I unfortunately was unable to complete this book when provided (many moons ago) Due to some severe life circumstances. Many apologies and thank you for the opportunity provided at this time.

Again, so sorry but thank you <3

A Mongol inspired fantasy and with such a hue epic fantasy setting. The world building alone is such a feat, I found myself completely immersed in this book, I wasn't able to put it down for long.

I loved that this was a lesion romance, something that is sorely lacking in the genre. The story is largely told through letters and while it took me a while to appreciate this, I found myself looking forward to finding out more through this interesting scope.

I really tried with THE TIGERS DAUGHTER. I've restarted it a couple of times and it's a friend's favourite.

This just isn't one for me. The plot was just too slow for me and I struggled to connect to the characters. The premise was excellent though, and I'd look for the authors future books.

The start of a new series, THE TIGER'S DAUGHTER is an accomplished and well-written debut fantasy novel.
Introduces us to an interesting cast of characters, in a well-realized and constructed setting. Rivera's prose is excellent, and the characters come alive on the page. The story moves along very well, and despite the occasional (minor) dip, I really enjoyed this. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

While led by deep and intricate world-building, this book toils to long on the romance and action which led me to not care much about where the book was going in the third act.

As soon as I read the synopsis for this book I knew I had to check it out. It just sounded like a story that I would immensely enjoy. Sadly, I didn’t end up loving it as much as I thought I would. Don’t get me wrong, there were parts of the book that I enjoyed and also some that really bothered me. The Tiger’s Daughter ended up being quite the disappointing read for me.

Books that are written in a letter format are either a hit or a miss for me. Sometimes I adore them and sometimes they just don’t work for me. In the case with The Tiger’s Daughter it didn’t work for me. I think that has to do with the way this whole story is structured. There are two different timelines, one in the present from one of the main characters point of view and the other in the past, told in a series of letters. I think the switching between these timelines and formats they were told in didn’t work for me.

I did like the two main characters, Shefali and O-Shizuka. I enjoyed learning more about them as the story continued. Their relationship was fun to read about and I enjoyed seeing them interact with each other. These two characters and their relationship were probably my favourite aspect of the whole book. There were some other characters that I found interesting, but we never got to know them all that much. Aside from the two main characters none of the others were developed, which was a shame as there were many I was interested in.

The world of this book wasn’t the best. There is the fact that this book is rather info dumpy at points, which did bother me. But the bigger issue is the way the author used aspects of East Asian cultures to create the world. Some references and descriptions were very questionable and they kept bringing me out of the story. I’m by no means an expert in East Asian culture, but even I noticed some of the strange language used. I definitely recommend checking out some own voices reviews, as they can definitely explain the problems more accurately and with more detail.

Overall, The Tiger’s Daughter was an okay book. There were some things about it that I enjoyed and some that really bothered me. This one is a hard one to recommend, as I’m really unsure about the representation in the book.

This complicated and ornate fantasy wasn't my cup of tea but that doesn't mean you won't like it- it's got all the elements of the genre. Thanks to Netgalley fro the ARC.

I go back and forth on my opinion of this book. It was very long, very drawn out. There are times where it definitely dragged on and on and failed to keep me entertained, but other times there were faced paced scenes that kept me on the edge of my seat. This story also does have a lot of LGBT+ representation that I loved, because we need more of that in adult SFF. The worldbuilding was absolutely fantastic and a joy to explore as I continued to read. I'm excited to see where the rest of this book goes.

A brilliant start to a series - I love the way it’s told in second person and through letters! Trust me, this is the angsty F/F book you need in your life.

I hate to say it but this book had so many opportunities to be amazing but it just didn't live up to it for me, unfortunately I couldn't finish the story and DNF it about half way through which is a shame as I was so excited to read it.

I was looking forward to this book since it was an f/f Asian-inspired fantasy, combining my hunger for Asian fantasy with my desire for more queer representation in one package. However, the worldbuilding drew on racist tropes and demonstrated a lack of research and sensitivity toward the real-world cultures (Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian) that it drew inspiration from, which disappointed me greatly. I expected better from a marginalized author who should know how it feels to have your identity and culture misrepresented and butchered by cultural outsiders.

Unfortunately this one wasn't for me. I found the pace to be too slow and although I do enjoy reading romance novels, I found the romance in this story overshadowed everything else and quickly became tiresome. How many times can do we need confirmation of love? It turns out I'm also not a fan of using letters to tell a story. I don't think it's effectively used here because the level of detail included was unrealistic and was quite an unsubtle way of the dreaded 'info-dumping'.

Started reading this, but soo felt pretty uncomfortable with the worldbuilding, which felt East Asian inspired. Knowing the author is white, I worried about cultural appropriation. Doing some research, I discovered a review (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2032356303) that showed The Tiger's Daughter to be problematic in regards to racism, so stopped reading.

Since I didn't really like the novel, I don't want to make a bad review on Amazon or Kobo. The book was just not appeal to me, and I couldn't get through the whole story.

THE TIGER'S DAUGHTER was a book I was *really* looking forward to but unfortunately didn't live up to my expectations. It's very long, broken up in six chapters which made it hard to focus on and figure out when to take a break. The plot meanders. There was nothing keeping me engaged, except for the LGBT+ romance. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.

This is one of the books I read for Tome Topple readathon. I had been told this was really good and it kept getting recced to me, which meant I was very wary about it living up to the hype. When it came up as a buddy read for Tome Topple, I finally got the chance to read it without any more excuses. And I really enjoyed this.

O-Shizuka and Shefali are from two different races of people. Shizuka is the Emperor’s Heir, a strong-willed, spoiled princess whose mother is the best swordsman in the land. Her mother’s best friend has a daughter, Shefali, who is quiet but not timid and equally as strong-willed. They become fast friends, which eventually turns into a relationship, as they have to deal with their families, expectations and the encroaching darkness onto their homeland. The majority of this book is told in the form of letters between Shizuka and Shefali, so we switch timelines between the present and the past as we read Shefali’s letter and Shizuka’s reaction to it.

There were many twists and turns to this story but one thing I found interesting was the world-building. This book has a mixture of different East Asian cultures, mostly Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian, which sometimes worked really well and sometimes really doesn’t. The history between the Qorin and the Hokkaro people is complicated and fraught, and it has a massive effect on the world Shizuka and Shefali are coming into. There are some parts of this world that I side-eyed for the real world implications, such as the colourism and the racism which struck a little too close to the real world for my tastes. I’ve seen many other reviews talk about this issue so I won’t go into depth on it here.

One thing I loved is Shizuka and Shefali’s relationship. They were always the most important people to each other and this was shown all the way throughout the book, though they still cared deeply for their families and other friends. I loved seeing how they saw each other and how they had different ways of approaching problems, as well as how certain events brought them closer together. The ending of the book was surprising but in a good way, as we were expecting it to go one way and then instead the book switches on the other track. I was finding it hard to see where this book was going, because it was obvious that the main plot was going on in the past and we knew it had to lead to the present somehow but I couldn’t see how it would end up.

I will say that this book was very slow to start with and it took me a while to actually get into it because the letter Shefali wrote was the longest letter in the history of long letters as she goes through their entire relationship together. I enjoyed the backstory of the various characters as well as the main relationship, but it did feel like it was a very convenient plot way of making sure we got all the information we needed. If I wasn’t buddy reading it, I might have put it down and not picked it up for a while because of how slow-paced it was. Thankfully I didn’t because I ended up really enjoying it.

4 stars!

When I picked up The Tiger’s Daughter (2017), I didn’t know what I was getting into. Written as a long, dramatic letter between two old friends, it is an epic tale of loss, faith, political intrigue, and forbidden love. The Tiger’s Daughter is the debut novel from K. Arsenault Rivera, and set to be the first book in the series titled THEIR BRIGHT ASCENDENCY. The Tiger’s Daughter wends its way from the first time our heroes meet, over their entire lives, and up to the present — where one friend, the empress O-Shizuka, is reading said letter (the letter itself being the bulk of the book) from the other, Barsalayaa Shefali. Both are heirs to very different thrones and handle that knowledge differently — as befit their starkly different upbringings and wider global status. They are two individuals at the heart of peace, politics, and espionage.

The peoples in The Tiger’s Daughter are inspired by a variety of Asian nations, most prominently: China, Japan, and the Mongols. In this way, the story’s setting mirrors that of countless other fantasy epics (that is, being loosely based on a medieval setting) — but this time, the inspiration comes from outside of ancient or medieval Europe, and instead takes cues from ancient and medieval Asia. I don’t dislike the prevalence of medieval Europe as a base or reference point for settings in fantasy fiction, but I was no less delighted to be reading an epic tale with a setting based on Asian antiquity. Like the European counterparts, much of the historical references were likely lost on me. I have not studied history with any depth, so it is likely that this book (and I would go so far as to say this ‘type’ of book) will play very differently for someone who is more well versed in varied histories. Maybe that reader would be able to nod along to some of the epic scenes with recognition. That being said, I did not feel like I had to be an expert on any particular time period or place in order to understand and enjoy the story. I recognize that it’s probable I missed some references, but the book still felt chock full of meaning, interest, and intrigue to me.

The story begins when O-Shizuka, the Empress, receives a letter from her oldest and closest friend who, for reasons unknown to the reader, she has not seen in years and misses deeply. Her ‘old friend’ is Shefali, a famous warrior. Shefali has written a history of their lives in the form of an exceedingly long letter. It is a dramatic retelling of their intertwined fates, with added commentary of what Shefali was thinking along the way — giving the retelling new context and even deeper meaning to O-Shizuka.

The first two chapters or so necessitated an adjustment on my part as the reader when I realized that the letter wasn’t going to end any time soon. Once I understood that approximately 90% of The Tiger’s Daughter was to be this letter, I relaxed into the format and deeply enjoyed the telling of the story. Even though the story being told includes the person reading it (as per the narrative of the letter), I believed O-Shizuka’s engagement with the letter of events she lived through because: 1) I believed her yearning for contact with her lost friend, and 2) I believed her characterization of never doing anything by half. She was going to read the entirety of a book-long letter from Shefali, no matter how much of it she already knew, and she was going to do it without interruption. My belief in these facts about the Empress stem directly from the author’s strength in writing the character. O-Shizuka is bold, unbending, confident, and most importantly methodically steadfast in all things she does. Therefore, this is the kind of person who would put her duties as Empress on hold indefinitely to properly appreciate the sole communication she had received from the close friend she mysteriously (to the reader) lost years before.

Throughout the story the archetype of the warrior woman is explored. Both main characters are descended from the greatest warriors in the world — their mothers, who are also best friends. This theme of exceptionally (god-like) skilled female warriors extends throughout the story and colours the entire narrative as one where women are not only part of the armed forces but can and do actively inspire and lead elite teams. This active choice is something I was fascinated by through the tale. It serves as a thematic thread that I enjoyed watching crop up in unexpected places.

The Phoenix Empress (Their Bright Ascendency) Paperback – October 9, 2018 by K Arsenault Rivera (Author)
Sequel

The nature of the speculative in The Tiger’s Daughter revolves around systems of faith and the existence of demons. The lore suggests that there is a family of gods, and that the Empress or Emperor at the time belongs to that family. Among the gods are those who have been cast out, and whose rebellion includes the legions of demons and individual demons who plague the neighboring nations. Furthermore, those who come into physical contact with any demon become “black bloods” — infected by the darkness and resurrected as demons themselves — if their bodies aren’t burned first. O-Shizuka and Shefali, young warriors descended from demon-killers, dream of slaying demons. Both of their mothers have completed the almost impossible feat of slaying a demon, thus proving to the two young warriors that it’s not only possible, but it’s in their blood. The immense pressure of that legacy affects both women differently. The dichotomy of how they carry that legacy is something I deeply enjoyed watching unfold throughout the story.

SPOILERS FOR A COUPLE PARAGRAPHS

The main characters fall in love in The Tiger’s Daughter. They are both warriors, they are both future rulers of different nations, and they are both women. All of those aspects of their lives make their love complicated. This section has been hidden for spoilers because I, myself, did not know that’s where the story was headed. With some light research, it is somewhat clear that The Tiger’s Daughter is billed as having a f/f (female with another female) romance. However, in the case the prospective reader hasn’t come across that, I think there is a great deal of enjoyment to be had by finding that particular plot point out organically. I think it is a bit of a shame that in some places the romance between the two main characters is part of the description of the book, as the romance aspect is not an early-book reveal either.

That all being said, I think that the author expertly navigated Shefali and O-Shizuka’s friendship into close friendship, and then into romantic love with great skill and care. Their relationship, with perhaps one early example, was believable and well plotted — in a slow-burn kind of way. Of course, this is all coming from the standpoint of someone who was unaware of the romantic turn going into reading.

[SPOILERS END]

The Tiger’s Daughter has experienced a certain amount of controversy. There are reviews that are calling this story racist. One of the cited complaints is the use of racist language by characters in The Tiger’s Daughter. Racial slurs do play a part in the narrative. There are characters that hurl racially charged insults or mutter them when they think no one else can hear. I found that those characters who consistently use racial slurs or judge the heroes based on their complexion or nose shape are villains at most, or at least, deeply misguided. In all the cases that I came across the racist language was something I noticed — and I also noticed that is was being used by villainous characters outright, or by misguided characters who were ultimately wrong, and judged or confronted accordingly. With the context of the use of racial slurs (who they were said by) I don’t think this book is racist. I think it deals with race in a way that many people live it — and then The Tiger’s Daughter gets to give those characters the villain treatment, making it very clear that their ideas about racial superiority aren’t being condoned.

Going a step further, part of the discussion in other reviews of The Tiger’s Daughter centres on discussing the author as racist as an extension of the racial slurs used by characters. I think in this discussion, it’s important to consider where the racism is coming from. In this case, it isn’t coming from the heroes or from the narration, but explicitly from villainous characters. I think this is important because it reflects ideas that using racial slurs is a negative attribute, and in this case, it seems clear to me it’s not something the author is promoting, but instead portraying as negative.

Finally, The Tiger’s Daughter portrays another layer of the realities of racism. There are instances where Shefali, a woman of mixed racial heritage, uses racialized language when referring to herself in her own internal monologue. I got the distinct impression of this being a person who, having heard the language weaponized against her over her entire life, has internalized those ideas. This characterization felt far from an acceptance of racist ideas, but rather a viscerally real reaction an individual might have if they have grown up surrounded by people who call her names. Although it could be hard to read (too close to home or too relatable), it was very believable to me to see Shefali having internalized some of the attitudes that have been forced upon her. Ultimately, a character with a confused sense of self and some persistent issues with self esteem didn’t feel like a flaw to me — but rather, a strength of the writing and characterization. The Tiger’s Daughter portrays some all-too-real attitudes, and then portrays some very true-to-life reactions to those attitudes in the actions of the main characters. To me, that is a mark of some strong characterization rather than a flaw of the story.

The Tiger’s Daughter gripped me from start to finish. It is imperative to understand quickly that the bulk of the book is told through a letter one of the main characters (who, herself, is portrayed in the letter) is reading. With that, the story and most particularly, the characters, demanded my attention. This epic tale is gripping in scope and stakes and balances them expertly. I highly recommend picking it up. The next book in THEIR BRIGHT ASCENDENCY, titled The Phoenix Empress, will be available to purchase in October of 2018. I will be keeping an eye on this series and I am excited to see if the follow up is as engaging as the first installment.

I tried this several times but just didn't relate to or like the main characters much. I gave up on reading the whole thing. Sorry for a blah review but there you have it.

Unfortunately this was not the book for me, I began it multiple times but simply couldn’t get into it which was quite disappointing as from the blurb it sounded like my thing. I simply couldn’t mesh with the way in which it was told in epistolary format.

This is a fascinating, spread out high fantasy novel with roots in Ancient Asian culture and focuses on the friendship and love between two princesses- Barsalayaa Shefali and O-Shizuka.

This book is told in a mix of present day scenese with O-Shizuka who we know is now Empress, and letters she is reading from Shefali who is talking about their past, their childhood, friendships, adventures and eventual romantic relationship. Through the letters we find out what happened between them, and why in the present day they aren't together how they should be.

I really enjoyed this, and I found it engaging and easy to read. I loved the relationship between the girls. Their world is violent at times, and both of them can kill a man easily thanks to skills they have learned but the moments between them are tender and pure, and really stand out. I also loved the Asian culture that was seeped in this book, and I personally would have identified O-Shizuka as more Chinese or Japanese in heritage, and Shefali as Mongolian, though that's just how I pictured them and it may be different for others.

I will definitely be reading the next book in this series!