Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t really my cup of tea. While the writing was lovely, I found the manner of story-telling a bit jarring and unusual. First it is told in third-person present, then told in letter form, with first-person directing the narrative to a specific person, referred to as “you”. It drove me crazy that basically the entire book was a "letter", and it was about events the person reading it had already lived through.

The plot meandered… I guess there was really no “plot”, no specific direction the story was headed. It was mostly an info-dump. The story was about two girls, life-long friends, falling in love. It was also the story about one girl’s battle with a dark disease which changes her entirely. However, I really didn't care at all about the characters and what happened to them.

I confess I found myself bored, skimming over portions, especially in the beginning, and I was not absorbed in the story until the last 15 percent. The book did end on a happy note, which redeemed it a little.

The world portrayed was very vivid and interesting, with the cultures obviously influenced by real-world Mongolian, Chinese, and Japanese cultures. I liked that women were powerful and warriors. I thought the threat of the demons added an interesting and grim twist to the overall story.

As I said above, it just wasn’t really something that caught my interest.

The Tiger’s Daughter (Their Bright Ascendency #1)
Paperback, 512 pages
Expected publication: October 3rd 2017 by Tor Books
I fell in love with the description of this book as soon as I read it. The teaser chapters just added to the intrigue and built up my excitement! I was lucky enough to be approved for an eArc on NetGalley and then traded for a physical copy on #booksfortrade (I prefer to read physical copies when possible). The first half of the book really captured my attention and left me always wanting more of this story and characters. It reads similarly to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss in that the bulk of the story is told like a series of long flashbacks. The difference between the two tellings being that Rothfuss had his narrator telling his own life story whereas Rivera has one of her main characters relating her life story in relation to the other main character in the form of a very, very long letter.
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)
Like I said, I devoured the first half of the book. But when I reached about page 300, I felt myself slowing down drastically. The story was still fascinating, and the character growth was still great. The issue I had was the wordiness and pacing. I wanted to know more about the present story line, which was only briefly mentioned a handful of times. I also wanted to know more about the magic, the idea of slaying gods, and why I was supposed to care about some of the side characters.
I fully expect that the next book in the series will see some of these things answered and some of the structural issues smoothed out. I can’t wait to see what wonderful ideas this author has to share with us in the future. Definitely an author to watch!
Summary:

Even gods can be slain….

The Hokkaran empire has conquered every land within their bold reach―but failed to notice a lurking darkness festering within the people. Now, their border walls begin to crumble, and villages fall to demons swarming out of the forests.

Away on the silver steppes, the remaining tribes of nomadic Qorin retreat and protect their own, having bartered a treaty with the empire, exchanging inheritance through the dynasties. It is up to two young warriors, raised together across borders since their prophesied birth, to save the world from the encroaching demons.

This is the story of an infamous Qorin warrior, Barsalayaa Shefali, a spoiled divine warrior empress, O-Shizuka, and a power that can reach through time and space to save a land from a truly insidious evil.

I went into The Tiger's Daughter with extremely high expectations and I am so happy that I was not let down at all! This book was enchanting and utterly mesmerizing. The combination of the rich fantasy, alluring romance, and heart-stopping action made for one addicting novel.

The fantasy world the author created in this book was so lush and well developed. I loved how many unique elements were present in this fantasy world. There was magic, healers, monster, and so much more. This book slowly introduced the fantasy world, which made me crave MORE! I am excited to see the world develop throughout the series so I can learn even more about it.

There were some influences from Japenese and Mongolian culture weaved throughout this book, which I thought added an interesting element to the story. I will admit, I do not know much about East Asian cultures, so I cannot speak on the cultural representation in the book. I will have to see what other reviews say on that element.

There were times when this book was a little confusing to read. A large chunk of this book was told in the perspective of a letter that Shefali wrote to Shizuka. The book would then also jump to Shizuka in the present, which sometimes would lead to some confusing jumping back and forth for me. However, I LOVED the letter and I think it created such a strong connection between Shefali and Shizuka. I was also glad to have parts of the book in the present because I NEEDED to know how the relationship was developing in the present.

This book was focused heavily on characters and the relationships between the characters. Sometimes this can lead to slower books, but I found this book addicting the entire time. There were plenty of heart-warming moments as well as moments that broke my heart. I became so invested in the characters in this book and their fate. I loved learning about the relationship between Shizuka and Shefali and their mothers. They were all confident and powerful women that I BECAME SO PROUD OF. THEY ARE SUCH BADASS WOMEN AND I ADORE THEM ALL SO MUCH.

The romance in this book was a large element of this book, AND I LOVED IT. Even though the romance was extremely prominent, I never thought it felt forced or cheesy. The romance developed naturally throughout the story. I could really feel the connection and passion between Shizuka and Shefali. Their relationship was so intimate and powerful. I SHIPPED THEM SO HARD. THEY ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER AND I NEED MORE OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP. ALSO, THEIR HEIGHT DIFFERENCE IS SO PRECIOUS?!?!? GIVE ME MORE OF THEIR F+F ROMANCE PLEASE!!!!??? I NEEEEEED IT.

The Tiger's Daughter is just the beginning of what I can tell will be one incredible journey for these characters. I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in the next book!

4 / 5 Fangs

*This ebook was given to me in exchange for an honest review. *

I am sorry but I had to DNF this book, it was just not good and if I did end up finishing it I would not give it more than 2 stars or maybe not even that many. I just really really did not like its style and it just felt so boring. I am a huge fan of high fantasy but this was clearly not for me. So I will not write an actual review for it.

I read through Part One, and unfortunately, the book failed to capture my attention. This is entirely subjective; I know others have enjoyed it. While I saw some gorgeous imagery, and I'm usually enchanted by worldbuilding, politics, and manners, it wasn't enough to make me want to keep reading.

DNFing at 10%

"So you saved them. From the first moment of your life, Shizuka, you have been saving people. But you have never been subtle, never been modest, and so you chose the eighth of Ji-Dao to be born."

Sometimes, Netgalley can be confusing with the way they categorize their books. They only place a book in one genre, which fails to disclose all genres a book falls under. This is exactly what happened to me with The Tiger’s Daughter.

While I loved the idea of the plot line from reading the synopsis, I discovered while reading that this book actually represents a genre that I don't read and review. Not that it is any issue, I just wish I could have known ahead of time so that someone else who typically reads this genre could have been approved to give it a review than myself!

Anyways, from the small portion of what I did read, I wasn't very impressed with the writing style. Up until the point I declared it a "DNF," the main character became a narrator while dictating a letter to her friend, and basically told the reader the entire backstory of her's and Shizuka's relationship. It didn't give much freedom of discovery for the reader, and read more like an accounting of events.

Perhaps other readers who finish the book will like The Tiger’s Daughter more than I did.

I will not be assigning a star review as I did not finish reading this book.

A big thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!

The Tiger's Daughter is a fantasy book inspired by three Asiatic country, firs of a two books series and with LGBT+ features. When I asked on Netgaally for this one, I was looking for an epic story, profound and well created, with friendship, love, magic, destiny and cosmic forces. The intent succeeded only halfway.

Usually I've no problem with the author' style. Whatever is, I will adapt to it. So this one wasn't a problem too, but the way the story is narrated left me with many doubts. The Tiger's Daughter is told with a long letter written by Shefali for Shizuka. And that would be fine, but that's not how a letter is written. It looks much more like Shefali is writing a story, also because literally she narrates everything like Shizuka knows none of it... while she was there. obviously it's a way to allow the reader to know everything that passed between Shizuka and Shefali, but that's not how a letter works.
I liked that the whole story is told with memories and flashbacks, starting from the day when the protagonist were born, going through childhood, teen years and early adulthood.
But in the end? It felt like I read a big, really big, prologue to something else.

The world building is described with the letters and even if I found it to be generally fascinating, reading some other reviewers, some controversies were brought to my eye.
I know something about the Mongolia and Siberia, since I wrote my University degree's thesis over Mongolian and Siberian shamanism. So, I noticed references with the Qorin. What I want to say is that I got the impression that Qorin are Mongolian coded - but I might be very wrong - while Hokkaran is Japan like coded. The last nation in the novel should be based upon China.
Is really easy to go on Goodreads and look up at the first reviews to understand why there are many concerns about the representation of this world. Is not my place to discuss it, but it's important to talk about it.

As I wrote before, the story is strange. This isn't a book for fast paced book lovers. Even I, the one who haven't many difficulties with paces, starting to feel, if not bored, discouraged while reading. The chapters are really long and when I started reading one I never knew when it was gonna finish.

Talking about what I really liked, I must say that Shizuka and Shefali managed to get a way inside my heart. Shefali isn't the most incisive of the two - maybe because being a narrator down played her role? - but Shizuka was fierce, strong, proud of herself and a warrior. So is Shefali, in way or another. I loved the bond between the two, the way they protect each other and fight. In the end I was really hoping for the both of them's best.

In the end, The Tiger's Daughter is a book with some cultural issue, maybe too much slow and with other details that really didn't make the plot move forward, but yet is a type of book that I don't find often around the shelves neither in the fantasy genre, and I think that is worth a shot.

If this book was written in a less weird style, I'd probably like it? It had potential, but wasn't working for me.

DNF @ 45%

I really tried to read this book. Really, I did. I had it for over three months and eventually had to DNF it, because it was putting me in the worst reading slump. I think it says something about a book if it takes you 3 months to read it, and you still can't. This was especially heartbreaking for me because I really, really wanted to like this book.

The Tiger's Daughter was a promising story, but I found the text to be bogged down with unnecessary exposition and info-dumps. I found that the author struggled to balance the plot and the romance, and along with the frequent POV changes, this resulted in awkward writing. Also, the inclusion of that incredibly long letter did not do the book any favours. It was - literally - half the book. Most of the info-dumping - about culture and history, etc. - occurred in this letter, and frankly it was testing my patience as a reader. Instead of including this letter, the novel would have been better if the author, you know, just wrote the scenes like a normal novel, as the characters interacted with one another???

There felt as though there was really no plot, either. I struggled to even figure out what the book was about, and 40% in, I still don't know. In regards to the romance, I didn't especially care for the characters so I also didn't care about their relationship. I also found their relationship quite ... cheesy.

I was very uncomfortable by the world building - or should I say, semi-, confusing world building that mixes real life cultures into something inherently discriminative, and full of appropriation. It is very obvious the author did not do any research in regards to Japanese/Mongolian cultures, and yes this novel is fantasy, but as many reviewers have pointed out, there is a lot of overlap with the fictional cultures in comparison to real life ones.

I was disappointed by this novel, especially because it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2017.

I won't be adding my review to Goodreads or my blog because I did not finish the book.

The Tiger's Daughter is a story set in an Asian fantastical world where demons roam the earth, and whose protagonists, young as though they may be, are fated to achieve greatness. Though this book has some fantastical elements to it, I think categorizing it as a romance is more accurate, since the main focus of the story is on the relationship between the two main female characters, and how it develops over time. Narrated by means of a letter, we follow the journey in which a warrior from the Qorin people and the future Empress of the empire embark on to defend its people from demons, whilst going through a personal journey of self-discovery and acceptance. The Tiger's Daughter is a story of perseverance, loyalty and above all, unconditional love.

Full review on blog: https://scentofbooks.wordpress.com/2017/09/28/arc-review-the-tigers-daughter-by-k-arsenault-rivera/

The Tiger's Daughter is epic and expansive, the beginning of a tale of two women tied together through birth and fate. A tale of gods and demons, of purpose and status. Of defiance.

O-Shizuka is royalty, destined to be Empress of the Hokkaran empire. She resents being kept in a cage, would rather rule and live how she desires. Away from sycophants and her uncle. Shefali is one of the Qorin, a tribe of nomads, living off on the steppes with their horses and their families, slightly lost in being a quiet girl with a Qorin mother and a Hokkaran father. Together, the two girls are bound together through birth and circumstance and destiny. But first, they were two young girls falling into trouble.

This will be a short review, mostly because I've found myself conflicted. Before reading this, I expected something full of magic and demons. A tale of the epic journey of O-Shizuka and Barsalayaa Shefali, the battles they fought and how they became star-crossed lovers. What this is is more of the start of who they are, who they would become, and what happens when forces around them would try and pull them apart. It's told through letters reminiscing on their childhood and young womanhood, letters from one to the other. For my own reading tastes, from what I thought this book would be, I found it intriguing but so long. So detailed. It's too long for my taste. There was so much lead up to their actual journey, their actual confrontations with demons, and even then it didn't unfold how I thought it would. Unfortunately, this wasn't the book for me. I would recommend this to those who do enjoy long, detailed, layered with complication epic fantasy.

4.5/5 Stars

The blessings of the book community have been upon me lately when it comes to picking up recommended titles. Early buzz for The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera had me requesting this beauty and I'm so so glad I loved Shefali and Shizuka's story. It has so much going for it with an endearing romance, powerful ladies, lurking evil, and outstanding writing.

Seriously Rivera's prose is exquisite, conveying deep emotion and creating such brilliant visuals all with the stroke of a pen. A rich world was brought to life before my eyes and dynamic culture fueled the story. There's myth and fantastical elements sprinkled throughout and an imposing darkness that looms over the living. It's a gripping narrative that melts into the skin.

Both Shefali and Shizuka were such wonderful characters to discover. With lives intertwined since birth, the two of them together are an unstoppable force. Shizuka is outspoken and quick to action while Shefali is quieter and more practical. Each is a skilled warrior in their own right but as one temper out their rougher edges. The friendship and then romance between them is so utterly beautiful and it may be one of the most swoon worthy stories I've read.

The only thing I can see deterring readers is how slow this story unfolds. I had to take my time with it, savoring every single detail and turn of the page. I know a lot of people struggle with books like this, but for me at least the pacing made the journey all the more worthwhile. I'd also note that the storytelling takes a bit to get used to though it proves extremely effective later on.

Overall The Tiger's Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera was a beautiful story of two empowered women facing down evils on all sides. With a rich setting, extraordinary worldbuilding, and the complex characters of Shefali and Shizuka, the author created a veritable feast for the mind. I definitely recommend this one especially to those who love a good dose of fantasy and romance woven together.

I did not, and will not finish this book, I stopped at around 37%.

While Rivera’s voice is enveloping, and I’m usually a sure fit for a story that is slow paced and rich… the style used to tell the story came across as very info-dumpy. The letters “could” have been an excellent vehicle for the story if they’d been written… well, like letters. The first few exchanges were fine, because it felt like the one character was wistfully recalling a few things as a way of reminding an old friend who they were.

Then as it went on it got more and more ‘tell’ and less and less ‘show’. Telling everything about the world instead of letting the reader discover that world through the actions and interactions of the characters. It fell flat.

While it’s true that the style lacked a lot, the prose is absolutely gorgeous. It’s far better than I’ve come to expect from traditional publishing and mainstream reading (if you find talented Indie authors, they’re going to wow you with their skill, traditional publishing/mainstream books don’t do that for me, usually).

In this case, it did. The sentence structure, word choice, and cadence are gorgeous. The editing is top notch (for what I managed to get through of the book, anyway).

Sadly, my critique of the writing and story doesn’t come close to even touching the other glaring issues with this book.

I have Southeast Asian family and when I requested the ARC it was in hopes that when the book came out I’d be happy to buy several copies for the people I care for so they could maybe see themselves in fiction for a change.

I won’t be buying the book because I’d be ashamed to give it to them.

I can’t begin to experience the pain anyone of Japanese, Chinese, or Mongol decent might possibly feel from the representation in this book. If you scroll through the reviews on Goodreads there’s at least one Japanese reviewer voicing the hurt and horror that I strongly suspected someone would feel reading this.

If it had been any of my ethnicities being used in such a way, I’d’ve been disgusted.

It, sadly, felt like the ‘how not to do fantasy’ vs a book I wanted to read. It felt also like maybe the author had just watched Marco Polo on Netflix and decided to write a book, without actually doing any of the research necessary to even gloss the basics of the peoples’ being written about.

I can’t recommend this book. It makes me sad that I can’t because Asian Lesbians! Fantasy! But even with the beautiful writing, it felt far too much like appropriation.

I really dislike writing poor reviews and for a while I considered weaseling out of my agreement and ‘forgetting’ to review this one. It’s not… nice, to say these things about a debut book, but when I’m wearing my ‘reviewer’ hat, I’m not sure it’s right to stay ‘nice’ when people who may trust me and my reviews could be hurt.

That’s worth any discomfort I feel at a negative review.

Hopefully, if the books continue (as the series listing seems to indicate) the author AND publisher will seriously consider working with a sensitivity reader.

DNF at 10%. The narrative style (both the voice and letter as framing device) is not for me. There's too much info dump and name/position/honorific dropping. I also started to get a bad taste of cultural appropriation... I didn't realize from the description, but now that I've read some of the book, it's a lot clearer that this is meant to be a Japan-inspired society. Reminds me of how sloppily done I thought The Girl From the Well was.

I wanted to love The Tiger's Daughter, because there's queer protagonists with a love story, a non-medieval-Europe fantasy setting, etc, etc. The writing at first promised to be beautiful, but I found the segue into the series of letters from one of the characters really off-putting. It makes it all second person (which can be done wonderfully, but wore on me here), and it requires one protagonist to tell the other stories as if she wasn't there... despite them actually being present. So "you said to me, we did x, I did y to you"... It just feels too contrived at that point. It's also rather slow-paced: this is less a fantasy story with romance, and more a romance story with fantasy. Which is fine, but the other things dragged it down for me.

In addition, this isn't really my area, but I did notice a few warning signs. It's not "own voices", and it shows; it's the typical flower-petals-and-beautiful-calligraphy version of Japan we keep getting served up, and several people from East Asia or of East Asian descent have been writing highly critical reviews about the racial stereotyping. I don'r know enough to really understand what's going on there, but I believe people that it's made them deeply uncomfortable.

That and the pacing meant I didn't finish this, in the end. It's a shame, because the cover is gorgeous, the concept sounds fun, and I did get somewhat into the relationship between the two characters. And yet. So my writing is very much for "as far as I read" -- it's possible the pace picks up and that issue at least is resolved. I wasn't willing to hold my breath for it.

I am so, so sad to say that I decided to DNF this book about 25% in. I could not get into this at all. A fourth in and I still don't understand what's going on. The book is basically written as one long letter which makes a lot of it second POV which is so uncomfortable to read for me.
Honestly I've never been sadder to DNF a book and I can definitely imagine trying to pick this up again at one point in my life, but for now I'm just very much done with it.

The Tiger's Daughter is a rich, epic and romantic fantasy that left me speechless and hungering for more. There are some issues with this novel, but the story itself is amazing. Rivera does an outstanding job of building up Shizuka and Shefali as strong individuals, and later as a couple.

The Tiger's Daughter is a fast paced, action packed and epic fantasy romance. From start to finish, we have women kicking ass and taking names. I for one will be rereading this one again, and counting down the days to the sequel.

I liked this story, the relationship between the two main characters, the one between their mothers. However, as I went to write a review, I see that some Asian readers are offended by the way their culture was used. I don't know enough to rate the appropriateness, but I cannot recommend it until this is resolved/explained.

Where to start with this book, I really enjoyed it and the format it was written in. Although it was a bit of a slow start as could be expected in the first book in the series, by the end I really got into it and was sad that it had ended. The format of a letter narrated by Shefali allows things to move at a slower pace while still feeling natural and allowing the reader to discover how the world was changed by these girls.

The story of O-Shizuka and her best friend Shefali makes for compelling reading and while there was romance there it was allowed to naturally mature as the girls mature. This story also focuses on the importance of family and family life and how it adds to a person's character.

I also enjoyed how the elements of the culture were interwoven with the fantasy elements that only added to the story. The reader can imagine this almost as a history of O-Shizuka that had been written in ages past and while she might come across as a wilful spoilt brat there is a heart of gold underneath.

I will definitely be reading the following books to discover how the girls overcome the various obstacles set in their way. I was happy with how it ended and for a minute I thought there was a cliffhanger coming. I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads but it was more a 3.5 but that was mainly due to the slow start that took a little bit to hook me in. I will definitely recommend this book to others.