Blood Heir
Amélie Wen Zhao
3/5
In the past year, Ana has lost everything. Her one living parent, her reputation, and her kingdom. After being framed for her father's murder, she's desperate to prove her innocence and get revenge. She has to rely on a conman to do so, learning the dark secrets of her empire along the way. If you're into the magic vs. magicless Red Queen type book, or any YA where the chosen one rises against her oppressors, this one has a lot to offer.
I did have a bit of trouble establishing the setting of the novel. It was labeled as a retelling on Goodreads, and I didn't really read into it but I'm not really sure what it was a retelling of. Maybe that's just my own fault for not doing due research but it felt as though it had some confusing cultural vibes. It was also hard for me to get really involved with a lot of what was happening, things moved fast for the timeline provided, but also I couldn't understand what she had done for the past year and why she didn't approach the issue more directly sooner? It seemed fast but slow given circumstances, just a weird pacing that made the events hard for me to be invested in.
I also didn't like the deaths which were used to motivate her character arc, I always feel like that's a weak tactic so early on in a series. That being said though, I did like the morally gray nature of Ana's character. I don't think Ramson should try to justify her as good, I think he should just embrace the fact that she is going to have to do evil things. More SOC style, embrace the darkness while still holding onto the good parts of life.
It has a lot of interesting elements which I'm excited to see in the second book. Like I said before, very similar to the Red Queen so if you're interested in that, then this is definitely a great read for you.
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