I’m REALLY freaking excited to share my thoughts on this novel not only because I got to participate in the author live chat discussion on the TBR & Beyond Book Club’s Facebook page, but also because this book literally kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time and I just could not get enough of it. So now I get to squeal about what might actually be my favorite book of 2020, and it’s only January.
Human trafficking can take the form of many disguises.
One of the hardest things for me to read in this novel was the treatment of the Affinites in Cyrilia and how they were being lured into the Empire under the guise of promising work, only to be captured by brokers to be used for their affinities. PEOPLE, this is HUMAN TRAFFICKING in case you didn’t know that. This is taking place TO THIS DAY, and not just in the United States, but in other countries as well. I think one of the most “famous” instances of human trafficking are women that are lured to a different country and are ended up being used in strip clubs or brothels. Those are terrible, and yet they happen all over. It’s not something that is rare or anything. This happens, and in the case of Blood Heir, these people are being used by non-magical people for their magic powers, and are being punished for it just because they were born with it.
It hurts to read but I think that Zhao did this in such a great way. She didn’t romanticize it. She didn’t hide the brutalities of what was going on, but still made it so that young adults like me (yes I will forever be a young adult, don’t @ me) can see what is going on in the world, and root for the characters that are standing up to try to change this behavior. There are some characters that may be going at it in a very radical way – to the point that it just shifts the power from one group to another rather than eradicating the negative behavior entirely – but is that worse than just allowing it to happen because you’re not actively being affected by it?
I feel like that was the point that Zhao was bringing to us when she wrote this novel, and that thought has sat with me for a long time, even before reading this novel. The way that Ana was finally on the other side of the castle per se, and was one of the people that were mistreated because of her affinity (even though she had to hide it because it was so powerful and rare that I don’t think anyone else has an affinity like her), she had a moment of reflection where she was like “Was I just blind to the treatment of my people? Was I one of those people that saw what was going on and just walked away, or worse, just didn’t see it at all because it didn’t affect me personally?” And the fact that she was able to think back and see that her inaction was wrong in itself, and actively do something about it rather than go “oh that’s too bad. Oh well.” spoke volumes to me.
Running away from your mistakes can catch up to you later on in life
Both Ana and Ramson were running away from things. Both literally and figuratively. To save their lives, yes, but also to escape some of the actions that they took in the past without having to face the consequences head on. It’s hard to do that even as a “regular” person not living in a fantasy world where there’s affinities and all that, so I understand them. I don’t even hold it against them because I’m sure I would have done the same thing if I were in their shoes. I don’t even know if I would have had the courage or the strength to run away and stay alive after what they went though.
But both find out that they have to face their past in different ways, and even though this past has been haunting them from the moment they ran away from it, they know that they can’t escape it any longer. In reality, I feel like it was a good thing that their past came back to them to deal with, but that it wasn’t right away because they had time to grow and learn from it, and they were able to make better decisions that I feel they will be able to live with now.
I also feel like one of the main things that Zhao taught us in this novel is that at some point, we have to forgive ourselves and move forward. It doesn’t mean forgetting what happened, or pretending like it didn’t happen. It’s more about acknowledging that it happened, and taking action to make sure that you do your best to not repeat that action that was disappointing to you in the first place. Do better for the next time, based on how you felt or how the outcome was for what you did in the past. I feel like while Ana and Ramson may have at some point forgiven themselves for part of their past, they still have a bit to go before they can truly move forward and learn from their mistakes, but at least they are starting to. That was very big on them and I’m so proud of them.
I feel like I could have gone on and on with my thoughts on the themes but then this review would be twenty thousand pages long and I might as well should have written a book by then, right?
But anyway.
I mentioned it a little bit above, but I personally feel like Ana and Ramson went through really strong character development in this first novel, and I think that their growth is going to continue in the next two novels. From the way that we got to see them prior to the beginning of the events of this novel – in the flashbacks, which were amazingly done, by the way – to the end of this novel, I can see how their decisions would have been different back then, and how by experiencing what they have and learning from their mistakes, they made the decisions that they made today. I was really impressed with them.
I also was glad to see growth in less prominent characters like Jonah Fisher and May, and even Yuri. I hope that I see Yuri again in the second novel, and I see what more he has done since he and Ana parted ways in this novel, and I feel like he is going to go through some major growth as well.
Zhao just really gave us some realistic characters to root for and learn from and learn about, and I think that her showing different facets of their personalities and characters through the use of the flashbacks and the third person POV really helped me relate to them in a level that I don’t always get while reading novels. I felt like I could have been following their journey personally, one of their companions, and seeing them grow into the people that they are by the end, and seeing their potential to grow by the end of the series. It was a great feeling.
Clearly, I was feeling a lot of things while reading this novel. I was angry, I was heartbroken, I was shocked, I was scared, I was confident. It was crazy how much my emotions were all over the place. But one of the main emotions that I felt was proud. Proud of Ana. Proud of Ramson. Proud of Jonah. Proud of Linn. Proud of May. Proud of Zhao for writing this novel, for everything that she had to go through to get to this point in her life and for allowing us to see things from her point of her, her perspective, which is so interesting and unique and just special.
I felt so happy reading this book after waiting for this for a long time, not knowing much about it until I did more research, then seeing it sitting on my kitchen table trying to figure out when to read it and really give it the attention that it deserves. And I finally did, and I was so happy with my experience.
I loved the plot. From the livechat with Zhao that I got to be a part of, she mentioned that people were referring to this as a retelling of the story of Anastasia Romanov, and I didn’t feel that. I don’t think she did either, because this story was so much more than something about the Romanovs. I actually didn’t even get that vibe except for Ana’s full name, and even then it wasn’t that much. Ana’s story was so much more intense to me, had so much heart and pain and self-realization that I don’t know if Anastasia had a chance to have. Nothing wrong with Anastasia and her family, but Ana’s story is not a retelling in my eyes.
The prose was perfect for me. I loved that it was in third person, but you could still tell which character you were following. It worked out in my opinion, because we could see things that they couldn’t but also see from their point of view and feel what they were going through. I also liked how some of the prose would switch to something more casual, but was still in this world and just gave some more emotion to the scene. I adored the flashback scenes, and how it seemed so seamless to the story and just worked so well. Zhao mentioned that those scenes were inspired by various anime shows that will do that in order to explain more of a character’s origins, and why they do the things they do. I could totally see that in this novel, and its effect worked in the way that she wanted it to.
The pacing worked out for me as well. The beginning was good, it could have been seen as slow for some people but I was instantly intrigued from the moment I started the first chapter. I was pulled in almost immediately and I’m glad for it. The action scenes were just great. I could visually see it in my head, and I think I mentioned before that Ana’s affinity really gave me blood bending vibes like Katara. I could imagine how creepy and powerful and terrifying Ana’s power would look like to the masses, and the effec that Zhao was going for really worked. There was a part in the middle or so where I thought that the story had hit its climax to to speak. Like that could have been its ending, or that it was close to ending, but then it came back with a vengeance and I was shook out of my mind.
Wow, okay I think this was the longest freaking review I ever wrote in my life and I’m not even mad about it. If you got this far, thank you so much for sticking with me and all my thoughts about this novel!
My main thought – or I guess the main takeaway to this very long review – is that I am absolutely in love with this novel. I don’t know if anything can top this book this month, or even this year. I’m so glad that I was “forced” to read this finally because like with all books that I’m anxious to read, I end up psyching myself out and never reading it. I’m so glad that I got to hear from Zhao herself and ask some questions about Cyrilia, Blood Heir, and this world that she created and I so can’t wait for more of her books to come out. I am a forever fan of her and her work, I can’t wait to support her more, and I’m just head over heels in love with Ana, Ramson, Linn, and this story. I cannot get it out of my head.
And that crown though. Someone needs to make it so I can wear one too!
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From the Publisher
About the author
This book is GOLD!
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
Top reviews from other countries
Stephen R Collins
Vampire done different
Kim
Okay condition
Kim
Reviewed in Canada on May 29, 2021
Images in this review
Gabrielle F-A
I really enjoyed this book!
Gabrielle F-A
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 1, 2021
"I really enjoyed this book. The opening chapters are brilliant. The action is there from the first page (I do love a book that draws you in immediately!) However, after that the writing style seemed to change. Although it FELT like a lot was happening, with hindsight, very little ACTUALLY happened for the middle third of the book! The ending was brilliant and left me on tenterhooks for the second book!"
Fast forward six months to now (July), and I finally attempted to read book two in the Blood Heir Trilogy; Red Tigress. I picked up the book, I went to open it … and realised I could not, for love nor money, remember what happened in the first book! This prompted a re-read, which brings us full circle to today's new/second review attempt!
So, without further ado...
Despite being unmemorable, I enjoyed this the second time around as well! Anastasia is one of my favourite Disney films, and I do love a retelling. Anastacya is -obviously- our Anastasia, and Ramson, our Dimitri. Anastacya goes into hiding/is presumed dead after the murder of her father, Nicholas. Loose correlations could also be drawn between Sadov and Tetsyev, with Rasputin and Bartok. Perhaps a better comparison for Rasputin, in anticipation of the remaining series, would be our reigning Emperor/Empress at Blood Heir's end. It is all there for our interpretation!
I loved the characters and felt there were an array of favourites to choose from! May was a firm favourite of mine (I loved her and Ana's relationship), as were Yuri and Linn, whom I feel have so much potential for Red Tigress!
What stopped this from being a five-star-review for me, were Ransom's numerous terms of sarcastic endearment for Ana. Constantly calling her 'darling, and 'love,' in a mocking fashion, felt like a forced reflection of his character as the 'adorable ruffian.' It made me cringe everrrrryyyyyyyyytime.
I also took issue with Ramson's rescue in Chapter 12. Without saying too much, if she had the ability to rescue Ramson, why would she not use the exact same abilities to rescue May?! It felt illogical that she would sacrifice her chance to save May by saving Ramson, whom she was saving to help her rescue May?! Confusing, right?!
Images in this review
