I’m really mad about this situation- at the low number of bullies that took away an author’s dream. I agree this book needed some work, some pacing editing and a couple of lines, but screw the haters. She took inspiration from The Hunger Games and Six of Crows- isn’t that an honor?! The windwraith is a badass woman with fighting skills. She’s a modern take on a ninja!!! Aren’t they all supposed to be badass and a little shifty? As for what happened to May, I think it helps drive Ana’s story. She references May throughout the entire book- not just before or after! And she is described as having eyes like the ocean and tan skin. Ana is Russian- of course she’s going to have white skin. YA authors can take liberties, and even if May was “pale white with blonde hair and blue eyes”, what happened to her wouldn’t change based on her skin color (to me!). I still love the character May!
Okay- I’m prefacing this next part by saying I’m a white woman. The slave auction scene- Ana, the main character is appalled by this place and behavior the entire time. She kept trying to fight and break out everyone. The author started the book with a letter saying this is HER experience and HER story- it’s not glorified. It’s what drives Ana to wake up from her sheltered (not her choice) childhood and want to save her empire.
Overall- I don’t think this book deserved the harassment it received. This was an ARC- it has the opportunity for change and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

Since this book has been pulled after some people on Twitter decided to bash this book without properly reading it and creating some unneeded drama + forcing the author to revise this book, I will not leave a review for this book.

I was looking forward to reading this one, but since the copy I have received will not be the copy that will one day (hopefully) be published, it doesn't seem fair to leave a rating, since the end-product will probably be completely different.

I read about 20% before the whole drama exploded, and absolutely loved it, so when the revised version comes out I will request it again without hesitating. I will give it 4 stars on here to rate the 20% I had already read.

Since this title has been pulled from publication, I will not review. Thank you for the opportunity anyway!

This is going to be a hard review to write because of the controversy surrounding this book.  I will talk a bit about what I heard online in case anyone doesn't know.  This book was pulled by the author for publication right now and there are still people that didn't know that.



First, I am white.  I am writing this being white and in no way am I trying to discredit anything others have said.



The main issues I heard about this book were that a black character was killed and that the slavery was harmful for blacks.   I'll address the second one first.  This book was based off of indentured servitude that happened in Asia.  Being an Asian author, I would expect that she knew a lot about her own history.  This book actually made me want to learn more, but my husband knew a bit and used the same words (indentured servants) as being Asian and vs black history of slavery in the US.  I'm sorry if this was harmful to anyone that read it, but I do think that an author should be able to write about their own history.  If a black author was writing about slavery in the US, I would not complain at all.  I would want to read it from their point of view.  I want to read about Asian slavery from an Asian author.  Own voices is important in instances like this. 



Now for the death of a black character.  No one was described as white or black in this book.  In fact, everyone seemed to be shades of browns, possibly similar to Eastern Europe and Asia.  I saw terms such as tan, olive, fawn, tawny, and a couple pale (but very few).  Everyone seemed to be a person of color.  The tan/bronze characters tended to have blue/green eyes.  With the descriptions, I never actually pictured a character as black.  I'm of Eastern European decent.  While I am very pale, I have darker family members that I would describe as tan.  There is no real other way to describe the color of their skin (yes, I call them white because they are).  I felt that the author did a good job of not having anyone be so different than each other, but different in ways of religion and magic more than anything.  There were a lot of deaths in this book.  People of the tan coloring, the pale coloring, rich, poor, magic users, royalty, and non magic users.  The death in question was during a revolt.  She died saving other people, including children.  It was a noble death that tore Ana up for the rest of the book.  I am sorry for anyone bothered by this, but I didn't see this as a black character by her description (tan or bronze skin, blue green ocean eyes, and silky curls).  If the author meant her to be the only black character, I would definitely feel different. Right before this death, a pale person is killed.



Again, I am white and I'm writing my review as a white American.  This book is written by an Asian author based on the history she knew of her country. 



I actually loved this book.  I found it to be well written, exciting, and so interesting to read.  It read much better than a debut, too.  



Because this is a fantasy, the country/area this took place wasn't named as a country we know.  The main country was Cyrilia.   They had a royal family.  There were other places named and there was at least one island and a navy.  The areas all got snow.  I'm not sure on a time period, but they traveled by horse and carriage and there wasn't traditional modern medicine.  There are magic users called affiliates and non magic users.  



Ana is born into the royal family.  She is a princess, but she's an affiliate.  She can actually affect blood flow.  Her father hired someone to try to take her magic away.  She was called a monster.  Magic users were witches and looked down on.  Most affiliates became indentured servants.  Ana was hidden after her magic started.  But she snuck out with her brother, Luka, one night.  Because they were trying to get rid of her magic, Ana was never taught to control it.  She accidentally killed 8 people that night and became known as the legendary blood witch.  She was hidden again after that.  Ana's father was poisoned by the alchemist.  Ana walked in and caught him.  She tried to take the poison out of her fathers blood, but it didn't work.  She was found and accused of murder.  Ana faked her death by drowning.



Ana wanted revenge on the alchemist.  While out in the world outside of the palace, she also found that she was lied to.  The indentured servants were supposed to be paid and treated well.  But they were nothing but slaves.  People were starving.  She was angry and wanted to find a way to change this.  So those became her two goals.  If she could prove she didn't kill her father, she can go back and change the laws.   Affiliates were people from everywhere.  They were all colors and religions.  Most were poor and had contracts, but not all as we see with Ana.  Some people with money also marry affiliates. 



Ana needs help to find the alchemist and helps a con man escape from the dungeons.  She doesn't tell him she's a princess or why she wants to find the alchemist.  She and Ramson decided on a trade to help each other.  Ramson was part of the Order of the Lily, but he did not tell Ana that.  Kerlan was the leader and the founder of the largest business empire in Cyrilia.  Ramson found out that the alchemist was likely there.  Also, May, the young girl Ana had been living with, was taken.  Ramson explains to Ana that the rich people there had these secret auctions for affiliates which is supposed to be illegal.  They make a big spectacle of it.  So they need to find a way to get in and save May.  



So much happens, but I don't want to give anything else away.  There is a secret revolution started by some of the affiliates.  Unfortunately, not everyone lives.  As I stated above, there is a lot of fighting that caused deaths, but also a lot of murders.  I really enjoyed the affiliate magic and learning about the different types that each person had. There is a lot of lies and betrayal throughout the book.  Ana would start to trust Ramson only to find out that he was doing something for himself again.  I liked their relationship and banter though.  



I do hope this book eventually gets published.  If there are changes, I very much hope it doesn't change the story.  I am very much looking forward to reading the next book, too.



Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy for review.  I'm glad I got it before it was pulled.  I always try to read a book and decide things for myself.  I was fooled early on as a reviewer, but I won't let controversy from people keep me from judging a book for myself.   I'm sorry if my review hurt anyone.  That is not my intention.  Your feelings are valid for you.  My opinions and feelings are valid for me.  It doesn't mean I'm right or even wrong.  I gave this book 5 stars. 



Warnings for indentured servants, abuse, abandonment from a parent, verbal attacks (like demon for magic users), torture including whipping and water boarding, death of a lot of people, lots of blood, starvation, abuse, and auctioning of affiliates, deaths of multiple children, and children in cages.  I may be missing some.  The servitude, abuse, and children in cages are all very much challenged and mentioned over and over how wrong it was.  Ana had to realize that affiliates weren't the monster, but that average humans could be the monsters instead.

I will not be giving a full review of this book since it has been pulled from publication. Even though we will not be seeing this book any time soon (though I DO hope the author makes her changes and gets it back out there) I still chose to read this book, I have to say...I enjoyed it.

I'm not going to get into my thoughts on the controversy surrounding this book but I will mention that while reading, I wasn't bothered by anything written. Maybe I have a stronger ability to separate history from fantasy, even when the two do hit very close together.

That being said, I really enjoyed reading this book. Blood Heir is your typical YA Fantasy so there isn't anything overwhelming that sets it apart from the others but if you like good world building, a fast paced plot, morally grey characters (LOVE) and a strong heroine that definitely has her "wanna-hit-her-over-the-head" moments...I think this is an excellent choice.

I do hope that Amélie works on this and it makes it to the shelves. I will be looking forward to reading a completed copy of Blood Heir and I really want to know where the story goes from here!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and provide my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book. I am sorry to say this just wasn’t for me. The writing did not hold my attention. The main character felt all to similar to many many YA female main characters I have read about before. The plot also felt like something I have read before. I will not be purchasing this book for the library as it is to similar to many others.

I was unable to read this book in its entirety and honestly, I am disappointed. The cancelled release date really made me very sad. I understand, however, that there was some racially insensitive things in the novel. I did not read to that part, but I did read enough to love the author's writing. I hope that the wrongs in this book will be mended and rereleased. Thank you for this opportunity.

Due to the issues surrounding this book, I do not feel comfortable reading this at this time.

When the author and publisher decide it is okay to publish, I will read it then.

Due to the controversy surrounding this book, I will not be giving a formal review until the author is ready for publishing. I commend her for listening to the criticism that was presented and deciding to take action to correct things.

Since this book has been pulled from publication, I will not be providing a review. I do look forward to reading this book when it is revised for publication.

First off I snagged this book when I saw it was for free on Netgalley. The cover and synopsis grabbed my attention.

Secondly, I don’t know where to start honestly. I really enjoyed this book, though I’ve seen some controversy over it. No offense but a lot of people are way to touchy. Yes this book has slavery, but so do many historical books and shows and some people need to really move past the past and enjoy the book for what it is.

Any who, this book sounded like a retelling of Anastasia to me? Not sure if that’s where it was headed but it felt that way. The story itself was incredible and the writing with it absolutely amazing.

I really hope the author gets to publish this because I feel so many would enjoy this book and the richness the author has to offer with her story.

Given the circumstances that the release of this book was pulled back due to valid concerns from marginalized readers, I don't see any merit in reading and reviewing the e-ARC in its current, unrevised state. This is mainly because, based on what I understand from the author's public statement, this book will go under intense, heavy revisions, which hopefully leads to significant changes.

I am, of course, still very open to reading and reviewing a more finalized ARC of Blood Heir, once it is available. Thank you.

Full review closer to release date. I enjoyed this book so very much. Thanks for allowing me to review this title. I absolutely loved it. Again will post entire full review for this title closer to release date to my goodreads first then review as title is available for purchase.

"This isn't one of the fairy-tale books you read in your childhood, where the hero always wins in the end."

A lot of controversy surrounds Blood Heir, which was sadly pulled from publication (at least temporarily) by the author when some people thought there were parts of the book that seemed racist. Sadly, it's a good book. After reading the book for myself, I don't think it was ever the author's intention to produce anything racist, and I think she had only good intentions of writing this book.

Blood Heir features a princess in a Russian-like country who has to flee the palace after she was framed for murdering her father. She teams up with a con-man in order to try to take revenge upon the man who is actually guilty.

The country is corrupt, and people with magic (the Affinites) are put into slavery. People of all races. This book does deal with governmental corruption, but I don't think it has anything to do with the African slave trade from over 100 years ago. Slavery still exists today.

I found the story interesting and it kept me wanting more. I'd read the rest of the series if it ever is produced.

It wasn't perfect (hence the four-stars), but it was an enjoyable book nevertheless. I hope to read more from this author in the future.

I look forward to giving feedback on a revised version of this book. Thank you very much for listening to the concerns of the community and taking more time to make this book the best it can be.

I will not be reviewing this book out of respect to the author's wishes in pulling it from publication. I did, however, begin reading it before it was pulled, and the chapters that I read were fast-paced and enjoyable, introducing two compelling characters in Ransom and Ana that I would love to know more about, so my four-star rating reflects that enjoyment.

I look forward to reading the revised version of the book when it becomes available.

I'm reviewing this book as if I know nothing about all the controversy, because honestly, I don't wanna open that can of worms. I have opinions on various aspects, but I'll keep those to myself- I don't want to get into it.
I enjoyed this book. The world building was pretty solid, the character development was good, and the pacing was steady. The story is set in a Russian-ish country, Cyrilia, in a world where there are people called Affinites, who have magical affinities. The Affinites are not treated well in the Cyrilian Empire; they are used as slave labor, indentured to their owners, often in not quite legal contracts. Ana is the crown princess, and also a very powerful Affinite. When she gets framed for her father's murder, she flees the capital, vowing to find the real murderer and regain her place in the palace. She enlists the help of a conman, Ramson Quicktongue, and uncovers corruption and conspiracy threatening her country. There are twists and turns all over the place, keeping things moving at a quick and steady pace. There's a hint of romance to come, and I did appreciate the lack of insta-love! Ana is a strong character with plenty of flaws- really, she could be so dumb at times, but she did at least learn a bit from her mistakes. I quite liked Ramson- he's not a good person at all, pretty despicable in fact, but he grows so much over the course of the book that you can't help but like him. The ending is certainly left open- this is a planned trilogy, after all- but it's not so cliffhanger-y that you want to throw the book across the room.
I can see elements that might make some people uncomfortable in this book, but I think overall it's a not too difficult fix, and I hope this book will get released before too long. I'd really like to see how the story ends.

I will finish this book when we know if it will see the light of day, and I look forward to hopefully being able to review the rewritten version!

I loved this book. I received aneARC before the author pulled the book, but just recently reads it.

I thought the book was well written, compelling, and thought provoking.

I’m disappointed that the book and its series is now on an indefinite hold.

Now that this book has been pulled from being published, I am not going to read it at this time. I have other arcs that take precedent to this book. Maybe one day I will get around to reading this.