ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review



3.5 stars



The Tiger’s Daughter tells the story – in retrospect – of the friendship and romance between Shizuka – Imperial daughter of the Empire and later empress – and Sherfali – daughter of the Cheiftainess of a nomadic warrior tribe of horse people. If you have any clue about East Asian history at all you’ll recognise the influences of Mongolia, China and somewhat randomly amongst the other influences, Japan. I’ll get to that.



The two girls become friends at around eight years old, much in same way I befriended someone when I was three – by punching him in the face. True story. (He’s still one of my closet friends now. He’s certainly my longest serving friend after 35 yrs but I digress.) Their mothers are both expert warriors/ leaders in their own right and despite the conflict and casual dislike between their cultures, wish for their daughters to form a strong bond. Both said mothers hunt the demonic entities that prey on mortals so you can see why two people from such different backgrounds bonded. The POV shifts from Shizuka present tense after she has become Empress, to Sherfali past tense but told in an epistolary fashion, recounting episodes from their shared child hoods. If you can get over the info-dumpiness of the first section, and the somewhat idiopathic reasoning behind Sherfali recounting things that Shizuka must surely already know, then you can probably find your way into the story with little difficulty. Be warned though, this is most definitely fantasy of a literary bent, concentrating on the relationship between the two girls, the general atmosphere and the love of language. The story is simple under the literary trappings and lovers off fantasy and historically inspired fantasy may find the staid pace and lack of twists and turns dull. For me it hit just about the right note but I will admit that it was a long read considering the size of the book.



A word about source material. The book has been called out by some much better informed readers than I (and I did actually study Chinese, Japanese and Mongolian history some years ago) as twisting historical inspiration in a way that was insensitive at best and offensive at worst. I don’t feel qualified to do more than make a brief comment to the effect that yes in some instances this does seem to be the case however I believe this is more to do with the author making human mistakes rather than genuine insensitivity or malice. East Asian history is complex and the mindset of the time is very different to a comparable western mindset. (Bear in mind that if China had not closed its boarders to the rest of the world in the eleventh century, then China would probably have ended up ruling the world and the British Empire wouldn’t have happened. China was so far superior to the western world technologically at that time that there wouldn’t have been anyone to offer opposition.) Having said that, this book is not about China, or Japan or Mongolia. I think the problem is that the author has drawn on historical references and more importantly linguistic sources willy-nilly and this has rightly caused offense. I was very annoyed by the reference to Naginata being the ‘weapon of cowards’ and easier than the sword – for one thing there is a long and proud tradition of women bearing polearms and they were absolutely deadly. (It makes sense if you are naturally smaller and weaker to even the playing field by keeping your enemy at a distance.) For another, having studied both sword and naginata, I can honestly say that they are equally difficult and dangerous so that statement, made by Shizuka which in fairness says more about her character at that time of her arc than anything else, is utter rubbish. So I really can see why that and many other issues have upset readers better informed than I.



However, it is intended to be a fantasy culture in a fantasy land not a direct representation. If the author had not got so close to the source history and still missed it may have gone down better. Despite annoyances I still found much to admire and enjoy in this book. I loved the relationship between the two MCs. I liked the dark fantasy element. The MCs are engaging, especially Sherfali in my opinion. It was also refreshing to see a lesbian romance in a fantasy novel like this. If you’re at all interested and you like literary language in your fantasy, don’t mind a sedate pace and a slow burn story, give this a try. Personally I found it well worth the effort and would read the next book in the series.

The Tiger's Daughter by K Arsenault Rivera is the first in a new and debut secondary World Series. It's set in a mostly historical Japanese- and Mongolian-inspired secondary world with magic and supernatural beings.

The Hokkaran empire has conquered every land within their bold reach―but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now, their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests.

Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.

This is the story of an infamous Qorin warrior, Barsalayaa Shefali, a spoiled divine warrior empress, O-Shizuka, and a power that can reach through time and space to save a land from a truly insidious evil.

The Tiger's Daughter is told through a very long letter from one main character, Shefali, to the other, Shizuka, with the framing narrative occasionally showing us what Shizuka is doing while reading the book-length letter over a few days. Shefali is, to over-summarise, the daughter of the leader of the nomadic Qorin and intended to eventually take her mother's place as ruler (spoilery events notwithstanding). Shizuka is the niece of the Hokkaran Emperor and by the time of the framing narrative has already become Empress. The main story (of the letter) follows a large chunk of their childhood, from Shefali's point of view, and culminates in some significant events in their late teens. The conclusion sets up what I assume will be the second book so well I am kind of annoyed at how much I want to read it (and how long I'll have to wait).

This book was a good read overall but I had a few minor(ish) issues with it. The first was that my copy — a very early ARC, so this might not be the case in the final version — did not come with a map. I wouldn't usually think of this as a problem, but since the fantasy realms were very clearly based on the Japanese Empire and the inhabitants of the Mongolian steppes, my mind naturally jumped to something approximating the real-world geography of historical Asia. About halfway through the book someone mentioned that the Hokkaran empire lay to the west, and the steppes to the east and I realised the geography wasn't at all how I'd assumed, distinctly marking it as a secondary world rather than an alternate reality. I had some hints of this from the inferred relationship between the Hokkaran empire and the conquered Xianese based on the etymology of people and place names, but that aspect also wasn't made entirely clear until near the end of the book (and isn't really relevant to the story, for all that I was curious). Having the pseudo-Japanese empire be dominant in pseudo-Asia, including ruling over the pseudo-Chinese, is a potentially interesting choice, but not one which is explored in very much detail.

On the topic of the different races and so forth in the book, I should mention that there is a lot of casual racism on the part of the characters, particularly in terms of slurs thrown at other races. The main characters aren't racist, but they do encounter it often. Especially Shefali since she looks different to the dominant/ruling Hokkarans and also is mixed race. Although the various slurs are likely to upset some readers, I thought it was clear that it was various peripheral characters being racist, not the protagonists or the narrative itself.

There is also a bit of interesting discussion of language, which was examined a little. Shefali speaks Hokkaran as well as Qorin, but she cannot read Hokkaran script, only Qorin letters. The weird thing there was the way Shefali's failure to learn Hokkaran writing sounded a lot like dyslexia — with the characters moving around in her eyes — but then she had no issue with Qorin script. Shizuka, on the other hand, doesn't speak Qorin and, while she does learn the Qorin letters to better communicate with Shefali, she's never criticised for not bothering to learn the language despite how much time she spends among the Qorin. It was clear that a general Hokkaran haughtiness towards lesser peoples was why most Hokkarans didn't bother learning Qorin, but that doesn't at all explain why Shizuka never learnt. Something I would have expected Shefali to be at least a little bit critical of.

Another thing that bothered me was some of the descriptions of lesbian sex. There were altogether too many long nails, some mentioned during the sex scene, which made me cringe. There was also an issue with <spoiler redacted> which must have made it even harder/slasherier to have sex, and yet? *sigh* I spent a lot of time wondering whether <spoiler redacted> was a "not all the time" thing, and from unrelated scenes I don't think so but I couldn't be sure. I also don't think this is a letter I should've been forced to wonder about. So if you're only interested in good lesbian sex scenes, this is not the book for you (also, there was only one particularly explicit scene, FYI).

Back to the main aspects of the narrative. This is not a short book and it is a little on the slow side. I was never bored while reading, but there were only a few sections that made me want to keep reading instead of sleeping. Because the story spans such a long space of time, I was often not really sure where it was going to go next. Having gotten to the end, I think I know what the next book will be about — and I will be disappointed if I'm wrong — but I can't be sure.

For all that my review contains several criticism, I did ultimately enjoy The Tiger's Daughter and after the ending I definitely want to read the sequel. I recommend it to fans of BFF (big fat fantasy), especially people looking for non-European fantasy worlds. It's nice to have so many prominent and empowered female characters with a lot of agency, and while the story isn't cheerful by a long shot, it isn't tragic in the fridged lesbian sense either. (I don't want to spoil the end, but I feel that's important. There's also the part where you know both characters have to live long enough to a) write the book and b) be reading it.) As I said, I intend to read the sequel, whenever it comes out.

4 / 5 stars

First published: October 2017, Tor Books
Series: Yes, book 1 of 3 in the series: Their Bright Ascendency
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

As a history teacher, I totally dig the Mongolian Empire. So I was beyond geeked when I received an ARC of The Tiger's Daughter from Netgalley. The description of the book gave me the impression that the plot was about Mongolian warrior princesses fighting demons along the border of the Great Wall of China. Unfortunately, the book focused on a very slow developing forbidden lesbian relationship between two young girls near the steppes of somewhere that sounds Asian. Seventy five percent of this book is about these two girls realizing they have romantic feelings for each other and twenty five percent of the book is demon fighting. I think this book needs to be categorized differently. I did not sign up for some never ending description of two girls crushing on one another, and frankly it was too drawn out.

This book a definitely page turner! The story written as a letter makes the it more dramatic. I totally recommend.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.
I was sitting on this book since early May thinking I have plenty of time to read it way before the release date and I also wasn’t in the mood to read fantasy. Finally in the beginning of August I started it. Well, I wanted to love this book o much but despite my best efforts I couldn’t. Yes, it has a lot of brilliant elements to it, a lot I’m going to mention later but overall it didn’t make as good of an impression as I would have loved. Honestly for me it was a bit boring.
But first and foremost start with the good. The first thing anyone notices about thos book Is the cover. It’s such a stunning yet simple image that it old the book for me even before reading the synopsis. I known for my tendencies of buying books just by the first impression the covers has on me and this one definitely would fall into that category.
The other thing that I found absolutely enamoring is the great, creative and imaginative solutions used in the writing style. The words used create a beautiful pictures and most of them are rarely used in modern YA literature, I’m not talking about the ones the author created for her Asian inspired language.
Then the whole narration of the story through letters and tales told by one character to the other just so unique and interesting. For some reason for me it created a memoire like atmosphere. I really liked this structure but it has its drawbacks too. I think it takes away from the intensity the plot a bit how it gets to the reader, to me by secondhand. It also was hard to tell when the author means thing metaphorically or literally.
The plot takes place in a world loosely inspired by historical China, Japan and Mongolian settings and it a highlight for me because I love stories taking place in them. Unfortunately, the already slow paced storyline got even more dragged out by, in my opinion unnecessary and overly detailed, explanations of the language and descriptions of inconsequential places. So yeah, the biggest problem for me with this book was that its really slow and I just couldn’t get into it.
You can safely say that Tiger’s daughter is a character driven book. The story is told from the two main characters point of view but we get marginally more of Shefali side.
Both of the characters are really complex, fleshed out and since we follow their stories from a really young age it is also interesting to the change they go through over the years.
Shizuka, the daring, disciplined, somewhat cold and quite self-absorbed warrior princess and Shefali, her doting and persistent friend, companion and so much more. They take on the threats of their world to save their people, inspired and influenced by their larger than life mothers.
The connection is clear between them from the beginning but the romance part of it progresses to quickly after a point in my opinion. It’s not just fast but the relationship gets much more attention than I expected. I don’t read a lot of LGBT but I don’t have a problem with them because love and romance are the same no matter the gender of the participants. It’s more like that the focus on their relationship is so strong that the whole heroic part gets kinda lost along the way, at least for me.
This story was just an okay read for me and I expected more but I think it will benefit more if I buy a physical copy for myself after its published because for some reason I struggled to read it in an e-copy. Its long and the format is a bit dense. A more careful reading might change my mind.

Unfortunately this novel did not resonate with me and I did not even come close to finishing it. I did not connect with the Empress as she seemed spoiled and selfish. Even though I usually love epistolary novels, the format in this book seemed forced and unnatural. This seems to be a case of a novel with an excellent premise that is just not to my taste.

Set in a speculative, alternate-history Asia, this book follows the adventures of two girls who are heroes to their people, as they battle against demon hordes. There was a lot to love; bad-ass women (their mothers in particular), a poetic lesbian romance, a really interesting enemy (the demons), some really excellent fight scenes and some truly lovely writing... but, also, a weird format that started to grate after awhile (most of the book is written as a love letter from one character to another, which is intriguing at first but the second person viewpoint gets old quickly), an under-developed threat (presumably being saved for later books - I wish authors wouldn't do that), and a stereotypically evil main villain (the Emporer) plus a lot of other stereotypes that made me cringe. I won't go into too much detail about the latter, because I'm not sure how to do it in a way that won't also make me uncomfortable, but for a review that addresses it and is written by an Asian person, go to: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2032356303.

In the end, I think I loved the premise, liked the characters and the story, can't quite forgive the execution. So, three stars (upped from an initial two).

Very boring and slow. I don't understand why this is marked as young-adult, it is clearly an adult novel. There was a never ending letter, the romance took over too much of the story and I honestly did not care about the characters at all.

WOW! This novel is dazzling and rich in its imagery and characters. The unique narrative of the story creates a unique experience for the reader. I was captivated by the story and the imagery. I'm definitely looking forward to the sequel.

This is really a solid historical fantasy read but I think it isn’t for me! This is a serious case of it’s not you, it’s me. To be honest, I really liked the story but sadly, I had lots of issues with it. I wasn’t able to connect with the characters and I struggled reading this from a second person perspective which I’m not familiar with and also it’s my least favorite POV. This book mostly seemed like a prequel because the entire story is a letter written by Shefali to Shizuka about how they first met and also their adventures when they were young. There is also lots of info dump in the book that has made it difficult for me to grasp everything. However, despite my issues with this book, I really think it was a great debut and I’m certain many people would love it. This is a mature fantasy novel definitely not suitable for young adults.

The Tiger’s Daughter is a forbidden love story and adventures of O-Shizuka, princess of Hokkaro and Barsalayaa Shefali warrior of Qorin. Because of a prophecy, both Shizuka and Shefali have been raised together. They’re both childhood best friends since both of their mothers are also friends. Their relationship never wavered despite their opposite backgrounds instead it grew into something more. The Hokkaran’s has conquered every land they could reach and they doesn’t mingle with outcast tribe Qorin because they see them as nothing but dark skinned barbarians. The emperor of Hokkaro is a prideful, coward, and cunning man who failed to produce an heir which makes Shizuka, his niece the last heir to the Hokkaran empire. When blackbloods start lurking around the villages creating havoc everywhere threatening their very existence, Shizuka and Shefali team up together to kill them.

The main characters Shefali and O-Shizuka are pretty good characters but sadly, I can’t seem to connect with either of them. Shizuka is a stubborn and spoiled princess who is a skilled fighter that loves adventure. Shefali is a brave, shy and fierce warrior and complete opposite to Shizuka. Honestly, I liked Shefali more than Shizuka. She’s not reckless like Shizuka but I admired their friendship and how deeply they care for each other. The lesbian/gay relationship in Hokkaran is forbidden but O-shizuka doesn’t give a shit about them because she’s not a rule follower. I wish I could say that I enjoyed the forbidden romance between Shizuka and Shefali but I didn’t because Insta-love isn’t my thing. They both have so much love for each other but I didn’t feel any sparks or tension between them which is a bummer. There is also other lesbian relationships in this book but I don’t want to spoil the story for you. I also liked secondary characters like Shefali’s cousin Otgar, and her mother Burqila.

The plot is good but it’s too slow for my taste and there isn’t much badass action as I thought there would be. It would’ve been great if there was more demon killing. The story mainly focuses on familial relationships, lesbian relationship, different cultures and some royal politics. My major reason for not loving this book is that the whole book is a long letter from Shefali to Shizuka and I was quite annoyed reading the story from second person POV. More than half of the book is slow paced and it’s also a pretty long book which made things even worse for me. The only part that I loved in this book is the last 20 percent of it where we finally get the real action. The writing is quite beautiful and lyrical. I liked the world the author created which is the best aspect of this book but it took some time for me to understand everything because there is lots of info dumping at the beginning and my mind wasn’t able to handle all of them at once. It was pretty easy to guess that Hokkaran, Qorin and Xianese are based on Japanese, Mangolian and Chinese culture. Some people found this book racist especially some Asian readers. Personally, I don’t have great knowledge on all of these cultures but there are a few words that did seemed a bit racist to me such as words like rice tongue and flat faced. This book mostly felt like historical read but there are some fantasy elements in it that I really liked such as creepy demons, flesh eating blackbloods and some unknown magic that runs inside the main characters.

Overall, it was an okay read for me and also pretty good for a debut novel! The book finally concludes with an interesting cliffhanger and I’m not sure whether I would read the next book or not but I hope it’s even better than this one.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of 2017 but unfortunately it fell flat for me. The plot had potential but I felt that it was overshadowed a bit by the romance. I think it is great that the romance in this is a lesbian romance, but I just got bored of one of the characters constantly going on about their love. I just felt that this was too romance heavy and I didn't care about it. Another small issue I has was the writing - there wasn't anything wrong with it but there was something about it that didn't work for me and I wasn't a fan of the narration style. A lot of this is told through letters, which I didn't really like.This meant that I had to push myself to finish this book. My final issue with this is the appropriation of Japanese, Chinese and Mongolian cultures. I am by no means an expert on this but there is a review on Goodreads written by a Japanese woman which highlights the harmful nature of it. Overall I was disappointed in this. but do feel that it had potential.

Okay, so. This book. I have such mixed feelings.

On the one hand, this was a really lovely f/f fantasy read. Told in second person epistolary form, it was a tiny bit difficult to get into at first, but once you get used to the format (which didn't take me very long at all) it's super engrossing. Although hesitant at first, I ended up really loving the way it was told - it made the reading experience feel all the more intimate, which is one of the best words I would use to describe this book. This also really feels more like an origin story - you don't get the full picture yet and I feel like there's so much more to explore with these two characters. This is just the beginning of their journey and I'm looking forward to future books where that can be further explored, particularly as their destiny pertains to the Traitor. I also really loved the relationship between the two main characters and how it blossomed over time (yeah, that's totally a little bit of a pun, whatever). So, yeah, this has a lot of really lovely aspects and I did enjoy reading it.

On the other hand, I can't ignore the potential hurt this might cause with its depiction of Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian cultures. Here (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2032356303) and here (http://vir-ghilani.tumblr.com/post/161871565208/the-tigers-daughter) are reviews/commentary on the book and its treatment of these cultures. So although I did find some personal enjoyment from this book, I can't wholeheartedly recommend it.

This is a hard book to review. It was one of my most highly anticipated books of the year, but it left me feeling mostly disappointed.

The good:
- A fantasy setting that isn't European-inspired.
- The main characters are both lesbians, as are some secondary characters.
- It's sex positive.
- The fiercest warriors in the book are all women!
- I was invested in the story and characters.

The bad:
- This is a personal preference, but the story is told mostly through a letter, and second person narration is my least favorite.
- Personal preference again, but chapters that take 1.5 hours are tedious to read.
- Even though I liked the romance, I wish it hadn't started with instalove.
- The book starts in the present and then goes back to the beginning of the story, but it leaves a huge gap, and I'm not exactly sure what the point of the entire thing was. I thought it was working up to a certain event, but it skipped right over that. Maybe it's planned for the next book, but I'm not sure I want to read on. Either way, it was underwhelming and unsatisfying.
- It's great to have same-sex romances in fantasy, but I'd really love to see same-sex romances set in worlds where they're actually accepted! Isn't that the point of fantasy, to create worlds different than our own? We see enough homophobia in the news, and there are plenty of contemporaries that deal with the topic, so I wish fantasy authors would create worlds where a same-sex relationship isn't cause for shame, punishment, or death. The world in this book actually does have an accepting society, but it's unfortunately not the one in which the main characters live.
- Lastly, but most importantly, there's the issue of the book's being an offensive appropriation of Japanese, Chinese, and Mongolian cultures. One thing that stood out even to me, as someone not familiar with these cultures, was a character repeatedly referring to herself as "flat faced." However, there are many more examples that I read about in a review by a woman who is herself Japanese and therefore in the best position to speak about it.

The Good
I really liked this one. It’s fantasy set in Asia with lesbian protagonists and lots of women characters. Yes, yes, yes. I’m in.

The story was well-plotted, evolving slowly over the course of one very long letter that Shefali sends to Shizuka. But it worked. In the beginning, I had no idea what was going on, but as the story continued I got more involved and things started to make more sense. I became engrossed in the world.

The romance was also very good. Shefali and Shizuka face some major obstacles, but I constantly found myself rooting for them. I believed in their story and I was really invested. I thought things progressed at a believable pace, and the characters were developed enough to be interesting and different from one another–even the secondary characters.

I was just so engrossed while reading this.

The Bad
Hokkaran is an analogue of Japan and the Qorin are an analogue for the Mongols. An analogue for China also shows up. I was confused throughout the book as to why the Qorin were portrayed as fair-haired. Possibly to differentiate them from the Hokkaran? I also found the portrayal of the China analogue rather simplistic (though we do spend less time in that region). Other than that, I enjoyed being in the Asian setting.

You should, however, read this review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2032356303?book_show_action=true. I don’t have much experience with Japan, but the language issues brought up in this review do seem problematic. Regarding the flat-face descriptions and comments about dark skin, I did not read these as racist on the part of the author, but instead as internalized racism on the part of Shefali. Could the author have created a world without this sort of inter-Asia racism? Yes, of course. But to me it read as realistic.

You should know, though, that the portrayal of Japan is apparently not great. I did find the portrayal of China a little confusing and hard to recognize, so I believe it. Which is annoying and does take this book down a star in my opinion.

The Verdict
Despite the issues regarding the portrayal of Asian cultures, story-wise I really enjoyed this. Educate yourself and then decide whether or not you want to read it.

Note: This book contains mature content (sexy times) and graphic violence. Please be aware!

I admit, this book was not on my radar at first. I requested it solely because of the lesbian romance and the aspect of fighting demons. I would soon find out that not only does this book feature those things, but also an expansive Mongolian-inspired world with so many facets to it (as well as an issue that I discuss below), and a slowly burgeoning romance that would make my heart burst with both love and satisfaction. THE TIGER'S DAUGHTER is a beautiful tale that will burrow its way into your heart, as you traverse through the land with Shizuka, Shefali, and their grand love story.

THE TIGER'S DAUGHTER starts out slow – almost exceptionally slow. It took me a bit as a reader to really get into the story. But once 20% or so in, I was ready to keep reading until the end. Arsenault really feeds information to the readers in increments, slowly building up to the climax. She does this really well, in the form of letters. Each chapter begins with the third person musings of Shizuka, the Empress of Hokkaro, as she reads a letter from her best friend and lover, Shefali, who for some reason isn’t there with her. The letter takes the narrative into a second person POV, as Shefali is writing her feelings and recollections of past events to Shefali, with the readers experiencing it as well. The super long letter takes readers on an emotional journey from the time when the women were first born to the present time, explaining bit by bit the revelations and discoveries made throughout their toddler-age, adolescence, and young adulthood.

“You and I were going to do great deeds, were going to be the brightest stars in the sky.”

It wasn’t exactly “love at first sight” for Shefali and Shizuka. Given that Shizuka tried to attack Shefali the first time she saw her, that’s no surprise! But what begins as a tentative friendship – mostly because their mothers battled and killed a demon together – develops into something infinitely more. Many things stood in the way of their love, not including the fact that they are two women, but also the class and racial distinctions between the two. While Shizuka is born as the niece of the Emperor of Hokkaro and direct heir, Shefali is just the daughter of the leader of the Qorin people. Qorin are discriminated against by the Hokkarans and even when Shefali is at Shizuka’s side, she still gets treated as lesser. It really made my heart ache to see Shefali treated that way, but her stubborn character made her resilient against it.

I liked seeing the dynamics of the relationship as both women worked out the parts of them that made them so different from the other. Shizuka sees past the prejudice and appreciates Shefali for her character, even as Shefali sees past Shizuka’s shiny and spoiled veil into the caring person that she is. These two extremely capable and extremely fierce women complemented each other just fantastically. While Shefali says very few words and instead uses her mind to think before acting, Shizuka is very impetuous and loves to talk (and all the attention!). Shefali is a natural on the horse and unparalleled with an arrow. It’s the same for Shizuka but with her sword skills. Both of these women were just so multifaceted and really leapt off the pages while I was reading. Separately, they were strong in mind and spirit. Together, they were unstoppable.

“I wanted you. Only you. From the day we met, I’ve known this as my heart has known to beat.”

From a very young age, Shizuka knew that they were special (and not just because of their unbreakable bond). As young children, they were extremely powerful. Shefali could speak to her horse, while flowers followed the path of Shizuka. Both women have mysterious powers that lead them towards battling the demons that plague the nation. It isn’t when a battle goes wrong that they start worrying, however.

There’s honestly so much that happens in this book as readers go from the birth of Shizuka and Shefali to the current time, when they are in their mid-20’s (if my calculations are correct). The two women are so fierce, cunning, brilliant, and magnificent. I loved reading about their growth into who they become, as well as their sweet, wholesome, developing relationship. The romance itself was also a large part of the book, as each woman can’t help but gravitate towards the other. There is a forbidden love aspect added as tradition doesn’t allow Shizuka, as Empress, to be in a relationship with a woman. But through their wit and support of trusted allies, no obstacle could bar the power of their love.

“I hold you dear as air, dear as light, dear as flame and earth.”

One thing that made me pause while reading (and even ruminate about after reading) is the direction the author took with Hokkaran, Qorin, and Xian culture. Hokkaran is based on Japanese culture, Qorin on Mongolian, and Xian on Chinese. The author uses the elements of these cultures very loosely in the story – especially Hokkaran and Xian – which in turn gives readers a very vague notion of how the world came to be. In the storyline, the Hokkaran conquered much of the land, including Xian land. Arsenault takes bits and pieces of each culture and instills them in the traditions of Hokkaro and its citizens. This mix-and-match of Chinese and Japanese-inspired countries may be an issue with readers, especially given the historical and modern animosities between them. I don’t think the world was written with the research and preparation to account for these sentiments, and this kind of integration may promote the misconception that the two cultures are interchangeable. At the same time, as a Chinese reader I wasn’t put out by this part of the world while reading, in favor of the storyline and romance, and believe that this aspect will be up to each individual reader’s discretion. I just want to highlight this point and have readers be aware of it before they start the book.

This book came as a surprise as to how much I ended up enjoying it. The ferocious action and devastating (in a way that made my heart ache AND beat faster) romance made THE TIGER'S DAUGHTER a thrill of a read. I really recommend this to fantasy lovers, as this f/f romance is set within an exciting backdrop of court intrigue, deception, and demons. I do acknowledge the problems with the world-building, although readers will find that the setting is rather light in contrast to the focus on romance and characterization. I honestly can’t gush enough about this book, and just really recommend readers to pick it up and really discover the endearing and powerful love story that develops between the pages.

This book was unlike anything I've read this year. It was magical and drew you right into the story. I read this book slowly because I never wanted to finish it. It was a fantasy novel I had been dying to read for ages. It had women in loved in a healthy way, women that were powerful and weren't afraid of it. It wasn't small things that all fantasy novels normally have the same themes, follow a familiar pattern. This didn't. That on its own I'd happily give money to to be able to read again and again. The writing was magical and elegant. The author could have easily have wrote it in the language we've become used to, but instead she wrote in a way that made it felt like it was an old text, something you expect to see in an old story of folktales.

There were only a few things I would change - Maybe make it a bit clearer the names for people and maybe give us a chart of the names who they belong to. More than once I was lost and confused by it, but it did get a little easier. Another thing I recommend is have a list of words that were made up for this story with what they mean. Because I felt like I was lost to most of these words and could only guess most of the meanings used. An index could be a huge help. There were plots that were introduced in this book and pieces of stories that were never finished that I wish had been or at least been left for the next book before it was brought out. An example being how Shizura had to kill her mother who was becoming a blackblood. We were never told how or why and this is one of the things that still bothers me a lot.

As someone who is gay and has been craving a good female love story, this book delivered on that. While most books and TV shows kill off female gay characters right now, this book didn't. Other books released this year have been clearly racist or had other issues where this book touched on some of those issues, but wasn't done right conveying such issues in a way to show that it's okay. There was the issue of some East Asian readers finding this book offending, I myself can't step behind that claim until I better understand where those readers are coming from before I can side either way. So I don't think I can say that it falls into that category or have the right to say so.

I really loved the magic of this book and desperately can't wait for more.

I fell in love with The Tiger’s Daughter from its first pages. It was as easy as breathing. What initially charmed me was the narrative voice, but what threw me head over heels was the cast of heroines, mother and daughter alike, who form the very spine of these pages. And that was just the first taste.

Barsalai Shefali and O-Shizuka were destined to be friends from the moment they were born: two girls graced by pine needles. Only then did their mothers begin to realize the momentous occasion, the beginning of a friendship that would change the very fabric of this world. The universe merely smiled. Divided by cultures and separated by prejudice, these two women are joined by more than friendship. Instead connected by power, legacy, and most importantly love. Even more powerful than believed, they are a force to be reckoned with. A force that will cross countries steeped with fear, slay tigers in a land without any, and fight the demons of the night.

Before I talk about how deep my love for the women in this book goes, I would like to focus on a few other aspects. Once I begin professing my adoration for not only the main characters, but basically every woman in this book, I would not be able to stop and the world building and plot deserve some attention. Walking through these pages is like taking your first steps in a greenhouse. The atmosphere changes, a mist settles into your bones, and your eyes see colors it has only dreamed of. Every step further takes you deeper into its clutches, enfolding you in its richness before it will deposit you on the other side, its halls a mere memory. It is never heavy handed. Instead slow paced, light as a breeze, and making the most of each page. (To phrase it as atmospheric and detailed seemed like a vast understatement).

The plot is something else entirely. Unfolding over decades, this book spares no expense to document the friendship of Shefali and Shizuka. The results are rich beyond measure. By witnessing their very first meeting, the histories of their parents, we are enriched by their legacy. Their friendship is written in the fabric of destiny and Rivera’s extensive story, as told by Shefali’s letter (frame narratives are my favorite type), is the only way we can fathom the foundations of their relationship.

Now let me commence the words that will attempt to convey my utter love for these characters. Given the history within the story, we glimpse our heroines at each stage of their lives – from childhood challenges to fierce warriors. Shizuka is courageous, daring, and tender. Being raised in the court leaves no room for weakness and her fearlessness presents itself in battle and finery. Shefali is a woman of little words, but she is equally compassionate, loyal, and brave. We witness their mistakes, the ones we make as children in a rush to be adults with responsibility without knowing its immense weight. At the same time, we see through Shefali’s eyes the fears we have, especially of our own making, and the experiences that force us to grow. Apart these two are comets shooting across the sky, but together they are firecrackers.

The love they have for each other and the depth of their friendship is moving. It is equally fragile and strong, defying the challenges of society while maintaining its innocence and susceptibility to the movements of those beyond our control. Rivera paints some of the most beautiful explanations of love I have ever read. The additional LGBTQIA aspect makes it even more important. It becomes not only poignant, but also necessary. It is a love that, even today, defies and inspires legends.

This does not merely present itself in one way, but manifests in many other small touches. Which brings me to my love of the ‘side’ characters, for with the amount of detail and care put into them seems an ill-fitting description. I could not begin to pick a favorite. An obvious choice would be the two mothers of these great heroines, who are infamous in and of themselves. Their relationship is complex, and one I hope to read about in another of Rivera’s books. The relationship each has to her daughter is precious beyond words. I have a sweet spot for mother/daughter relationships and in this aspect Rivera does not disappoint. Another choice would be Shefali’s cousin, who is a force in and of herself, both formidable and caring. But these strong women, and there are many, are interspersed through the text in a variety of roles, until the very end, who confront the status quo of the world and dare to carve a different path.

As I turned each page, I fell more and more in love with this story, its characters, and the promise of its future. The ending does not disappoint as it is both satisfying and still inspires a sense of eager anticipation within you. This is an epic story of friendship: how it thrives through distance and time, stretched, but never broken. This is an epic story of love – the love we have for our mothers and daughters, the love we have for those we cannot bear to live without, and the love we struggle to find for ourselves.

I wouldn't normally describe a book as beautiful, but this one was. It is a rollercoaster of emotion. I laughed and I cried as I read this. Overall, it's a story of love and friendship and two women bound together. I want more and didn't want it to end.