Korean mother and grandmother leave her isolated emotionally; and with alchemy, outward appearances often belie the textured truths beneath. Author Jung’s lush prose conveys the depths of Lark’s ambition as it wars with her sense of despair and self-destructive impulses that flare up as she struggles for independence from her mentor. While Lark deliberates about working with Knight Violaine, a brusque woman who serves the immortals and captivates her, she’s forced to reckon with dangers past and present. Questions that Lark can easily answer in the opening chapters lose their clear-cut edges as she traverses the reality behind the glamorous facades of Paris, Meurdrac, and alchemist society: What is the cost of innovation and progress? Who decides?