Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao // Book Review

Title: Blood Heir
Author: Amelie Wen Zhao
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Published: November 19th, 2019
Pages: 464

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.

Oh. My. Goodness. This book is gold. One of my all-time favorite movies is Anastasia. When I found out there was going to be a fantasy retelling of one of my favorite stories, I just about died. This book went through a whirlwind of drama before it was released and was taken off of publication. I was devastated. The author eventually decided to continue with publication. Thank jeebus.

Blood Heir follows Ana, a Princess in the Cyrilian Empire who is framed for her father's murder with her Affinite powers. Ana is a Blood Affinite, the only Blood Affinite. She was previously placed in seclusion until she could control her powers due an accident that happened when she was a child.

This book follows Ana's journey into proving herself innocent. Along the way, she breaks a con man out of prison. Ramson is one of the biggest con men, everybody knows who he is. She needs his help to find the alchemist who killed her father and clear her name.

Like I said, this book is gold. I loved every step of the way. I cannot wait for the next book to be released. I cannot freaking wait. This book made me cry. Books don't normally make me cry. I feel like I relived that scene in The Hunger Games that makes everyone cry. May deserved so much more.

Now to get to the controversial part. This book was pulled from publication due to there being slavery in this book. In no way shape or form is this slavery depicted as good. Most people who complained about this book to get it pulled from publication must not have read the entire book. This book is about revolution. To stop people from enslaving those who are Affinites. This book does not glorify slavery. It takes place in a time where there was a lot of slaves. It also takes place in a time where the world was beginning to learn from their mistakes and change. I can't wait to see how the Affinites fight back and win their freedom.

My only gripe about this book is the lack of romance. I am not going to dock and star ratings because I can feel that it's going to happen sometime within this trilogy. I know it's going to be worth the wait.

5/5 Stars