3.75 stars - an Anastasia fantasy retelling very reminiscent of Six Of Crows and The Young Elites!

This was one of my most anticipated releases as Anastasia (1997) is my favorite film and I've always found the actual Romanov story fascinating.

I'm a bit torn.. While there were definitely some cool moments (aka whenever people were being ripped apart from the inside out) I found Ana to be a bit of a passive character. Things were always happening /to/ her, like she was being pushed and pulled from one plot point to another. She was constantly saved last minute by other characters. There's a lot of internal monologues that got repetitive.. but Im still rooting for her.

Ramson, however, I was all in for him from the start.

I think the systematic oppression of Affinites was handled well. In no way did the author glorify racism or indentured servitude, just the opposite.

"Ramson," she said, and her voice was barely a breath. "Did you ever... were you ever one of them? A broker?"

"No." The word cut with truth, yet something in his eyes made her insurmountably sad as he turned them to her. "But watching it happen is another crime in itself, is it not?

Truly wild how the most interesting aspect of this book, that sets this apart from other YA fantasies, was what almost prevented its publication (with help from some ol fashioned mob mentality). I plan on picking up a finished copy and seeing if/what changes were made. I really hope she kept the original author's note.

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.

Since the author pulled this from publication and it sounds like was going to do some major rewrites (?) I'll wait to read and review the final published version.

This book is wonderfully written. Since this, the book has been re edited to fully reflect the authors values and opinions. This book is a very interesting read with a great magic system. I will be re reading the finished edition as well. The descriptions and world building cannot be faulted.

I liked the concept and the plot of the book, but the pacing felt a little off. Overall, enjoyed the experience and will mention it to others.

Unfortunately I was approved hours before they had made the decision not to publish this book and they never re-granted access after they decided to publish after all. Unable to review and read until release. Was unable to review without a star review gave 3 stars just to be able to

I was looking forward to reading this; the premise is really interesting but since it's been archived I'll just have to wait for the publication date. I'm really glad that the author is moving forward with the publication for this book though and I look forward to purchasing a copy of it when the time comes!

I give this book five stars! I loved the characters especially the main protagonist. I loved the world the author created and I am excited about the other books in the series. I would definitely recommend this book.

"She was Anastacya Kateryanna Mikhailov, blood heir of the Cyrilian Empire. And soon the world would know."

Guys, this book!!!! All those who were bashing the book and author (most of which hadn't even read the book for cripes sake) for it's contents are idiots! I loved every part of this story and I can't wait for the second book!!

Ana and Ramson are everything and I freaking love them! Having the ability to control people through their blood is a fresh, new twist on the typical magic that fills YA Fantasy lately. I don't want to give anything away in the slightest so trust me when I say to pre-order this now!

DNF at 30%
It started off pretty good, with an interesting plot and some good action. Then the characters started being really stupid and blundering around messing everything up. Also, there were some really heavy-handed morality lessons about how indentured servants are basically slaves and it was tiresome to read.

All of the bad rep this book got was not deserved at all! This is a beautiful debut novel! I wish everyone could get their hands on it sooner!! I look forward to a lucrative career and many more books from this author!!

I would love to finish this book, however, due to the issues it faced earlier this year, it was pulled back and for some unknown reason, it disappeared on my readers. I'm rating this one based only on what I've read which is about 20% of the book.

While the issues brought up by prominent members of the community are highly valued, I wish Amelie Wen Zhan a good and progressive future ahead as an Author of Color. With this, I will still read The Blood Heir when it comes out November 2019.

This book has been delayed for publication for the author to rework some narrative changes. Due to that, I won't be able to read it and give it a proper review. I am really looking forward to reading the final version, but I don't think I can give the ARC justice.

However, I'm giving it 5 stars because I don't want to give it one star and I think the author is doing a fantastic job of reworking the story.

THIS BOOK, GUYS. I absolutely love it, and I’m pretty sure it just made itself one of my all-time favorites. IT’S THAT GOOD.

Think Anastasia (the movie) meets Romanov meets Tangled. It’s full of magic, and heart, and learning to love yourself and others even after you’ve been hurt.

It even reads like a movie, with cinematic imagery that paints a clear picture of how every scene should look. I could totally see this being turned into a gorgeous animated or live action movie, but I’m afraid of anyone actually tried, they’d ruin it.

I love the characters. I love the plot. I love the slow-burn romance (GAH! My heart 😥) and the amazing world and...

Deep breaths. Okay, just read this book, people. It is so worth it. I’m so so thankful that the author pushed ahead despite (unfair and unwarranted) criticism against this masterpiece. I’m dying for her to write the next book.

500000/5 STARS. ALL THE STARS.

Content:
Language: Infrequent curses (both printed and not).
Violence: A LOT of violence, including torture. Some of it is fairly graphic. Lots of blood. If you’re sensitive, this one might bother you. However, most of it is handled in a meaningful way so that there’s no violence just for shock value or to add the body count.
Sexual: One man threatens to rape another character. Brief mentions of prostitutes and mistresses, and such. Nothing physical or graphic.

I have read divided opinions on this and I just wanted to say, every writer interprets and feels a story differently. You have every write to express your own thoughts and in your own way without bending to other's liked and dislikes.

I hope to one day be able to read this book as it sounds amazing (I missed the deadline to download this one and it was archived!) and will keep my eyes peeled for it in the (hopefully) near future. Best of luck!

I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

I had high hopes for this story which unfortunately got squashed pretty quickly. After I finished the book there was a huge uproar about this story in the bookish community. Personally I didn't have any problems with the things most of the reviers criticized. Moreover I was appealed about some things they judged the book and the author about. Anyway, let's just get to my opinion because I just getting angry otherwise.

Looking back I admit this book was kind of doomed for me from the beginnin. The cover should have been the first indicator.
Just so you know I have a pretty serious aversion to everithing russian literaturesque, I have a lot of bad experinces due to required reading in school. Since Blood heir has a heavy atmosphere of this particular brand of literature, you see my problem. It was not the only thing I din't like about the story but it made thinsg harder.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the characters either. Ana was just too naive for my taste. I mean, she is the perfect sheltered princess but still I prefer my heroines a tad bit smarter. Sorry, but she really read as a simple mind. The combination of her naivety and her quest for vengeance just didn't work together. Don't even get me started on the big finale. Come on girl, you lived outside the palace and experinced the dregs of society, how could you think it will be so easy. * Insert face-palm here*.
Them there was Ransom, I admit he had potentila in the morally grey characters collumn but in the end he was too bland for me.

The writing style is quite simple, not the flowery kind but I think it could have worked the the premise of the story. If the story didn't end up being this overly template YA storyline. All the way I was feeling that I seen this arc play out already. NOT in the plagiarism sense of way, as some people accused. Let's be honest, in this era of YA you can't really find anything entierly unique in probably any category. It was just the way, the author combined the plot points, I was waiting for the twist that never came.
As for the worldbuilding I enjoyed that one and saw a lot of potential in it.

One more thing, that I didn't like were the usage of russian words, phrases in the book. This is an entierly 'me' thing and hate it in every book where the author mixes a different language into her story, especially when it is only a word here and there.

I heard somewhere that the book is going through a revision. Well, I don't know.... my problems are mostly with the foundations of it based on this , if she tries to change things to appease her readers I think she will end up with a completly different book, but thats just my opinion.

Blood Heir is the first novel in a trilogy of the same name. And man! Did this novel ever live up to my expectations! This was the the debut novel of Amelie Wen Zhao, and I have to say that she is an author worth keeping an eye on.
In a world where magical abilities are well known, we find our main character, Ana (aka Princess Anastacya Mikhailov), determinedly looking for vengeance. And who can blame her? She was framed for the death of her father, forced to go on the run, and further forced to hide her abilities. This novel brings magic and the tale of Anastasia together into one lovely series. It's complicated, political, and full of emotionally compelling moments, mystery, and declarations of revenge. In short, it was perfect.

Warnings: This is a world where magical abilities aren't unheard of. Unfortunately, they're valuable and feared. The end result is that people with abilities are frequently captured and enslaved. This is a brutal system, to put it lightly.
Blood Heir was an absolutely brilliant read, and is easily one of my favorite reads this year. Part of me actually hates that this novel just came out, because of the wait for the next installment. Ana's tale was gut-wrenching and beautiful at the same time. I just couldn't get enough of it.
As I mentioned above, this novel reminded me a lot of the tale of Anastasia – with several twists, of course. Ana was accused and then framed for the death of her father. And while she survived the attempts on her life – despite the belief of the people thinking otherwise – she still has a lot of work ahead of her. She's determined to get revenge for both her father's death and for her framing. But that task is easier said than done.
The action and abilities in this novel were brilliant. The fight scenes were well described, adding a new perspective on how magical abilities could be used in a fight. And how they can be feared. And let's not forget the politics, planning, and scheming that went on inside these pages. Because trust me – there was a lot of that. It helped to obfuscate the reality of Ana's situation and her attempts for revenge, making the journey more daring and dramatic.
Personally, it was the romantic subplot that really pulled me in. I know, that surprised me too. But it was so compelling and so beautifully written. It gave the series a chance to have a moment of brightness in an otherwise darker tale. It balanced out the main plot perfectly for that reason.
I loved everything about Blood Heir. I didn't end up reading this novel in one sitting – like many of the others that I fell in love with. But trust me, I was a very cranky girl at work waiting for my next break so I could get back to it! Now I just have to wait for news about the next novel in the trilogy.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.5 STARS

So there has been some ‘drama’ for this book. So I want to address that first.
I don’t know everything but from what I can tell some people read this book out of context and went ape shit at the author on Twitter. This was written with the authors own culture/heritage in mind but apparently some people viewed it differently/from a different cultural view and called it Racist & “anti-black”. Originally this book was meant to release in I think April. But the author decided to cancel the release due to all the hate she was receiving. We thought it was all over for this book but then the author decided to release the book but go in and do edits and to add emphasis to the culture she is trying to represent. Now it will be released on the 19th of November, 2019.
So this review is based on the original eARC that I received from Delacorte Press through NetGalley which is before any of these edits. And I wanted to say straight up that I do not see anything wrong with this book! I guess I can kinda see where someone could see it as Racist if took out of context. The character death that I think all the racist comments are behind was described to have “bronze skin” & “Brown Curls” which in a not ASIAN inspired book could be assumed is a ‘black’ character however this is an ASAIAN inspired book.. There are a few Asian cultures who have these features too and that is what the author was going for as opposed to placing a single (FOR EXAMPLE) African character in and ASIAN inspired fantasy.
I really enjoyed this book and I quite simply don’t see what the issue is… But anyway, I won’t mention any of this again, this is just a normal review from here on out and here it is!

**All quotes were taken from the eARC edition of this book & may differ from the final copy

“Your Affinity does not define you”
“What defines you is how you choose to wield it.”

Writing:
I really enjoyed the writing in this book. The flow of this book was awesome. There was the right amount of action and adventure but also some slower areas where we got to focus on the characters too which I enjoyed. I really enjoyed the action/fight scenes! They were written in a way that felt quick, but you were given all the details so it made sense. I feel like some authors try and write it fast paced but then leave out details, so when you actually break it down, it doesn’t make sense and the movements don’t flow. This was definitely not the case with this book!

“Papa had once told her, after Mama’s death, that there were two types of grief. One was the type that crushed you, that broke your soul and shattered your heart, and left you an empty shell. The other was a grief that made you stronger. You rose from it, you sharpened it, and you carried it with you as a piece of your armour. And you made yourself better.”

Plot:
This book is absolutely full of twists and turns. It’s also not afraid of being brutal and ripping apart this calm world. This plot was completely unpredictable! There wasn’t a single thing that I guessed correctly and I loved that! Fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time!

“Ana had no weapon and no plan, but she also had nothing more to lose.
And that, perhaps, was the most dangerous type of an opponent to have.”

Characters:
I really enjoyed both Ana & Ramson! The banter, the sarcasm, the treats, etc. LOVED IT ALL!

Ana is such a badass character and I loved her. Even with everything that goes down in this book she never lets it stop her from following through with her plans. I love that you see all the struggles she goes through and she pulls through all of it and is such a strong character.

“In the face of fear, one could choose to run, or to rise.”

Ramson I really liked too! He was mysterious, funny and super interesting. I loved learning about him & can’t wait for more of him in book 2!

We also had a heap of side characters and all of them were amazing and well fleshed out! None of them felt one dimensional. You learn to love all of them and then your heart gets wrenched out of your chest, soooo there is that. But the characters are amazing! All of them.

“Figure out what you want to do in this life. Live for yourself. You might be the world’s strongest battleship, but you can’t navigate without a compass.”

Overall:
I loved this book so much! Everything flowed, the world was thought out& the characters were well developed. I really can’t fault this book! I can’t wait for this to release and the rest of the world can read this amazing book!

“The smallest, weakest ones are often the most underestimated and tend to be much stronger than we anticipate.”

I truly respect Amélie Wen Zhao's and Delacorte Press' decision to push back the publication date of BLOOD HEIR in order to edit her story. The topic of human trafficking is an important one, and I look forward to reading her discussion about it when BLOOD HEIR is published on November 19, 2019. I will base my review of BLOOD HEIR on Zhao's most-updated version of her story in respect of her time and commitment to editing. Five stars for respect of listening and including important social issues.

Thank you for the opportunity.

MG, #MediaGalReads
https://marenaelizabethgalluccio.com/blog/

I enjoyed this book because:
- of those FANTASTIC first chapters that hooked me
- twas fast paced
- twas ACTION PACKED
- Ana's blood magic was like, actually Monstrous and not aesthetically Pretty
- it had creepy villains that made my skin crawl
- i love a Good torture scene

All in all a good read and most importantly to me, a read that entertained, that didn't try to be all florid and poetic. I feel like lots of YA books I've read lately try to impress me with beautiful prose and while I can appreciate that, it's ultimately not the reason why I read. I read to be hooked, riveted by a story, to not be thinking about how Nice the words are but about what happens next. This book felt like the first YA in a while that did that for me.

The reason this isn't a 5 star read for me is very subjective. It's just that there were several points where I didn't feel "wow"'d when I feel like I should've. Some backstories fell maybe a little flat, some plot twists didn't feel entirely earned, some characters didn't feel fleshed out. Nevertheless, I'll be checking out the next book in the series for sure!