Blood Heir had an overly simplistic plot, filled with clichés and predictability and much as I’d hate to compare the two, so does Red Tigress. While Blood Heir’s message about human trafficking and Othering was compelling enough to overshadow the lack of complexity in the overall storytelling, it is much harder to do overlook Red Tigress’ flaws as the latter is pure fantasy storytelling. Despite this, Red Tigress is more engaging, the characters are well-developed and the book as a whole feels more compelling. Reading it makes me so satisfied and leaves me doing a happy dance.

Plot, Prose and Pacing: Satisfying But Lacks Emotion and Logic

Picking up on the cliffhanger of Blood Heir, we are thrown into the deep end of the pool in Red Tigress. Cyrilia is in turmoil. Ana and Ramson are still on the run as Ana’s true identity finally exposed and a false ruler sits on the Cyrilian throne. Linn is imprisoned and Morganya is on a crusade to punish non-Affinites by spilling their blood in retribution for their alleged crimes against Affinites. And, to make matters worse, Morganya is after an artifact said to grant the holder more than one Affinity. To stop Morganya’s cruel tirade, Ana has to travel to Bregon to get to the artifact before she can. But Ramson has other plans of his own, involving his old crime boss, Alaric. As fate would have it, Ramson, Ana and Linn find that all paths Naturally, their paths end up crossing and Ana, Ramson and Linn find themselves confronting a threat that would disrupt the order of their worlds.

To say much more would be giving a bulk of the plot away and this is definitely one of those books you have to read for yourself to truly appreciate the work of art Zhao had created! Blood Heir suffered from an overly simplistic plot, making its shortcomings readily apparent. But, it’s safe to say that Red Tigress, despite it’s own handful of cliches and predictable plot lines, was a satisfying read. Zhao’s talent with writing and storytelling has definitely improved and Red Tigress feels well-rounded and well thought out. I loved how the plot developed from the first book and it was well-paced. I rarely found myself bored and instead, I clung to the pages with dear life, always wanting more from the chapters.

However, despite how readable Red Tigress was, the most frustrating part about it is the lack of emotional depth in certain scenes. While I found a lack of emotion in the characters in Blood Heir, this time, it’s the writing. There are also multiple elements not fully explained which left them feeling hollow and pointless. Scenes full of emotion are abundant in Red Tigress but, what is supposed to be an emotional beat that leaves an impact on the characters are often cut short and reduced to a single paragraph. Perhaps, it is to highlight the urgency of the situations but it leaves the moment feeling a little hollow. Like, I just started to feel for the character and next thing I know, it’s like okay, on to the next plot point. I wish the characters were given some time to process and work through their emotions on the page rather than in Zhao’s head.

Another thing that really bothered me that might be an “it’s not you, it’s me” situation is how some things are so ridiculous, it feels like it belongs in a Korean drama. One such example, there is a major character described as insane/mad on the page. We do learn about this character’s background and history but there is a lack of justification for the character being labelled as insane. It didn’t make any sense to this character’s motivations and in the end, the character felt like a caricature for an evil villain. Another example, right off the bat, Ana and Ramson are journeying together but have gone out for the night to meet their own informants etc. Not long after, Ana learns where she needs to go to make her next move and she’s like, okay, I’m going to go off across the world, Ramson will understand. And I’m like . . . what? They had a designated meeting point; she could have met up with him before gallivanting off to save the world. And, it makes absolute sense that Ramson is like, okay, you’re not coming to our meeting point; that’s okay, I’ll chase you wherever you go. Characters communicate very poorly in Red Tigress.

And, this is a minor spoiler but, the ending of Red Tigress happens because of a miscommunication! I was appalled at the ridiculousness of these plot points.

Characters: Emotional Bundles I Love

Red Tigress‘ saving grace is it’s characters. One of the things that bothered me the most about Blood Heir was how the characters were just devices to drive the plot forward and they lacked any kind of emotion or even stakes in the story. I could not find any emotional connection to the characters, I detested their cookie cutter designs and to be very honest, reading Red Tigress was a little bit difficult as the characters were so bland that I had forgotten all of them save for Ana and Ramson. Although Red Tigress is equally as plot-driven, the characters have really grown into the shoes Zhao has handed them. While I disliked both Ana and Ramson in Blood Heir and Linn was a blip I didn’t even remember, I absolutely loved them here!

Ana is more than your monstrous girl with the monstrous blood affinity; she feels, she cares and she has developed stakes in the story. Her throne is threatened and so are her people; she is very righteous and believes that she can change the way the Cyrilian monarchy runs the country. I like that we can see a lot more hopefulness and maturity in her; she also has a lot of diversity in the ways she thinks, feels and acts. And although she still mostly acts and unleashes her powers without thinking her actions through, this time, she is driven by more than just “I’m a monster so I should act like one”. I also liked that we got to see a little training montage of Ana learning how to use her powers but it was far too short and not informative enough.

Ramson has gone from Kaz Brekker wannabe to crusader for justice! I may have exaggerated on the last bit there but it’s the truth. In Blood Heir, it felt as though Zhao wanted Ramson to be a criminal mastermind with a heart of gold when he’s actually just a boy with a troubled past with a heart of gold. He felt so cookie cutter and lacked any sort of real characterisation; it was frustrating to read. But in Red Tigress, we learn so much more about Ramson and his origin story in Red Tigress and I can finally fall in love with him; not because he’s so devastatingly charming and handsome but because he’s unrealistically perfect! No matter his purpose in life, he always finds himself back at Ana’s side, protecting her and loving her. He is the brains to Ana’s brawn and that’s the perfect love story right there.

Ana and Ramson’s romance here also felt more grounded in reality. In Blood Heir, the attraction between the two hardly felt at all natural; it felt like Zhao was forcing them to be together. But there’s an understanding between the both of them in Red Tigress even though there are too many obstacles in their separate lives they need to resolve before they can spend forever in each other’s arms. Together, they seem more mellow, grounded and for lack of a better word, in love. It’s not a passionate kind of love, in my opinion, but rather, the kind of love born out of mutual respect, trust, understanding and acceptance. And that’s the best kind! Except for (spoiler!) that one very strange and very out of place kiss which had me frowning like an old lady clutching her pearls. It just didn’t feel like the kind of time and place to be making out.

And while I wanted to do a reread of Blood Heir to prepare for Red Tigress, I decided against it because, to be honest, I thought I had misplaced my copy. So, unfortunately, I can’t compare Linn to her characterisation in Blood Heir because I don’t remember her and I didn’t find her significant enough to note in my original review. However, I absolutely fell in love with Linn! I could feel her pain and her suffering through every page on the book, I knew her heart and her actions. She really came to life on the page as she sought her own path to freedom while helping Ana and Ramson on theirs.

Worldbuilding: Not Much to “Sea”
Red Tigress takes readers out of Cyrilia and to a whole new country, Bregon. I appreciated that we get to see a whole new world and learn more about the landscape the characters are in. But, as much of the story takes place within the Bregonian royal grounds, we are only afforded a handful of meaningless glimpses into the country. We learn little about their lives nor how Ana, Ramson and Linn’s appearance in their city would affect them. But, I did enjoy the world being crafted; some elements felt a lot like Venice as Bregon is a water locked country. What made Bregon stand out to me as well is that although they are technologically modern, their politics, economics and society are stable and thriving, women were not allowed to hold high positions in the kingdom because women were believed to be ill omens. How this played into the story exactly is not clear as it did not seem to play much of a role at all.

However, the two countries that we have learned of honestly felt a little bit like the two magic worlds of the US and the UK in Harry Potter as Bregon has their own term for Affinites: magen. I felt this was completely unnecessary as it served no real purpose to the story to call them something else, even though Bregon treat their magen as equals and live harmoniously with them. After all, they still practiced the Affinities they had no differently and had no different system of magic. It would have served the plot a lot more if they were also called Affinites as human trafficking still plays a big role in the plot as it would have symbolised the sameness and difference in how they are treated but instead, the magen became an isolated group of people readers rarely interacted with.

In conclusion, Red Tigress was a fantastic read that really rivalled it’s predecessor. Most of the time, I struggle with loving sequels because they often pale in comparison to fantastic debuts but this is one situation where I am wonderfully satisfied. If Zhao continues on this upwards path, the ending to the trilogy is going to ruin and devastate me. I cannot wait for it to happen!

I loved this story. I really enjoyed the first book and I have been looking forward to diving back into this world and reading about the characters again. I would recommend reading this book.

The growth between the first book and this second one is amazing! The second book is just as good, if not better, than the first. Probably because this book really focuses on the plot advancement and with the cliffhanger at the end of the first book, the action and adventure was highly promised. And this book delivers! And of course, after reading this amazing second book in the series, I desperately need the third now! I'm excited to see where these characters are going to go based on these first two amazing stories.

4.5/5 ⭐

Red Tigress is an empowering, crazy journey! After the events of Blood Heir, this book dives right into the action and wastes no time. As much as I enjoy the main character's story arc, I find myself invested moreso in the supporting characters and that's because so many aspects are well written and coincide that it's tough to pick my favorite elements.

The slow burn us torture though. I do find that I quite enjoy the political intrigue theme throughout this series and I'm dying for book 3!!!

I enjoyed Red Tigress, but because I forgot a lot of what happened in the first book I was a little confused throughout the book. I would have loved some sort of tiny recap throughout the first bit of the story. Still, I was intrigued enough to keep reading, but I'm not sure if I will read the third book..

*I originally received an eGalley from NetGalley & Delacorte Press (thank you both!), then switched to the finished version when it published. This does not affect my review.*

I loved the Blood Heir, but struggled with a slow start. With this being the sequel, I went in with high hoped after the first book, but still had the nagging worry of 'Sequel Slump' striking another favorite...Which was completely unfounded and this book blew any doubts lingering from Blood Heir about my love for the series out of the water!

From the start this one packs on the action, filled with angst, tension, danger, and constantly changer loyalties, it has a little of everything! We also get to see several old faces and many new faces in this second book of the Blood Heir trilogy! I can already say that the final installment is an Anticipated Read of 2022, and you probably know by now that I usually only have a handful or less of those each year!

Pros:
Characters - I loved seeing so many old faces, including Ana and Ramson, but also maybe more so seeing more of Lin, the yeager, Yuri, and the Unseer to name a few! I alos really enjoyed meeting several of the new characters introduced in this one, including Daya, the King of Bregon, and Sayin (all of whom I have a feeling will play a larger part in the next book!)

Action/Danger - I loved the scenes in Blood Heir that were more about Ramson and Ana, and less about the state of political affairs...but I also loved the drama and action that this one brings with a new kind of danger and a whole new level of pressure for our characters! First we have Kerlan and the Empress of Cyrilia still on the loose, but also new threat arising from both Ana's home country, and across the sea in Bregon where Ramson swore to never return!

Emotions - This one starts with the high emotional rush that Blood Heir ends with, and keeps the feels coming! I loved all the tension, heart stopping action, breath taking twists, and those oh so sweet swoony feels sprinkled in! This one lacked that 'slow to start' feel of the first, and from the beginning I was in love with this sequel!

Trad series I love! So, not really a point, but as you can see from my ratings/read shelf, I tend to prefer indie books, as I just feel they speak to me in a way that many Traditionally published book from the later publisher lack. I crave stories and characters I can connect with, relate to, and maybe be in the best of cases, even call friends. This is one of those series! The only other that comes to mind that I recently loved as much was Rachel Caine's The Great Library series that I finished last year. [book:Ink and Bone|20643052]

It's such a good feeling to love a series that actually has the chance to be something big, and have a solid fan base. That's the one down-side of loving indie, and I'm so excited about this series and love seeing others enjoying it as well!

Cons:
That it ended? (Need I say more? XD)

Too Perfect - I do feel that this is an issue with this series. I love so much of it, but the action scenes, I mean the BIG action scenes that happen at the end, or close to it, always seem too perfect and too neatly wrapped up to me. I love the story overall, the characters, the plot, and 90% of the action, but as with the attempt to reclaim the throne in the first book, this attach on Bregon seemed... too neatly packaged to fit with the rest of the beautiful and chaotic story. I know that's part of it, and overall doesn't take away from how amazing the story is, but it's still a pet peeve of mine i guess.

In preparation of reading this book, I read Blood Heir and quickly fell in love with this world and the characters. The magic system in this trilogy is complex enough to keep you on your toes but not too complex that it's hard to understand. The relationship in this book didn't feel forced at all and it had a really nice build-up. I can't wait for the next book!

A fantastic follow-up to a strong debut, Red Tigress expands the scope of the plot established by Blood Heir and poses impossible questions for the main cast, leaving us guessing at the edge of our seats. Anastacya, Ransom, and Linn are separated at the beginning of the book, and their journeys take three separate yet equally compelling paths toward the climax of the novel.

While the first book in the series felt very similar to a lot of YA fantasy debuts in recent years, Red Tigress managed to fully flesh out the world and give the characters compelling arcs. Ana has to grapple with her family's legacy and how it will define her path forward, and I loved watching her develop beyond the shadow she was at the beginning of the series. Meanwhile, Ransom has to confront some of his own demons, and their relationship struggles beneath the weight of everything around them. That being said, the stand-out stars of this book, to me, were Linn and Kais, who developed an unlikely bond that I look forward to seeing more of in the third book.

I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this one along with the different Affinities that come into play. My only gripe would be that the book falls into a lot of tropes and at times can be predictable, but ultimately the strong characterization helps make up for that.

Definitely looking forward to the final book! This one was really enjoyable.

I love the Blood Heir trilogy so far and highly recommend it! Red Tigress did a wonderful job of taking what was started in Blood Heir and expanding upon the threads. The sequel follows Ana and Ramson as they try to find a way to take down Morganya, and we get to see more of the Blood Heir world as their journey takes them outside The Cyrilian Empire. We also learn more about our side characters and how their paths intersect with Ana's. I loved seeing how Ana grows in this installment of the series, and I can't wait to see where she ends up in the last book. If you need to scratch your Shadow & Bone itch after seeing the show, this is the perfect series to pick up next. The Russian-inspired atmosphere and magic system will fit well with fans of the Shadow & Bone trilogy, and fans of Six of Crows will enjoy Ana and Ramson and their tendency towards being morally gray outlaws. The Blood Heir trilogy includes these similarities while also making its own unique mark on the YA fantasy sphere.

Buy, Borrow, or Bypass: I definitely recommend you buy this series! The writing style pulled me in and made the story come alive, and I can tell it's a series I will want to read multiple times. Plus, the covers are stunning. :D

When I discovered this book was a sequel, I realized I needed to get the first book from the library before I could begin. Three days ago, I finished book 1, and I was hooked. Red Tigress picks up where Blood Heir ends, and it doesn't let go. This is a book filled with confusion, angst, despair, hope, survival, and love. Although the main character, Ana, is dreadfully naive, entitled, woefully unprepared, and idealistic, she never quits to fight for what and whom she believes in. She sees the best in everyone and tries to save as many as she can. In the end, this book leaves the reader desperate for the final book in the series.

I love this series so much. Magic. Warring empresses. Good vs evil. Snarky, witty love interest. And the writing is just so good. Impossible to put down.

Which edition got the cover from pic 3? I am super jealous. Like that cover best. The US cover is NOT compelling.

After a debut like Blood Heir which was met with a lot of controversies, I was curious to see how the author would proceed within the world she created, as I was lucky enough to read both versions of book 1, and I'm happy to say, she didn't disappoint.

Red Tigress picks up where we left off in Blood Heir, with Ana fighting for her right to rule her kingdom, and very few options to help her achieve her goal. The banter between her and Ramson was top-notch and I can't wait to see more of them in the next book. All in all, Red Tigress was jam-packed with action scenes worthy of an oscar winning movie, angsty tension, and fantastical elements of magic, that pulled you in and wouldn't let go until you read the final page!

Ana is wanting to take her throne. She is the only living member of the Royal line. She has no title, no army, nothing. She partners with Ramson again to help her take back what is hers. However, they must face danger.
I feel like I liked this more than Blood Heir. I was a little bored at times though. I liked the betrayals, secrets, political intrigue, and action. Ana is a great character and I can’t wait to see what is in store with her.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It had adventure, twists and turns, and a slight hint of romance. And I do plan on reading the third book in the trilogy when it comes out.

Ana is now a princess in exile. She wants to gather an army together and fight Morganya in order to depose her. This takes her (along with Ramsen) across the sea. In their quest to find these allies, some secrets are revealed, and not everyone who is supposed to be on her side actually is.

One of the things I really liked about this book was that it focused on choices. How sometimes choices feel like a luxury, but we still have a choice. Sometimes there are no good choices, but the option still exists. We can choose to be a monster; we can choose to be sacrificial.

While I liked the book, I don't think this will be one of my favorite books of the year. This book has a huge cast of characters, and they're not all bit parts either. There were times that I wondered "who's his mother?" or "Who is this person?" I had the same issue with Game of Thrones too, but that's five books (so far) that are about 1000 pages each. It probably doesn't help that I read the first book as an early ARC two years ago. Before I read book 3, I'll want to reread the first two books first.

The writing of Red Tigress has really improved since Blood Heir and I'm very glad to see that Amélie Wen Zhao has grown. Yes, the book still has tropes and it's still not great, but I enjoyed reading it

Four stars based on what I read, but it's a DNF for me at 35%. Loved the first book, but I'm not really a cliffhanger type of person and between the ending of the first book (and I read there's another cliffhanger at the end of this one), I'll wait until the final installment is out so I can read through until the resolution.

An amazing sequel to a wonderful first novel. These characters were even more compelling, and I loved the exploration of their arcs in this story. Wen Zhao has got a talent for storytelling, and this is an incredible series I would recommend to anyone!

Red Tigress is a compelling, bloody sequel that successfully expands the world and politics of Blood Heir. Fans of the first will eat this up and appreciate how Amelie Wen Zhao has grown as an author; the explosive end of the book will have readers clamoring for the next installment.

Warning: My review is primarily (not entirely) focused on comparing Ted Tigress to Blood Heir instead of comparing it to similar YA books.

Overall, Red Tigress is a decent book. Is this part of a series that I'd want to pick up time and time again to read like some other book series? No, it is not. This series just doesn't hold my attention. The characters were poorly developed in book one but there was a slight improvement in Red Tigress in my opinion. There are some fairly decent action scenes. Red Tigress sticks to the overall original plot even though both books sort of fumble around to maintain that endeavor. The pacing was decent enough though there were parts that I just wanted to skip and found myself sighing as I forced myself to trudge along to complete it. The story wasn't memorable enough for me to want to tell others to check it out. I'm sure others will have opinions different from my own. I know I will not be reading the third book.

DNF @ 25%

Unfortunately could not make it through this one. I just didn't feel the connection to the characters that I felt in Blood Heir. The villains felt like carbon copies of the first book. The violence felt like it was deliberately trying to evoke a response in the reader rather than develop a narrative. And the push for democracy from tyrannical rule was a trope I've encountered too many times to explore whole heartedly.

Thank you to netgalley for providing a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.