Fans of Children of Blood and Bone will love the sequel to Blood Heir. The second book in an epic fantasy series about a princess hiding a dark secret and the con man she must trust to liberate her empire from a dark reign. Ana Mikhailov is the only surviving member of the royal family of Cyrilia. She has no army, no title, and no allies, and now she must find a way to take back the throne or … allies, and now she must find a way to take back the throne or risk the brutal retribution of the empress. Morganya is determined to establish a new world order on the spilled blood of non-Affinites. Ana is certain that Morganya won’t stop until she kills them all.
Ana’s only chance at navigating the dangerous world of her homeland means partnering with Ramson Quicktongue again. But the cunning crime lord has schemes of his own. For Ana to find an army, they must cross the Whitewaves to the impenetrable stone forts of Bregon. Only, no one can be certain what they will find there.
A dark power has risen. Will revolution bring peace–or will it only paint the streets in more blood.
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*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.