Amélie Wen Zhao

A fugitive princess with a deadly Affinity and a charismatic crime lord forge an unlikely alliance in order to save themselves, each other, and the kingdom.

Blood Heir

Kelly Murphy

Moonchild

I was a fast reading, completely forgot the word sweet and cruel at the same time

The first book in an epic new series about a princess hiding a dark secret and the con man she must trust to clear her name for her father's murder. In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are reviled. Their varied gifts to control the world around them are unnatural—dangerous. And Anastacya Mikhailov, the crown princess, has a terrifying secret. Her deadly Affinity to blood is her curse and the reason she has lived her life hidden behind palace walls. When Ana's father, the emperor, is murdered, her world is shattered. Framed as his killer, Ana must flee the palace to save her life. And to clear her name, she must find her father's murderer on her own. But the Cyrilia beyond the palace walls is far different from the one she thought she knew. Corruption rules the land, and a greater conspiracy is at work—one that threatens the very balance of her world. And there is only one person corrupt enough to help Ana get to its core: Ramson Quicktongue. A cunning crime lord of the Cyrilian underworld, Ramson has sinister plans—though he might have met his match in Ana. Because in this story, the princess might be the most dangerous player of all. “Cinematic storytelling at its best.”—Adrienne Young, New York Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep and The Girl the Sea Gave Back “Zhao shines in the fast-paced and vivid combat scenes, which lend a cinematic quality that pulls readers in.”—The New York Times Book Review “Zhao is a master writer who weaves a powerful tale of loyalty, honor, and courage through a strong female protagonist. . . . Readers will love the fast-paced energy and plot twists in this adventure-packed story.”—SLJ

alexandra

OH MY GODDDDDDD. okok this is probably closer to a 4 or 4.5 but i just binged my first physical book in FOREVER and i love these characters so so so much. 5 stars is rightly earned.

Emily B

I just found a new favorite. I have been putting this book off since it came out. I didn't think I would like it this much but I FREAKING LOVED IT! I'm still reeling from this book and am in a massive book hangover. I'm sorry that this review is so scattered, I am still in shock, but I'll do my best to get all my thoughts out cleanly.
First, the characters. They are all morally grey and with a lot of heart, my favorite. Ana goes through a great yet subtle character arc where she realizes her empire is not what she was raised to believe. I loved seeing her spine of steel and how much she cares for those she loves. Ramson, though, I felt was a little more the star of this book. He reminded me of Kaz Brekker mixed with Flynn Rider. I thought his character arc was very well done and can't wait to see where he goes from here. AND THE ROMANCE! It is such a slow burn! It takes a lot to get me into a romance these days but I ATE THIS UP! I have a new favorite ship. And they're not even together yet! I can't wait for the payoff.
The plot was paced really well. It was often really fast paced with a lot of twists that I didn't see coming, but it also knew when to slow down and have really heartfelt character moments. I did not want to stop reading this book, the adrenaline rush was insane, but basic necessities like food and sleep demanded my attention.
The only problem I maybe had was that Ana would often attack someone in anger with her power, then when the dust settled she would instantly feel sorry. I had a harder time with that little bit of flip flopping, but it wasn't that big so I didn't mind as much. And when you think about how she was raised and what she has been told all her life, it kind of makes sense why she'd immediately feel sorry. Hopefully, after her character arc in this book, she will feel more confident in her abilities and choices in the next book.
The world building was really nice, but it was kind of self contained to mostly one country. I am hoping we see more of the world in the coming books. I also liked the magic system. It reminded me a little of the Grishaverse, just with more variety. I would like the author to further explore the mechanics of an Affinity. But what we got was really well done.
Overall, I highly recommend this book. It was really well done for a debut! I now own the second book and am currently terrified of starting it cause I want to love it just as much. Still, I can't wait to continue!

Ilona Labská 

This book reminded me of The Nevernight Chronicle and Throne of Glass. It has a captivating storyline and strong female character. The ending is a little bit of a cliche, but it has its charm. Overall its nice start to the book series. Looking forward to the next one.

Elisa Bieg

I finished. Thank goodness. This book is 455 pages long but it felt more like 700+.

I don’t want to rant, so I’m going to do this in bullet points:

• Decent world building 
• Cool magic system (though not particularly original — heavy Grisha vibes, Ana is basically a Heartrender)
• Pretty good story
• Flat-as-a-pancake dialogue
• Slow-as-a-tortoise-but-not-nearly-as-cute pace
• Terrible romance. I mean 
  awful
. (You know Enemies To Lovers? Cool. This is Enemies To NOTHING. It’s a new trope)

2 STARS
This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2019, and it took me two tries and all my stubbornness to get through it. I’d be saltier about my disappointment if I weren’t so relieved to be done with it. 
Onwards!

Megan Lowe

4.5 stars.

Wow! This book. I loved it! It was so gently written, but with a strong hand, a concise vision and a touch of humour.
I loved Ana. She is strong, but not infallible. She is naive but learning. She is guarded but not cold.
Ramson is a great character as well. Strong but not too tough. Charming but not overly so. He has a weak spot but does not let that define him.
I loved the storyline and the supporting characters, the touch of romance was exactly what I needed to give this something extra.
I love where this is heading and cannot wait for the next book. I’m so glad Amelie went ahead and published this book. She is a lovely woman and deserves all the accolades coming to her!

More 

BLOOD HEIR is the first book in an epic new series about a princess hiding a dark secret and the conman she must trust to clear her name of murder.

The writing and story just chefs kiss 😘

Highly recommend to people who loved Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas!!

I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR KILLING OFF YOU KNOW WHO!!! YOU MADE ME UGLY CRY!! 🥲🥲

Dominique

Loved this so much! 

The writing and story just chefs kiss 😘

Highly recommend to people who loved Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas!!

*** For the Author: ***

I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR KILLING OFF YOU KNOW WHO!!! YOU MADE ME UGLY CRY!! 🥲🥲

Savannah Winchell

Tbh I skimmed the last 40% bc I don’t have time for mediocrity

june

I can't really explain my love for this book, this had a great start. Ana and Ramson meeting each other for the first time with a little bit of hatred to allies with forced proximity makes me blush and scream into my pillows.

Livia

how many more YA fantasies do you think I should go through until an author can finally write a female mc who isn't reckless and unnecessarily impulsive and is smart and not naive? my patience is sort of running thin at this point but sadly I'm too curious to know the continuation of the story, and I want to see more of Linn, whom I love the most in this book despite her very, very brief appearance in this book. (yes Ana, if you don't go through a major character development, which did NOT happen at all in this book, then I'm sorry to say you will be a part of my looooong list of female mcs in YA books I'm annoyed by)

(that aside, I really do think the author did a pretty good job in writing about human trafficking, which I heard got plenty of criticism before it was even published. I am, however, still thinking the whole "people with magical powers are oppressed and cruelly treated" plotline is getting tiresome)

corinna

All in all, Blood Heir is an incredible, richly voiced story about finding yourself in your fears and losses and ultimately coming out stronger. With a complex plot and powerful world building, this debut is one to look out for, one in which fans of Six of Crows and Ace of Shades will obsess over.

Full Review coming soon....

Aurora Corbett

It took a little bit for me to get into it but once I was I couldn't put it down. The ending frustrated me so much tho. I love/ hate when something is going good and then one character that you forget about sabatoges it and then makes two more books for the series. Like the problem could have ended right there if someone hadn't stabby stabbed someone else. Really good book. You should read it.

Lexie :) 

** spoiler alert **
           An awe-inspiring tale of a princess who lost everything but her hope of a better future. 

Zhao’s ability to capture the complicity of two characters in their dual point of views was astounding. While I typically get bored with one characters POV and skip their chapter all together, I did not such thing in Blood Heir. Each part was just an crucial as the other, and kept me enthralled to no end. 

Ana right from the start was an extremely dedicated and strong character that I instantly took a liking to. She has lost so much, yet never gave up to do what was best for her and her people’s future. She finds aid in a quick witted, smooth talking con man Ramson, as they work together towards a common goal. Of course they tend to be at each other’s throats and threats of making them choke on their own blood are commonly exchanged. 

Each character in this story was so specially written with such detail that I felt the loss of each person as it happened. May’s death was so moving and I admit, I cried. Zhao had me feeling May’s physical pain and hope to the distraught emotional pain and loss of Ana. Same goes for Luka’s death. While these deaths were needed to propel Ana forward in her race to regain her throne, they still hurt. 

If you’re looking for another enemies to possible lovers with a somewhat slow burn and characters with tragic stories as they face torture and death, then this is the book for you. 

Be sure to check out the sequel “Red Tigress” to see where Ana and her con man end up as they plan to take back Ana’s rightful place as ruler.

April Romero

Boring, I didn't care for any character. I honestly couldn't wait to finish this.

Katharina Hoffmann

Oh gosh, where do I even begin? This book promised to be a lush retelling of Anastasia and Russian folklore but it failed miserably in so many aspects.
Before I dive deeper into my review, please be aware that I won’t refer to or be influenced by the book’s pre-publishing controversy. There are other reviews and blog posts which explain the matter in detail.

The biggest problem I had was how many stereotypical YA literature tropes this book contained and just how mediocre the writing was.

I started rolling my eyes as early as page 6 (!!!!) and from there on in never really stopped.

“He was young – much younger than she’d expected for a renowned crime lord of the Empire. Surprise twanged in her stomach.”

Need I say more? These two sentences tell me everything I have to know about a) the young man’s personality and background and b) I know exactly what will become of his and Ana’s relationship. Isn’t it bitter that the set-up of this story was done in such a crude way that I only needed to read this passage to know where the story was going?
I can’t believe just how lame and stereotypical the main characters’ meet-cute was.



On to the next trope…
“There was a time when scum like him would have bowed to her, when she could have ordered his demise with a single word. That time was past, but she could still do the right thing.”

 … where the main character needs to hide their identity in a town or city, then spots some kind of injustice or mistreatment of innocents and can’t help but come to their aid, thereby revealing their own identity. The author wants to make a point of just how noble & selfless yet reckless Ana is. If, by adding that scene, the author wanted to further establish Ana’s personality… well, she fell into the trap of using an all-too-common trope for that.

At the beginning of the book Ana is a girl who has travelled the country with her friend and protegée May for months. She rescued the young girl from the fangs of an Affinite broker. Even though Ana has spent weeks in May’s company she only seems to realise just how bad the situation for Affinites is when she is in the big city.
Ana seemed incredibly naive throughout the entire story.

Another thing that really annoyed me was Ana’s recklessness. It painted her stupid and child-like. In situations where it would have been common sense to keep her head down and think, she would lose her head. This just didn’t make any sense at all for someone who has spent 11 moons on their own in the wild but oh well, here we are.

Ah and have I already talked about Ana’s repetitive behaviour?
Every time she hurts or kills someone with her ability she is disgusted of herself. Then she makes peace with it because it is for the greater good. Then she loses her head again when she’s witness to an unjust deed and feels this ‘all-consuming hot rage’. She proceeds to use her power to hurt the bad guys which again leads to Ana being horrified of herself.

This isn’t even everything that I hated about this book (wooden dialogue, flat and irreproachable villains) but this review has got too long already.

Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Arden Kowalski

Rounded down from 3.5 stars. Review to come!

Lila Harrison

2.5/5 stars (DNF @ 60%)
y'all...i tried. i wanted to love this book so bad but the writing is just not doing it for me. zhao's storytelling is good but her prose just feels kind of...idk, kind empty? like, if this was a screenplay, it'd be great, but somehow, as a novel it seems lacking in heart and in impact. which sucks because the topic of the story (an analog for human trafficking and modern day slavery) is so important. agh! it saddens me so much to dislike this book! but the characters felt wooden, the prose left me wanting, and the story beats felt recycled and stale. tangentially, i will note that as for the controversy surrounding this book, as a black reviewer i can't find any fault with the story or its characters (although i know this book supposedly went through massive edits before publication), so there's that. but yeah. i'm just so disappointed. :'(

Sheila Goicea

WOWWWWWWW. Thank goodness that this book was published! Review to come shortly!

Candyce Kirk

I know there was a lot of controversy around Blood Heir on Twitter before its release. After reading this story, I honestly don't see it. I'm happy about that, because this is such an interesting story and deserves to be seen that way! Blood Heir is in a way a Anastasia retelling, as the author did take some of those elements and used them in this book. I haven't really read any of these before, but it was interesting to see!

To start the review off I have to say I like that this book is a bit darker. Things aren't really all sunshine and rainbows and don't end that way either. Our main characters both have a lot of things to deal with and their world is definitely a complicated one. It was nice seeing an author not make everything magically okay once Ransom and Ana start working together.

I loved that this book was told in dual POV. Ransom was such an interesting character that you kind of want to love and hate. He's kind of the bad guy or so it seems. There's more to him than meets the eye and every time I doubted him, he would do something to really make me wonder. His development in this story was so interesting! I really need more!

Ana grew up being seen as something bad. Having an Affinity is seen as bad and these people are basically being used in this world. With Ana being royal, her father does everything to keep her gifts hidden. This made Ana's story really interesting. Seeing her fight being what she is, but also learning to embrace it. Ana is a very strong character and is really trying to fight for her brother. I have a feeling that we haven't seen anything yet when it comes to Ana.

YA books tend to have a lot of romance and it's something that takes up a lot of the storyline. Blood Heir didn't do that this way and I loved it! Ransom and Ana slowly get close and it's clear something is going on, but neither of them just give into it! They both think it can't happen, but getting close has feelings developing. It's like more of a slowburn element in this trilogy and I'm curious to see where it goes!

There is a lot of politics in this book and it's something I love reading about. I love reading about the world, how it works and what evil there is. The worldbuilding was really interesting, but I think I needed just a little bit more? I would've liked to have learned more about her brother and Kingdom before everything plays out near the end of the story. I really hope this plays a bigger part in the next two books.

Last, but not least, the magic system was a lot of fun! I love the different Affinities and possibilities. I can't wait to read more about that and see more of it! Hopefully we read more about it and I can't wait to see what else these people can do and how it's going to play a part in everything to come!

Leonie

I didn’t dislike the book, but I wasn’t in the right mood for reading it. The plot wasn’t uninteresting though, so I’m looking forward to reading the sequel.

Sophie Elaina 

Before going into this I was intrigued by the premise but didn’t really know much of what I was getting into. But the opening scenes in this book really are action packed and I loved the introduction so much! The introduction of the characters of Ana and Ramson was intriguing and gripping and was what initially grabbed my attention, even if some of the dialogue was a little cheesy. In my opinion the relationship dynamic between them is the driving force behind this book.

The lore is very interesting and I enjoyed the idea behind the magic system, although at times I felt as though some things weren’t explained clearly enough. I think that the action and world building were the best written parts and the atmosphere is incredible, I loved how the author made the setting feel so real, I honestly felt the cold while reading.

The first half of the book was my favourite and in my opinion felt stronger than the latter half.
The second half was more predictable to me and had similar vibes to other fantasy and dystopian novels I’ve read... revolution... overthrowing the evil... you get the idea.
If you’re reading for character charisma and atmospheric world building you will live for this. Although for me the plot lacked a little in some areas and was definitely one of the weaker parts. Which wasn’t exactly a problem, but personally it just made the book feel as though something was missing.
I wanted more in terms of romance development, which is odd for a fantasy novel for me, usually I like when there isn’t much but I feel like this book needed a little extra swoon if you know what I mean. I think it could’ve added a little more flavour to the slower areas in the middle.

Overall this was a solid read and I’d definitely recommend giving it a try!

Rating: 3 Stars

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this book from netgalley. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Author: Amelie Wen Zhao

Book Series: Bloor Heir Trilogy Book 1

Rating: 4/5

Publication Date: November 19, 2019

Recommended Age: 16+ (violence, gore, death, hate, and prejudice/racism portrayed through magic in the book)

Genre: YA Fantasy Retelling

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Synopsis: In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are reviled. Their varied gifts to control the world around them are unnatural—dangerous. And Anastacya Mikhailov, the crown princess, has a terrifying secret. Her deadly Affinity to blood is her curse and the reason she has lived her life hidden behind palace walls.

When Ana’s father, the emperor, is murdered, her world is shattered. Framed as his killer, Ana must flee the palace to save her life. And to clear her name, she must find her father’s murderer on her own. But the Cyrilia beyond the palace walls is far different from the one she thought she knew. Corruption rules the land, and a greater conspiracy is at work—one that threatens the very balance of her world. And there is only one person corrupt enough to help Ana get to its core: Ramson Quicktongue.

A cunning crime lord of the Cyrilian underworld, Ramson has sinister plans—though he might have met his match in Ana. Because in this story, the princess might be the most dangerous player of all.

Review: I’m really happy that the author decided to move forward with publishing this book and I’ve seen a lot of similar sentiments around as well. I think the book is pretty decent. I loved the character development and the pacing of the book was well done. It had a very even pace and I felt that works well for most readers. I also think the writing is amazing and you can tell the author poured her all into this work. I liked that the book also discussed racism and prejudice via the affinities. I do have the version that came before the author made some revisions so I will be buying the finished copy one day to compare/contrast on my own, but from what I see I liked it.

My only complaints were that the book was a bit heavy on the Anastasia story. I think the book could have been better if we weren’t constantly reminded of her tragic backstory/this is an Anastasia retelling, but I also think that this story didn’t need to use an Anastasia foundation to make it magnificient. I’m all for retellings and I think retellings are the modern version of a campfire story that gets passed down generation to generation by word of mouth, but I think this story was strong enough to stand in its own category, not that of Anastasia. I also didn’t like the POVs through Ransom, but that was just me and my feelings. I skimmed his sections and read Ana’s, which I don’t think impacted the story at all for me.

Verdict: Definitely worthy of a read, whether you’re for or against it.

Blood Heir

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