I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

I really enjoyed The Last Tiger! Two people from different classes make a deal. When the deal comes to an end they clearly want more but their differences hold them back. This is a love story that faces many challenges and I really hope to see this book everywhere!

this archived way too early :( i didn’t get to finish it sadly. but it was really good from what i was able to get through!

You had me at "inspired by a true story."

As a teen, I almost exclusively read historical, mixed in with the occasional fantasy, so the wonderful blend of these in "The Last Tiger" is right up my alley. From the very first page I was drawn into this magical world with the complex politics of a colonized country. And the characters were intriguing and layered, although I would've liked to see more romantic tension between the leads.

I know this book will be so loved and appreciated by a number of communities. And I'm sure that the family of Julia Riew and Brad Riew would be so proud of this book and this epic story.

The Last Tiger is a fantasy novel that is based off of real historical events i.e the Japanese occupation of Korea. The authors based the love story off of their grandparents love story, The authors are a brother and sister duo and they did a very good job, especially at keeping their own voice instead of merging to make it seem like the story only had one author, The story is hearbreaking at times and it makes me sad to think of what the people went through while Korea was being occupied by the Japanese.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and thought it was a really beautiful way to tell the tale of their grandparents love story. I do have some things that I did not really, well not like but that I think were not fleshed out enough, The ending felt rushed, the resolution of the main conflict left something to be desired (I kinda wanted a more dramatic ending), and we never find out what happened to a lot of the characters (it almost felt like the authors forgot about them). I also did not really feel the love story between the main characters. It felt rushed in some places and not really developed. We got to hear about their grandparents epic love from their grandparents journals but we did not get to see that epic love replicated in the characters representing their grandparents. I am going to assume that this was due to the fact that the romance was being written by siblings and I can see that being a little awkward.

Overall, I think the book is enjoyable and educational. I will check out any books being written by either of the siblings in the future.
I will rate this book 3.75 stars but will round up to a 4 .

Thank you to Netgallery for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Last Tiger is a fantasy novel combining Asian mythology and inspiration from the authors' grandparents, who lived through the a significant portion of the most recent Japanese occupation of Korea, as well as its liberation. Epigraphs for each chapter contain quotes from the author's grandparents, giving details of both the history they lived through, and their personal love story, and tie in to the events in the novel in a way that is engaging and fascinating, and deepens the reader's understanding of the events that helped inspire the novel's plot. Even if you skip the epigraphs (which you shouldn't), this is a fast-paced and well-written novel, with ties to both history and mythology. The relationships between the characters evolve and change, and clearly demonstrate the difficulties of living under foreign occupation, as well as the differences social status makes - and how little it protects those born to foreign rule. Recommended for readers ages middle school through adult.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

As a Korean American I was so so excited about this book because of Julie and Brad talking about how they were inspired by their grandparents. This book was such a beautiful story with such a rich meaning that had me feeling a lot of different emotions. This book had an intriguing story with elements of love and magic, fantasy and history - and it was so good. I love seeing both POVs (and appreciate that the story was driven by Eunji's and Seung's story I loved the Korean folklore and Korean history throughout the book.

This book definitely met my expectations and I can't wait to purchase the physical copy to add to my self.

I can't wait to read more from Julia and Brad and I hope that they continue put out stories surrounding Korean culture.

I enjoyed the first half of this book, the romance between Eunji and Seung was cute and I felt connected to them. But once Eunji ran away from the marriage with Kenzo and her family was going to be killed for running away I did not feel pulled in by the story anymore. I felt like that whole plot line, and of them chasing the tiger and the final "battle" felt weird and rushed.

I'm not usually a big fan of alternating POVs but having 2 authors did help it. The epilogue was also pretty good. I think it was I liked Eunji and Seung and their time together more than when they were apart and doing their own thing.

Loved this book! As soon as I read the premise of it, I knew I needed to read it. Was very excited to receive an e-ARC!! Hoping to read more by this author in the future.

What a sweet story! A beautiful tale of love and connection against all odds. The setting was so beautiful and I loved that it was based off a real story of their grandparents.

I went into this with very limited knowledge of Korean history and I was completely captivated. I love that the story was inspired by the author’s grandparents’ own love story. Like 😍 what a beautiful way to honor their legacy. The blend of real historical elements with a touch of magic made it such an enchanting read. I honestly couldn’t tell where fact ended and fantasy began, but that made it even more magical for me. Heartfelt, unique, and such a sweet tribute to family history.

The Last Tiger is a good addition to any teen library collection. It contains a great collection of well loved tropes; easy selling points to teens. There's a little romance, a little love triangle, a little enemies to lovers, a little revolution. But it all feels different enough to keep my interest and novel enough to make me want to know more.

This was a great YA fantasy that’s heavily inspired by the love of the authors’ grandparents and the history of Korea leading up to its independence from Japan. It was a sweet love story following a couple from differing social classes and while there were a few things that lagged for me, I still really enjoyed it overall! 😊

The story is split between the POVs of Seung, a young man from the poor class who works multiple jobs in order to keep his family fed, and Eunji, a young woman from a wealthy family that collaborates with the colonizing empire. Each chapter is prefaced with quotes taken from the respective grandparent that the character is inspired by, and the reader gets a good sense of how their love for each other, despite the world trying to keep them apart, blooms no matter what. Seung is a determined guy who believes that if he can change his circumstances, he’ll be able to get his family out of the never ending poverty that the Tiger people area in. I felt so bad for how much he has to go through in this book and found myself looking forward to his chapters than Eunji’s. The latter, while yes definitely spoiled, is still willing to acknowledge her prejudices and work to amend them. She was rather annoying to me at points since she became one tracked minded in her mission to save herself and her family at the cost of almost EVERYTHING, and her refusal to see the other side of the argument just felt frustrating here and there. 😮‍💨

The plot itself was very interesting and I do wish we could’ve gotten a little bit more insight into the ki’s of the world and how the spirits of each ki came to be in the first place. The plot did drag a little for me at the beginning and then felt like it was a headlong rush to the finish the last 30% of the book, but the middle felt like it weirdly balanced it out? I dunno, I can’t exactly describe it, but it somehow worked in the end for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The one thing that really interested me and definitely kept my attention is the use of Korean demonology and the creation myth of Korea. I think these could have been used a lot more in the book than they were, especially since it was never explained whether or not a side character from Eunji’s POV might be a demon?? 🤨

All in all, while I was left with some lingering questions and felt like the pacing could have either picked up or slowed down in some spots, I still thought this was a wonderful YA book that deals heavily with the colonization of Korea. Thank you goes out to K and NetGalley for accepting my request to read this in exchange for an honest (and late ) review! And to the Riew siblings, thank you for taking your grandparents’ love story and spinning it into a sweet tale during a period of great sorrow for the Korean people. ❤️

Publication date: July 29, so go take a look at it!

Overall: 4/5 ⭐️

Applause for Julia & Brad Riew! As a debut novel, this was surprisingly impressive. While it’s not the kind of book I usually reach for, I found it refreshing, inspiring, and eye-opening. It kept me turning pages and annotating nonstop.

The Last Tiger is a heartbreaking yet beautiful story about discovering strength, hope, and resilience in the face of oppression. What I loved most was how the authors wove their grandparents’ love story together with elements of history and magic. I was especially intrigued by the symbolism of strength for each nation and how it was portrayed through magical forces.

While this was an overall great story, there were a few aspects that felt lacking. For example, the dialogue didn’t always feel true to the time period. “Dude”, in particular, stood out as unlikely for 1930–1940s Japanese-occupied Korea (along with a few other terms). A bit more research into era-appropriate language would have strengthened the authenticity. Another issue was the resolution of the main conflict. After such a strong buildup, the ending felt rushed and unsatisfying; instead of delivering a powerful, impactful moment, the problem was wrapped up too conveniently. Additionally, the side characters seemed to vanish without explanation—we never learn what happened to them, where they went, or even if they survived.

All in all, I truly enjoyed Seung and Eunji’s story, and I like to imagine that somewhere in their world they’re living happily in love while helping their broken nation rise and regain its former strength.

Thank you to Julia & Brad Riew, the team at Penguin Random House, Penguin Young Readers Group, Kokila, & Netgalley for allowing me to read The Last Tiger before it hit shelves everywhere.

The Last Tiger is such a unique blend of fantasy and history told in a way that I have not read before.
The story builds up quickly, but in the same breathe the resolution feels rushed.
The book gave us characters and lives that I wish we knew more about. I wish we had more of Jin's story.
My favorite piece of the book is the little notes we get from the grandparents. It was a nice reminder that even in the fantasy world this story takes place in, it is rooted in history.

So many times, while reading this, I thought «wow, these colonisers are like comically evil, that seems way over the top» and then one second later I remembered what I learned about the Japanese occupation of Korea and China and realised that no, that actually happened. This book is simultaneously heartwarming and horrifying.

The story is based on the authors’ grandparents’ actual love story (with some liberties taken given that it is a (YA) fantasy) set against the backdrop of Japanese-occupied Korea during the second world war. As a YA book, some of the more gruesome crimes perpetrated by the Japanese are necessarily omitted, but it nonetheless does a great job of showcasing the arbitrary cruelty that colonisation brings with it. The story is well-paced and interesting, though it never quite managed to hook me completely.

I was very glad that the book did not end with the magic instantly solving Japanese colonialism and all its problems. Since that is a common way that YA fantasy books conclude, I was kind of expecting (and dreading) that this story would follow that trajectory, which would have cheapened the otherwise well written portrayal of life under and resistance against colonialism.

Really, the main thing that irked me was the fact that book’s stand-ins for Korea, Japan and China were ‘the Tiger people’, ‘the Dragon people’ and ‘the Serpent people’. I understand not wanting to use the real-life names of these countries and ethnicities, but the chosen substitutes often ended up feeling awkward when used in sentences. The fact that the nation/ethnicity names were essentially the only thing that was substituted with fantasy versions didn’t help much. The names of Korean and Japanese characters were just real-life Korean and Japanese names (e.g. Yamamoto, Kobayashi) and the foods where real-life dishes from the two cultures (e.g. kimchi, miso, matcha).

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for the eARC!

I was curious about the historical + fantasy setting based on the Japanese occupation of Korea as well as creating a story based off their grandparents’ love story. Unfortunately the ending seemed to resolve itself too easily? For a conflict of this degree I would expect there to be more loss and struggle but everything ended up wrapping itself up very neatly.

Overall a quick read and worth a shot if you enjoy historical fantasy inspired by Korean culture but also easy to read if it’s a bit out of your comfort zone!

Thank you, PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group | Kokila, for sending me this ARC.

What to expect:

🐯 Young adult fantasy
🐯 Forbidden romance
🐯 Magic
🐯 Royalty x Commoner
🐯 Arranged Marriage
🐯 Quests/Missions
🐯 Magical Animals

A retelling of their grandparents' love story? This book was a magical delight. I was very impressed, considering it is their debut book. I loved the concept of the storyline and really connected with all the characters. The pacing was just right—I felt drawn into this world. The magic of ki powers is so fascinating, and I appreciated the unique take the authors had on it. Since this is a YA book, I still wished for a bit more tension between the romantic leads and perhaps a more definitive ending. Overall, a great read—very close to five stars for me. If you enjoy power struggles, a bit of war, romance, animals, and most importantly—MAGIC, then this one is for you.

Pub Date: July 29, 2025

As always, all thoughts are my own. 🖤✨

The number of people who have told me “Dani this book is for you!” is quite a few, so I am glad I managed to get a copy through Net Galley. I was late in getting to it, but only because I was saving it like the best part of dessert to help me out of a reading slump. Personally, I have a strong background in Korean history and culture from years of K-dramas, and also Japanese history and culture as a Japanese interpreter. I wondered if this would detract from my experience and make things redundant- but I was happily shown that was not to be the case and rather that it probably elevated my reading experience. I love the connection to the authors’ actual grandparent’s memoir, and the inclusion of quotes from it throughout. Even if someone did not have the background that I do though, it is a book for anyone who has felt a loss of hope at the hands of those in power. A message I think a lot of people could appreciate hearing right now.

Overall, it is a beautiful tribute to those who fought for their freedoms and to Korean folklore, with a brilliant fantasy spin. Thank you for sharing your story with me and your other readers. Now to go tell all those people who told me it sounded like my kind of book to confirm that it was and to also get them to read it. ;)

An overall enjoyable book, I loved the fantasy aspects of it and the history behind the story and what it was inspired by.

While I had a good time with this story, it didn’t quite capture my heart, but although I didn’t really feel the romance and love between the main couple, I still liked Eunji’s and Seung’s story.

Two things I think really affected my enjoyment of the book. First is that there was a lot of telling and not enough showing. The second is that the story has a historical setting during a time Korea was under the occupation of the Japanese Empire, yet I didn’t feel like I was there.

I still quite liked the book, and think it’s a great YA story for anyone looking for a historical fantasy.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for the arc and sorry for the late review!