ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ?!?!? 5 glorious stars for Ms. Tahir, she has done it yet again!

I dare say this is my favorite Sabaa Tahir novel yet... It was so freaking good from start to finish, the way she writes characters is just unmatched. She makes you love them like they're your own family and you end up growing unhealthy attachments to literally words on paper LOL

All of this to say, I would deeeefffinitely read her "An Ember in the Ashes" series before this. It is LOADED with spoilers, and her previous series deserves to be felt without knowing how it ends. It is a dedication, but 100000000% worth it!!! Brava, Tahir!!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

*internally screaming* Sabaa Tahir, the storyteller you are!! The action, magic, characters, romance, and world make Heir one of my favorite books of the year! 🙌🏼 There are so many moments ranging from funny to bittersweet to jaw-dropping that I’ll be looking back at all my highlighted quotes and notes. 🙂‍↕️

Getting back into this world set 20 years after the final Ember book, it follows Quil (Helene’s nephew/heir) now 20 yrs old, and a new cast of characters such as Sirsha (love her!) and Aiz. You also see some very familiar faces throughout. This is told in multiple POVs, and I was HOOKED with each one! Each character had their own journeys and emotional scars that brought them together, I don’t want to say how because of major spoilers but you just HAVE to read this book! ⚔️

I love Sabaa’s writing because although it gives me a lot of anxiety because I’m always terrified for my favorite characters, it’s always worth reading! 😭 And I’m so glad she decided to return to this captivating world with this new duology!

If you’ve read An Ember in the Ashes series, then Heir will give you a lot of nostalgia and MANY emotions!!! If you haven’t…..why not??? That series is a must-read!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Teen for the e-arc

This novel is even more intense and emotionally gripping than An Ember in the Ashes. Aiz is an orphan seeking revenge against a tyrant, Quil is a crown prince burdened by his dark lineage, and Sirsha is a banished tracker pursuing a child killer. The story is filled with themes of found family, longing, and sacrifice, with Tahir's signature heart-pounding storytelling. Although reading the Ember series first isn’t essential, familiarity with the characters and history enhances the experience. Tahir masterfully writes about ambition, grief, and forbidden longing in this captivating continuation.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Groups for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I DEVOURED THIS AND WANTED TO INSTANTLY REREAD!!!!!!
The character development, the plot, the world, the building tension was all so amazingly written! Sabaa Tahir has beautifully crafted this book in every way

Set in the world of An Ember in the Ashes (which, by the way is an amazing tetralogy), we get to revisit some old characters, as well as some new characters. While I don't believe you needed to read the series before reading Heir, it would probably help in understanding certain circumstances and back story. I loved the new characters that were introduced, and in true Sabaa Tahir style, this was an absolute page turner for me. I was excited to be back in this world and devoured this book. Of course, since this is a duology, I cannot wait for the next book to see what Tahir has in store for these characters!

What you can expect to find in Heir:
- found family
- multiple pov's - an orphan, an outcast/tracker, a prince
- slow burn romance
- banter + tension
- magic
- Southeast Asian representation

I want to preface this review by stating that I have not read an Ember in the Ashes series. I think that Heir did a good job standing alone. But now that I have finished the book and realize who the characters in An Ember in the Ashes were, this book might hit differently. I am certainly going to go back and read that series!

Heir stars off by giving us three different points of view. We see Aiz who is an orphan and isn't happy with her current lot in life. She wants more for her people than the suffering they see day in and day out. How can Aiz make a difference in their life? She believes that the holy spirit of Mother Div is one who will be able to help her with her cause. But how far is she willing to go?

We meet Sirsha who is a tracker. She uses the elements and magic to help her as a tracker. She's been outcast from her family and their community and doesn't identify as a Jaduna anymore. When a mysterious stranger contacts her to help him track a killer, her first instinct is to say no. But when Sirsha finds out that the killer that is targeting children, she agrees.

Quil is the heir to his aunt Helena Aquilla. He is not much for the politics of being a prince. He is even angrier at his aunt when she attempt to get him married. He's still recovering from the deaths of the two people he was closest to in the world - his young cousin and his girlfriend. But soon his empire is in jeopardy and Quil has no choice, but to take lead.

What happens when these three individuals collide?

I can't really say much more on the storyline without giving it away. While I feel like the first half of the book was a lot of world building and setting up the story, I flew through the second half of the book. It was so captivating and each of these characters had so much dimension.

I loved loved loved the chapters with Sirsha and Quil. Both separate and alone these characters had so much depth to them. And when they finally meet - I could feel the sparks between these two. Their banter was often hilarious, but also sweet and heartfelt. I have a lot of highlighted passages between Quil and Sirsha ❤️

There were twists and surprises I didn't see coming(!!!), but also parts of the book that were hard to read. And I think those chapters were warranted because we get to see the perspective of all sides.

Overall, I would give Heir a 4.5. I cannot wait for the next book in this duology.

Another hit from Sabaa Tahir. I honestly seem to love everything she writes and this is no different. If you've been missing the Ember in the Ashes world, this book is for you.

I don’t read much YA these days because I often times feel like I’ve outgrown it, but Heir is the perfect example of what this genre can still offer.

Sabaa created a fresh new story in a familiar world, and it was done masterfully. I loved returning to this world and forgot just how expansive it was. While we see familiar faces, the fresh crop of new characters in Heir made this totally original. There are far too many authors who do spin-off series of their most popular work, which simply aren't needed, but never once did Heir feel like that.

I absolutely loved how Sirsha, Quil, and Aiz’s stories came together. Without spoilers, this story will definitely keep you on your toes, and I loved watching this unfold. While a touch too long at times, I was never bored. And that ending?? Give me book 2 now!

Fans of the Ember Quartet as well as brand new readers will adore this. This is one you don’t want to miss!

I was so excited for this book because the author is so hyped up. One the cover is beautiful and I enjoyed the story overall, however I think I would have liked it more if I had read the other series from this author.

I was beyond excited to get approved for Heir! I read AEITA series with some friends last year and was heartbroken and swooning and cheering and grieving and couldn’t have done it alone! People think ASOIAF is brutal, but these YA books are gut wrenching! So of course I was excited to read Heir, because who doesn’t love light masochism???

I was rooting for Aiz because who doesn’t love a downtrodden underdog willing to risk it all to save her people? Quil is everything I expected Helene to raise as her nephew and heir. Sirsha is the badass FMC who’s wholly capable of going it alone, but learns how much better it is to let people in.

While I did spot a few of the major twists due to excellent foreshadowing, I enjoyed reading how each turn would play out, even though it broke my heart just a little more to see each disaster unfolding! Aiz betrayed me most of all, and I found her actions to be a little contrary—she needed a substance from the Empire for her people to take a long journey, but in order to get it, she wasted the stores of the substance her people already had? I felt like if she had enough to do what she did then she had enough to take the trip that needed to be taken? But I also recognize she was ultimately being manipulated, so maybe what she did didn’t need to make sense.

Cero was the biggest surprise for me, and I can’t wait to see what he does next! I hope the next book doesn’t take too long to come out because Quil and Sirsha deserve so much more, and I want to eat up every morsel! I am also hoping for some more Sufiyan POV chapters!

Ultimately, I am giving this five stars because I was invested and entertained the whole way through!

I never doubted Sabaa Tahir or her books and for good reason because reader, she has done it again. Though, in all honesty, I was terrified that Heir wouldn’t live up to the Ember quartet but I was wrong because it does and it should absolutely be the first book you read in October since it arrives on October 1st!

Heir is set in the universe of An Ember in the Ashes twenty years after our adventures with Elias, Laia & Helene. Heir follows new, equally lovable and anxiety-inducing characters, Quil, Sirsha, & Aiz but don’t panic because we get full scenes with some of our favorite characters from the original series and I am telling you this made me incredibly giddy! Easter eggs of our original three, no thank you! Full dialogue and scenes? Yes, please! And this is just a bonus because the story that Tahir weaves with Quil, Sirsha & Aiz is incredible and can be read as a standalone (book 1 of a duology).

This book has it all, a high octane fantasy plot, impeccable action, swoony romance, vengeance, mysterious characters, histories and stories from new-to-us parts of the Empire, Sabaa doing unmentionable things to our favorite characters and twist after twist after twist. Seriously, so many twists it's like wrangling with a pretzel.

If all of this sounds like your cup of tea, well grab one and the book and lose yourself in this amazing story. I seriously wish I could read it again for the first time!

I finished it on a flight, sighed at the clouds outside my window and immediately I ached for book two!

I am so excited to read this one. But when I requested I thought it was a brand new series - not a companion series. As I haven’t read Ember, I feel like I’m missing out on some important world building. I’m going to put this one aside for now, read the Ember Quartet and then come back to it!

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advance reader copy!

𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘳, set in the world from 𝘈𝘯 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴, tells the story of the next generation. Helene Aquilla's nephew, Quil, is one of three main characters. As the Heir to the Martial Empire, he struggles with the concept of his future power amidst a brutal, warring world. Sirsha is using her magic to hunt a vicious killer, one who has left a trail of dead children in its wake. Laia and Elias lost their youngest son to this being, and Sirsha is bound to obtain justice. Aiz is an orphan desperate for her own revenge against the man who burned her orphanage to the ground. All three paths converge as this exciting story unfolds.

I would recommend that readers first enjoy Tahir's quartet, starting with 𝘈𝘯 𝘌𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴, to gain an understanding of the world building and background to current events.

Upon starting 𝘏𝘦𝘪𝘳, I struggled to get fully invested. I wasn't sucked into the story like I was with Tahir's previous series. Once I did become enthralled, Tahir reveals that Aiz's timeline and chapters are set in the past, and it becomes extremely obvious that she is the killer. Once the official reveal happens, it falls short as the tension and suspense had already stopped building.

By this point in the book, I wasn't a fan of Aiz, and I internally groaned every time I got to one of her chapters. She is very unlikeable, and I didn't enjoy her villain era. There was so much missed potential in the execution of her story!

Tahir's approach therefore made the book feel about 100 pages longer than it needed to be, and I again found my focus drifting at the back end.

Expect a brutal world of heartache and pain, but also themes of hope in this spin-off. I wanted to like Quil and Sirsha's story, but it ultimately fell short with Aiz's timeline. I'll still read the next book in this duology, but I'm not as excited as I had been before starting this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for this arc!

I want to start by noting that I’ve been informed that this book is set in the same world as An Ember in the Ashes, which I haven’t yet read. I wasn’t aware of this before I requested the arc.

However, while I think reading that series first would be beneficial in terms of world building, this book definitely stands up well on its own and reading An Ember in the Ashes first isn’t really necessary (unless you want to).

That being said, after reading Heir, I will be going back and reading her An Ember in the Ashes series as I really enjoyed the world and magic system. Overall I really enjoyed this read and am excited for book 2! Review will be up on goodreads within the day.

The Ember in the Ashes series is one of my all time favorite fantasy series, so I was very excited to jump into that world again with this new duology from Sabaa Tahir.

Heir is set twenty years after The Ember in the Ashes series ends. We do see Laia and Elias and other characters from the original series in this book, but they are not the main characters. Instead the focus is on a new set of characters. Aiz grew up in the slums and is on a mission of vengance to right the wrongs she has seen and experienced among her people. Sirsha is a seer who is tasked with using her gift of tracking to find and kill a murdered. And Quil is the nephew of Empress Helene, who is unsure if he is ready to or even wants to be the leader that his people need. These three stories are intertwined and come together for one intriguing novel.

It took me a little bit to get invested in the new characters, but once I did, I really enjoyed this one as much as the original three books. It has some clever twists and mostly likeable characters. I think Quil was my favorite. Sabaa Tahir is just an excellent storyteller, and she always writes in a way that compels me to keep reading!

I'm not sure about the ending. Since it is a duology, I will need to read book two before I can give my full thoughts and opininos on the way this story completely wraps up. Most certainly, I will be ready and waiting to read the next book in this series along with whatever else Tahir writes in the future!

Holy plot twists Batman! I don’t know what I expected but my expectations were far exceeded! The characters were absolutely phenomenal. Their stories, their motivations, their emotions, are all absolutely riveting. The magic system/world building was very unique (I have not read Ember yet but plan to but it did not seem to be needed before reading Heir) This book has one of my favorite “tropes” and that’s the “my blood related family are all assholes who abused me and abandoned me and I don’t know how to trust or love again but I’m going to try with this new chosen found family.”

5 stars - absolutely recommend!

**5 STARS** Thanks to NetGalley & Penguin Group for providing me an e-ARC. I was incredibly honored to receive an ARC for this and of course Sabaa Tahir tugged at my heart strings with this one too.

*DISCLAIMER: There will be slight spoilers in this review for her previous series.*

Following her epic 4-book YA series, “An Ember in the Ashes”, this book takes place 20 years after the final instalment. We of course are reintroduced into the world of AEITA, seeing familiar (much beloved) characters and introduced to new ones. This book is told in a few POVs;one being the heir to the empire, Zacharius Marcus Livius Aquillas Farrar, AKA Quill; Aiz, a girl from the Kegari slums; and Sirsha, a tracker who was banished by her people. Quill is questioning his ability to rule following his aunt Helene’s footsteps. We sympathise with his internal struggles and read about his tough upbringing following his mother’s death and the aftermath of the war that took place 20 years prior. Aiz having witnessed the struggles of the Kegari people seeks help from a *certain* tribe to find a missing piece of her personal vendetta. And of course, our badass mfc, Sirsha–a tracker who is hunting a mysterious killer. A huge event occurs that unites all of these characters together and we follow this incredible journey.

Sabaa Tahir really knows how to write an epic fantasy where you gasp, occasionally scream at your kindle/book, and shed a few tears. It is worth noting that this can be read as a standalone but if you want to go back and read the AEITA series, there will be spoilers in this upcoming duology. Tahir’s writing is so captivating, it’s such a joy to read–you can’t help but feel all the rollercoaster of emotions. I loved the addition of one of the characters, Sirsha. It was refreshing to read a quirky, badass woman by Tahir. There are some intimate scenes in this book but it is so tastefully written–almost closed doors but intricate at the same time.

If you’re feeling skeptical in returning to this world, DON’T. I promise Tahir’s writing and storytelling improves with the next book. Reread the first four books to refresh your memory and enjoy this new spinoff!

Set after the events of the An Ember in the Ashes Series, Heir is a strong return to this fantasy world. The first in what will be a duology, Heir follows three charcters. Each has their own backstory, with internal conflicts complicating their actions. Sabaa Tahir is an incredible writer, bringing to life the world of the Empire and the people who live in it.
In addition to the complex (but not difficult to follow) fantasy plot, there is also the treat of a few romantic plots, with main characters and supporting characters. There was not any element of the story that seemed under developed, and I can't wait for the second book to wrap up the stories of Aiz, Sirsha, and Quil.

The author strikes again with Heir, an electrifying new fantasy that immerses readers back into the brutal yet mesmerizing world of the An Ember in the Ashes series, while introducing a fresh cast of characters who will tug at your heartstrings and leave you breathless. This time around, the author doesn’t hold back, weaving a story that is as much about love and loyalty as it is about vengeance and survival.
At the heart of Heir are three unforgettable protagonists: Aiz, a fierce orphan with vengeance burning in her soul; Sirsha, a magic-wielding tracker exiled from her people, chasing a dangerous quarry while fighting an even greater battle within herself; and Quil, a crown prince burdened by a dark family legacy, unsure if he has the strength to lead his empire into the light. Each character is crafted with depth, their struggles raw and achingly real, and as their paths intertwine, you can't help but get swept away in their stories.
The stakes are relentlessly high—whether it's the political intrigue threatening to rip the empire apart or the personal battles each character faces in their quest for justice and redemption. The author's signature prose is sharp and evocative, pulling you into a world filled with treachery, magic, and aching vulnerability. The romantic tension simmers, the action scenes crackle with intensity, and the exploration of power and its cost is both timely and timeless.
For fans of the author's previous works, Heir delivers everything you could want: heartbreak, hope, and a gut-wrenching finale that leaves you desperate for more. Whether you’re a longtime fan of the Ember world or a newcomer, this novel is a must-read. Heir is not just a fantasy—it’s a raw, emotional journey that will leave you pondering its themes long after you’ve turned the last page.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

WOW....talk about an explosive and addictive start to what is sure to become a new favorite adult-fantasy duology! This was phenomenal - the writing quality, the characters and development, the worldbuilding, the plot....Sabaa Tahir is a master of her craft.

I adore multi-POV stories, but I'll also be the first to admit they can sometimes be hard to follow, and keeping all the plots and characters straight can be a chore - Tahir handles several storylines perfectly, leaving me gasping as connections were made and hungry for the next chapter of every POV. Even when I didn't like a character or seriously questioned their decision making skills, I loved reading how their minds worked and still wanted to know what they would do next - I didn't have to like the character to adore their chapters.

One of my favorite aspects was that Tahir didn't shy away from the big emotions - from the delicious romance and spice to the heart-wrenching trauma and deaths, every emotion was given the space it deserved to be felt by the characters and, in turn, by the reader. I ached, wept, laughed right along with them in their love, grief, and tortured decision making - I was right there with them the whole way because the characters felt real and the stakes personal.

This was just a perfectly crafted story and, as is the plight of any reader....I am now left feeling bereft without the next book. Do not sleep on Heir, it will quickly become a favorite!