In the end, I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I'd been looking forward to it for quite a while – I mean, a fantasy YA novella with a genderfluid protagonist! What a great combination of things! And yet, by the time I was halfway through, I was convinced that giving it 3 stars would be exceedingly generous, and that I wouldn't be continuing the series. At that point, everything about the story was falling flat for me: the characters felt two-dimensional; the supposed "love interest" was downright unpleasant and Tashi's feelings for him seemed completely absurd; despite the intriguing concept there seemed to be gaping holes in the worldbuilding; the plot lacked drive, and even the writing style seemed awfully clunky in places.

Happily, things improved significantly in the second half of the book. The pace picked up, the plot got more interesting, the writing style started to sound a bit more natural, and crucially, the apparent holes in the worldbuilding were mostly revealed to simply be gaps in the protagonist's knowledge, and as more pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and the background of the inhabitors was revealed, I was drawn further and further into the story. By the end, I was very curious about what might happen next, and the 3 stars I'm giving the book feel fully deserved.

However, I would still say that most of the characters in this book felt quite two-dimensional, due to that age-old problem of "telling vs showing". While there were two moments when I did feel like I'd been given a massive insight into Tashi's character – one at the very start of the novel, and one at the very end, curiously enough – for the most part, it felt like Ember was more interested in <i>telling</i> readers about the characters, rather than <i>showing</i> us what they're like, which is one of the surest ways of getting me to knock a star or two off my rating. Tashi did get a fair bit of character development, but all the other characters still felt fairly paper-thin at the end of the novel, so that's definitely something that I'd like to see the author work on.

Finally, I'd just like to mention the fact that it was really refreshing to read a fantasy book with a genderfluid protagonist, and I thought that it was brought into the story very naturally – by which I mean that it was never shunted to the side, nor focused on obsessively. Being genderfluid is a part of Tashi, and influences their life in a very real way, but their personality is never reduced to that single facet. I'm so glad that this kind of representation is finally starting to become a bit more common across all genres of literature, even if we still have a long way to go!

In short, I would say that this was a fun read, and I'd like to delve deeper into the magic system of this world, but the characterisation really leaves a lot to be desired.

I’ll be honest, I first requested this book on NetGalley because of the cover (yes, I’m that kind of person). Then I heard that the main character was genderfluid and I was like « GIVE ME THE BOOK ». I was very happy when I got approved. But kind of scared because I didn’t want to be disappointed. Spoiler : I wasn’t. I just added this book to my « favorites » shelf because this book is so damn good and I need the second one right now.
THE WORLD BUILDING
Let’s start with the world building. The story is set during a war. The Thims are invaded by the Mxeith, and they struggle to survive. A resistance is naturally born within the Thims. The inhabitors are part of this resistance. These people are called inhabitors because they bond with an animal at the age of eight. Our main character is Tashi, and they are bonded with a gold rose tiger, named Katala. They are hidden within the monks, and they are charger to spy on the young commandant leading an Mxieth army, Xian.
I also really liked the fact that they accept Tashi’s gender without really questionning it. I mean, it’s fantasy, you create your own world, why would you include hate in it ? So that’s a must for me.
THE CHARACTERS
Tashi and Xian have both secrets to hide, and they seem to be both morally grey (I LOVE these kind of characters !). You learn to love (or at least care for) them both. Especially Tashi, who struggles with their identity as an inhabitor. They’re weak and strong at the same time, and they seem to be so complex you just want to know more about them.
Xian is also a very complex character, showing kindness at one time and cruelness at another. We learn very little about his background story, leaving us craving for the second book. We don’t understand yet his motivation, and we hate and love him throughout the book.
THE STORY
What was really appealing to me was the story. The Tiger’s Watch is a great first book for a series that seems promising. During this book, you enter a world torn by war and with magic that even the main character, Tashi, doesn’t fully understand. You discover page by page the inhabitors’ magic, and the author did a great job because it’s original and we just want to know more about it ! The book really set the base to the story, by presenting two characters very different from each other, with different stories, and you don’t know who the villain and the hero is in this book. That’s what I really liked, the fact that this world isn’t black and white.

Overall, I would say that this series can only be amazing, and I can’t wait to read the next book, The Shadow Wolf. I highly recommend this one !

One of the books I was looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts about was The Tiger’s Watch. So picture my excitement when I was approved for it on Netgalley. In the end this book turned out very different from what I thought it was going to be. And despite my 4 star rating, I can’t quite decide whether or not this is a good thing.

First thing that very surprised me was that this book is under 200 pages. I was not expecting this book to be so short. I also think it is one of its downsides. There isn’t enough room for everything. When I got to the end there was nothing else and I wanted to scream. I wanted more. I needed more. The writing style was very addicting. It was solid.

The world building suffered for the shortness of the book. The book starts with a war going on but why exactly is not so clear. Why were they attacked all of a sudden again? Even so I did quite love the ideas this book had regarding the magic and the repercussions to bonding with an animal like that. And unlike others, I did think the book made it clear that this was not a choice for these young children. They were given away for this faith. But they were raised with the idea that this is a privilege.

Oh and Tasha. I loved Tasha from the start.Tasha is gender fluid and prefers them/they. I think that it was a great addition to the book. We really need more of that in fantasy. In any book really. But Tasha stole my heart which is why I am shaking my head so hard at the decision they made in the end. Why, Tasha, why? Even so I guess I can kind of understand. They were shoved into this, into something they didn’t want.

Unfortunately this book has a love triangle. Tasha is in love with one and in lust with the other. Too bad one of them is the enemy. Tasha, why? He’s hot but so what?

Pharo, Tasha’s friend, was such a loyal one throughout the book. Always speaking up when someone misaddressed their pronouns. Xian on the other hand is hard to get a read one. The enemy, the one with other values, the murderer yet he lets Tasha lash out at him without repercussions. I don’t understand him as a character at all. And even so I secretly ship him with Tasha. Why oh why, twisted heart? I blame this on Julia Ember’s writing.

Having said all this, I did fly through this book in one sitting and thoroughly enjoyed it despite my criticism in places. I honestly thought halfway through that I was going to rate this 5 stars. I was a bit disappointed with the way things went but even so I can’t wait for the next book. I am a bit disappointed as it seems that it will focus on Pharo. Despite that I like him I am currently very into Tasha’s narration.

I had pretty high expectations going into this! But yet it ultimately let me down with thin world-building and confusing character decisions. I'm sad! The premise is fantastic and it was so refreshing to read about a nonbinary protagonist! Also the cover deserves to be framed on a wall somewhere because: WOW.

Tashi was a pretty fantastic narrator, even if they're ultimate decisions at the end left me baffled. I just always love sweet-but-yet-badass characters! I thought it was epic how the world wasn't opposed to non-binary people. Like people made mistakes when they met Tashi, but Tashi's friends would be like "no, it's they" and that'd be the end of it. It's actually refreshing to have a fantasy world were the prejudices of OUR world aren't there.

Shapeshifters are pretty amazing! I loved how they could bond and have such deep friendships with animals. However I was confused as to the draw to bond? The animals die young and all the powers they seem to give their masters is the ability to look through the animals eyes...that doesn't seem worth half a life-span to me.

The world was really interesting! Magic and armies and wars and intrigue! I wish it'd been deeper though??? But I didn't quite understand the point of the plot. Like maybe I just missed it?? Or maybe it was so so thinly talked about it just didn't sink in enough? But why were they all fighting? What was the war about? Why was this boy-commander so keen on killing the shapeshifters? And the book was SO SMALL that it really didn't get started before it was over. In fact the climax was so non-existent I nearly missed it.

The romance totally fell flat for me when it turned into a triangle and Tashi couldn't stop fawning over the Hot Commander, who is coincidentally torturing and killing people. This seemed terrible to say the least.

Tashi is a trained spy but the ONLY reason they get to spy int his book is because they're randomly picked to be the commander's servant. Talk about convenient??

Fantastic premise, but unfortunately The Tiger's Watch didn't live up to expectations for me.

Awesome read I love books with lots of cultural background and stories and the author does a fantastic job of describing everything in great detail. The fact that they have this incredible bond with the animals that chose them is fun to read I liked how the main character is referred to as they in not a over taking the book with the topic fashion but a subtle and present known fact. The characters relationships are very fascinating and make the book very hard to put down the only thing I will say that I didn't care for is the cover it just doesn't do the book justice whatsoever in fact at first glance I thought the tiger was a big guinea pig. Loved the book I highly recommend it.