This book has the whole package: high stakes, regency, highly skilled misfit group, love interest but without it being the main focus, friendship...
Although the overall structure of the story felt very familiar to me, as I have been reading these kinds of YA fantasies for a while, I still can not figure out what my feelings are about the main character. This is probably the point as she is a moral gray character overall.
I went into it thinking it was a standalone but we clearly have a cliffhanger and we will be hearing more from Tiffany Wang!
I would recommend this book to any Six of crows fans and anyone wanting to dip their toes into fantasy.

Inferno's Heir starts fast-paced and takes you easily and quickly into Wang's well-crafted world. Teia is a fierce, fun protagonist to follow and I loved following her journey.

Thoroughly recommend this as a travel read because I DEVOURED it.

I loved this book! The story was very interesting and I absolutely loved the main characters and the character development was great!

A cool mix of family drama and fantasy elements, with characters who really stand out. It delves into heritage and the pressure to live up to family expectations, which adds some nice depth. The pacing is a bit uneven, but if you’re into stories about discovering yourself and breaking free from the past

A thrilling, elemental fantasy featuring a ragtag group of teens rebelling against a cruel monarch. Their only hope is the orphaned princess, Teia, who can control fire and water. Teia, is a complicated, morally gray protagonist. She may rub some readers the wrong way, but I found her to be a compelling character and her morals are a realistic result of her upbringing. The supporting characters are mostly interesting, if not a little rigid. The antagonist is truly unlikeable and may not sit right with some (the psychopathic masochist trope is a little tired), but gets a worth comeuppance in the end. My biggest complaint is the magic system; for high fantasy, there is surprisingly little description of the character's experience wielding magic. It feels oddly understated at times.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend for any fantasy readers. Hand to young folks that like their Six of Crows and Mistborns with a side of elemental magic.

Big thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review!!

First off, this cover is absolutely STUNNING!! I’m literally in love. It’s the first thing that drew me in, and the blurb sold me. Overall, I thought this was a solid debut with a lot of potential for the second book to be great!

THE PLOT

Our FMC Teia is working hard to survive the life she’s been given, from attempts on her life from her half-brother Jura to the general dislike the kingdom of Erisia has for her. She decides to join a rebellion against the crown and then ultimately betray them in exchange for freedom from Jura’s hatred, but as Teia incorporates herself into the rebels’ lives, she finds herself unsure of where her loyalties truly lie.

This was a quick and easy YA fantasy! The plot is quick paced, and I think this would be a great book for someone just getting into fantasy. The world-building and magic system leaves a bit to be desired, but I never felt like things were too complicated or hard to follow. A lot of scenes however lacked a certain tension that I felt like should’ve been there or the scenes just weren’t fully engaging for me. The reader gets told an awful lot about how awful and terrible Blackgate is and how no one gets out alive and it’s guards are trained for torture, but no scenes in Blackgate truly had me on the edge of my seat or worried for our main cast.

THE WRITING

The fact that this is a debut novel shocks me! Wang has a beautiful writing style and a great flow that keep the story going, and my only complaint is that the banter fell short for me most of the time. There were times certain words felt out of place for the time and setting I imagined for the story, like “clout” and the usage of a hotel towards the end, but all in all I thought Inferno’s Heir had great writing.

THE CHARACTERS

TEIA

I thought Teia was an alright MC. I didn’t feel especially attached to her, but I liked her goals and her confidence. It felt like she got attached to the rebels pretty quickly after all her talk about only looking out for herself, and yet the ending still seemed out of character. I’m intrigued to see what she does in book 2.

TOBIAS

I’m a bit indifferent on Tobias. I don’t dislike him, but I also didn’t necessarily love him, or even him and Teia together. I can definitely sense the budding romance here, and I hope it grows more in the second book.

For a lot of the book, it felt like things were happening around Tobias and he was always just there next to Teia for added effect.

KYRA

I liked Kyra, but she had a very strong “tell not show” effect going on. She’s apparently the People’s Champion, but why exactly is that? It’s never explained or even questioned for more than a page why she can use fire, so that’s just something we’re supposed to nod along with. She felt too much like a side character to me, and I think some more scenes of her leading the rebels or rallying the citizens or just simply taking charge during scenes in Blackgate would’ve helped give her character some depth. Actions need to support descriptions!!

ALARA

Probably my favorite character. I wish we’d seen more from her, as I’ve got the same issue with her that I’ve got with Kyra. Do we ever see Alara use her poisons in any scenes, or are we just told she’s really good at making them and shown her lab? Hopefully her character gets flushed out more thoroughly in the sequel and we get scenes of her putting her title to good use!

ENNA

I wasn’t expecting Enna to have such a huge role, so it was nice seeing her character continue to pop up! I thought she was funny and a good opposite to Teia’s character. Again, I felt like she was deduced to her title “the thief” too many times, so she wasn’t as 3-D as I would’ve liked.

JURA

Jura kinda felt like a cartoon villain. I’m not exactly sure why we were supposed to be so scared and wary of him. He just seemed like an immature child to me, so it was weird to be continually told through Teia’s POV that his presence or voice would cause goosebumps or make her heart stutter. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending either as Jura is concerned. I wish it had least been a bit more personal, but I won’t lie and say I wasn’t smiling when it happened.

CONCLUSION

All in all, I thought this was a good first book in a series and a great debut! Wang has a lot of potential and I’m intrigued to see where the plot goes in the second book!

4.5 stars

This is EXACTLY the kind of fantasy novel I needed to read.

I absolutely loved the characters in this novel, from the despicable future king Jura to the ragtag group of rebels to the sarcastic sidekick thief. The magic/kingdom system isn't too complex or unique (basically, royalty from each land can control one of the elements, e.g. Teia and Jura can control fire. Hence the title). However, one twist on a normal fantasy trope in <i> Inferno's Heir </i> is that, even though there is a "Chosen One" character, she is only a side character. The main character, Teia, is a morally grey, unwanted princess who decides to use the Chosen One to get what she wants. I loved reading from Teia's POV—she was cunning, complex, and funny.

This book is absolutely perfect for fans of Six of Crows. The heist scenes were fast-paced, the chemistry between the characters was incredible, and that ENDING! Wow. Talk about a great cliffhanger. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

This was an enjoyable read especially for a debut fantasy! I enjoyed the found family aspect and following the character development for Teia, our main character.
I felt that the romance developed quite quickly and didn't feel entirely authentic- it would have been nice if this had been more of a slow burner and really making us work to earn their relationship. Overall a great read and excited to follow up with instalments..

This is a good YA fantasy. Maybe a bit predictable but a younger reader than myself wouldn't thing so. I did think the pacing was off but the characters were entertaining.

Thank you Bindery Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!
First things first, I had this ARC on my NetGalley shelf for a while before I read it and I am SOOO sorry I didn’t read it sooner. I loved every minute of it! Full of court intrigue, heists, prison breaks, found family, magic, world-building, and nail-biting tension, I was fully engaged through the entire book and was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out what would happen next. Teia is an amazing main character. We see so many different sides of her, some more morally gray than others, but each side takes the reader deeper into the story and Teia’s thought process. The cast of characters is very well done with a variety of distinct and diverse characters including evil princes, conniving politicians, naive heroes, and more. There are twists and turns as motivations are revealed and moments that made me literally gasp out loud. I will recommend this book to everyone! Plus the cover is so pretty and unique!

Where to start about this story. Teia who is the princess for our kingdom and whose brother is about to ascend the throne. Instead of being married off she devises to join a rebel group to stop the marriage contract and help her kingdom out from under her brother’s thumb.

I very much enjoyed this story. Kyra, Allara, and Enna I loved through out the whole story. Sweet Kyra is just going to have her heart broken as this story goes on I’m sure. As far as Teia goes, I still have not made my mind up on her. At some points I love her and am rooting for her and others I kind of hate her.

The one thing I noted from the start of this story and then again multiple times is the description in this book. I greatly loved how much description and the way Tiffany described characters and places in this story. I feel like this book gave us a great idea of the setting, characters, and magic in this world. The next book should be able to delve into the conflict and goals of this story line easily with most of the leg work being done in this book.

I am interested to see what is to come for all of our characters as this story unfolds more.

Inferno's Heir is an easy read with interesting characters. The main character is ruthless in some situations and morally grey because she needs to survive the royal court and the different attempts on her life orchestrated by her half-brother and soon to be king. She learns different characters and some are the polar opposites of her. I found the story has a fascinating build up of their friendship and it was fun to read how they interacted.

The only thing that felt a bit weird for me was the pacing and it felt a bit rushed at the end. Nevertheless, I would recommend Inferno's Heir to everyone who likes morally grey characters and magic. And I'm looking forward to reading how the story continues.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books for the ARC.

this was lowkey so boring. it's literally just a cookie cutter ya fantasy where everything that happens is predictable and literally every single thing works out so there doesn't feel like there are any actual stakes.

the story felt quite rushed, with teia joining the rebels and then considering them like family within the space of six weeks. the pseudo love interest was also pretty weak and very insta-lovey. the extreme sadism and violence of jura as our "villain", and even teia as our mc, was quite jarring and didn't really match tonally with the ya nature of this book.

left with a lot more questions than answers after finishing this book, but definitely not enough interest to pick up the inevitable sequel.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC of Inferno’s Heir! I can’t believe this is a debut novel - Wang weaves in magic, politics, action, and a lot of twists/betrayals that I did not see coming. Each character had their own unique quirks that when they interact, made for some interesting scenes. Teia, our morally grey protagonist, made some interesting decisions throughout the book, and I really hope it works out at the end of what I hope to be a series.
Judging by the number of pages, I knew that there would be a cliffhanger at the end, but I did not expect THAT cliffhanger. It was short and a bit too fast paced at times - I wish that there were more slower parts between the action. However, I loved how Wang wrote the action scenes - my favorites were the jailbreaks (yes, there were more than one). I can't wait for the next installment - there has to be one, right?

I received this book as ARC. It’s a fast-paced novel focusing on the journey of a princess as she defies the law and her (half) brother to bring change.

I enjoyed the story and various characters. I found several of them to be endearing, but their stories were all a little vague.

I look forward to seeing what the next book brings in the journey!

3.5⭐
The cover is absolutely gorgeous I am in love and the book ate just like the cover!!!
This book was so fast paced such a fun easy read I loved the characters teia is an absolute menace but I loved that I saw a lot of people comparing her to kaz I wouldn't say that but I can see it the whole book has a soc vibe to it , the whole gang is very interesting (Kyra,alara,enna and ofc Tobias)also the side plot of romance was great this is obviously more of a political fantasy but it was still easy to read and not at all boring ,I just didn't like some of the decisions teia took specially towards the end but overall this was great for a debut novel and I would love to read more books by Tiffany.
Tysm to netgalley,the author and the publisher for the arc!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a 4.5/5 star read for me up until the last 10% of the book. And then I had to drop it a half star.

What I liked about this book was that it’s the first book I’ve read that has been compared to Six of Crows and not been just a blatant attempt to re-create the magic of Six of Crows. Teia Carthan ISN’T Kaz Brekker and that’s a GOOD thing. It had the found family vibes, it had a few heists and morally gray characters and I really enjoyed it because it had its own unique Inferno’s Heir magic! The story was a great time. Teia, Kyra, Alara and Enna’s little girl gang (Tobias being the honorary male member of the girl gang) was awesome. Teia and Enna’s friendship was messy and funny! Teia and Kyra are such interesting foils!

I’m not 100% sold on the romance between Teia and Tobias but they’re very much at the friendship stage and I like that wholesome content.

Here’s the problem I had in the last 10%.
!!!!Spoilers ahead!!!!

WHY would Teia not communicate her plan with any of her friends??? I feel like they would’ve supported her? Or possibly talked it out with her and came up with a solution that made everyone happy? I was CONVINCED that Kyra knew the plan at the end and she was just acting to really sell it and then it would be revealed that her and Teia were in cahoots the whole time, but NOPE. Now all of Teia’s friends hate her (except Enna) AND none of them know that their former rebel leader was a traitor BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T COMMUNICATE.

Okay, rant over, the bottom line is: this was mostly great with some lackluster decisions at the end.

My Rating: 2/5

I'm going to be honest this book just ended up not being for me.
For one the pacing was off and it hurt the book. It was super slow in the beginning and picked up on the middle (yay heists), a sudden "plot twist" and then BAM--The End. It was jarring to say the least, because unfortunately the plot twist wasn't a good one. I'll talk more about it in the end because another gripe I have --characterization--- is related.
All of these characters are very stereotypical. You've got hard no feelings protagonist, snarky thief, charming poisoner ( who never uses her poisons), bad bad brother, the list goes on. It was all shallow. The protagonist suffers from this the worst as a sudden switch up in her character is the "plot twist".
Further, the banter was stiff and off. Especially between the protagonist and love interest. They would be laughing at what the other said and I would just be sitting there like ????.

I will say one thing I liked about the book was the heists! I love a good heist and this has 2 of them.

There will be another book it seems like and unfortunately I will not be reading that.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this ARC!

Teia has survived attempts on her life by her half brother Jura. Once Jura becomes king, she'll die. She offers to infiltrate the rebels and trades their lives for hers to Jura. Except she falls for the rebels...

Love the character growth of Teia. Love the political intrigue and family infighting. Suspenseful plot.... great tensions...

Thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Generally, liked the story here - FMC who wants to thwart her brother's (the crown prince's) plan for her arranged marriage infiltrates the rebellion with the intent to sell them out. I love a ruthless main character.
Was Teia that ruthless though? At the very beginning, we see her murdering a sellsword after not getting her way, which would imply it, but then she meets the rebellion and immediately goes soft. Now she's thinking about improving the world and joining the rebellion for good. That would be fine if there was some sort of natural progression to it, but it was like a flipped switch. (And no spoilers, but at the end of the book, the switch flips back without warning again).
Disappointed in the inconsistent characterization.
Also this book had a lot of telling, not showing. Kyra is the champion and everyone rallies around her. Why? Because we said so. Alara is the best Poison's Master we've ever seen.
Does she ever use her poisons? No, but just trust us.
Also Jura is cartoonishly evil, making you wonder how he didn't get deposed as a kid when other people on the council had the opportunity to get rid of him. Somehow people didn't notice that he is a complete psychopath until one month before his coronation?
They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting different results, which is how I felt when the author just ran the same main story point back again and then somehow everything was magically resolved.
There were some things to like about this book. It was fast paced, there was some good banter, and I like the geopolitical set up for the story in the next book and beyond. I think this series has promise, but I was just a bit disappointed in the set-up in this book. If you are willing to overlook a little bit of wonky characterization and like heist stories and/or the magic system of Avatar: The Last Airbender, then this book might be for you.