The premise of the book was very interesting it is what drew me in.

I found the story boring. There was unnecessary death that did not add to the plot. New characters were added making it all the more confusing.
The main heroine was meant to showcase how strong she was. I felt she was boring, there was nothing interesting about that made me care. We didn’t learn of our heroine until the end and by then it felt like a rush of information thrown in all at once. The heroine was not believable for me. She came off a spoiled, her wanting to help others counteracted with the actions she did. She was necessary rude and mean to the hero. She was the monster she
claimed to be.

Affinities were not explained, how they came to have these powers. There were more questions than answers.

The ending felt rushed. There was so much happening at one time that I became confused whose point of view I was reading. Towards the end a new pointof view was thrown in at random with no explanation of to why this new person's voice was being heard.

Due to this book being pulled from publishing, I am unable to review it. I was approved for this eARC shortly before the controversy broke out, and I was never able to read it in order to give an in-depth review. I hope that the author takes the community's feelings into consideration, and if the book is ever put back onto the market, I would love the chance to review it.

Unfortunately, due to this book being pulled from publishing, I am unable to review it. I was approved for this eARC shortly before the controversy broke out, and I was never able to read it in order to give an in-depth review. I hope that the author takes the community's feelings into consideration, and if the book is ever put back onto the market, I would love the chance to review it.

Publication for this has either been cancelled or pushed back. I unfortunately felt like I wouldn't be able to properly review this with all the problematic issues surrounding it and so I DNFed at 23% of the story.

Because this book was pulled, I will be respecting the author's wishes and not reading it. I also am leaving a three star rating because that's pretty average

I received this arc from the publisher for an honest review.

In this fantasy retelling of Anastasia, the crown princess is presumed dead after her assassination of her father. But she’s been in hiding for the past ten years, seeking information and revenge on the actual assassin.

Her last hope is the prisoner Ramson Quicktounge (yes that’s a pseudonym). She breaks him out of prison in exchange for information. They form a shaky alliance, since the enemy of my enemy is my friend, and Ana is looking for the man who put Ramson in jail.

I appreciated there was no instalove between Ramson and Ana. They are both using each other, and their partnership grows from a tentative truce to trust to the first sparks of attraction. It made for great character development and a promising start for a romance.

The story has a lot of tropes used in YA fantasy. There’s the lost princess, she not only has magical powers but the most rare powers, a conspiracy to overthrow the government, people with magic (Affinities) are feared and oppressed. While most YA fantasy has some version of oppression, slavery, or even just people who aren’t well off, this book looks unflinchingly at human trafficking. People, especially children, are being sold into indentured contracts they don’t understand or can’t read. Ana has been sheltered from this as the crown princess, but her eyes are opened wide as the story progresses. It was a unique take on the genre and I was glad to see it.

On the controversy with May. May is a younger character who travels with Ana. They have been friends for a long time and look out for each other. It’s been made clear already that May sacrifices herself for Ana. It was an emotional scene, similar to Rue’s death in the hunger games. Killing off her May was an emotional arc of the story. It just wasn’t surprising. It was clear she was going to be sacrificed, she’s pretty much Ana’s moral compass. If anything, it took away the emotional impact of another characters death later in the story. But authors can write the story they want, and no one is forcing readers to read stories that offend them.

<b>
“I just wanted to say, you shouldn’t do something for anyone else but yourself. Especially someone who doesn’t give a damn about you.” </b>

The above quote comes from the ARC, and I think it’s very applicable to the situation surrounding publication. I hate that this book was pulled from publication. I think it’s a good start to a fantasy series. It’s well written, the prose is just lovely. I hope the author reconsiders publishing. I’d love to see where Ana’s story goes.

I'm still extremely irritated with the controversy that resulted in pulling Blood Heir from publishing. I don't want a 'revised' version because then it wouldn't be the story the author wanted to tell. I was one of the lucky few who received an arc of this book and I will forever be grateful I got to read the original or even got a chance to read such a beautifully written book at all. Some people may never have that chance now. So thank you for giving me the opportunity. 💖

Added to post in comments on Feb 2019,
Written after publisher confirmed the book is pulled indefinitely. My pre-sale copy is still active with Kobo/Chapters. And so I'm hoping...
It's like people forget that others are also people with feelings and emotions. I get that we can't all get along but I do also think that we should try to see another's perspective.
Now there are some times that is just not possible at all like: a religious zealot, someone with murderous intent, or someone with ill intent towards us personally and a few other scenarios of course. But mostly people are just trying to live and find joy in their own way. So it's really sad for me to think that Amelie has been bullied into discounting herself, her story and (in some ways) her dream/life.
It really worries me that society is so obsessed with being considerate to certain groups of people but can't seem to spin that around to consider how others feel and how their words might be hurting someone else.
In the 90's when I was still bright and hopeful that I could 'change the world' I remember the day I realized that feminism wasn't about equality but about getting a leg up. About actually letting women be above men. I wasn't on board with it then as a teen and certainly don't endorse it today.
We can't demean some people in order to lift others up. It doesn't work and just creates resentment. It's too bad the people involved in this 'scandal' (if you will) are not able to realize that someone else's success doesn't mean there is less room for them to succeed. It doesn't have to be that way. And if we teach anyone this idea then we actually stomp on their dreams before they even get a chance to try for them.
I'm not a 'touchy' person, but occasionally in my life I want to hug a stranger and just sit next to them in silence as support. This is how I feel about Ameilie Zhao a week later. Like I just want to be in a room with her showing support in whatever way she needs.
We can only hope that she is aware of the outcry in support of her and that our posts, pre-orders and conversations will find their way to her and mean something to her.
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Added to post Jan 31, 2019
**Show your support for publication by purchasing a pre-sale copy of Blood Heir from your countries primary bookseller**
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Added to post late Jan 30, 2019
Added since author Amelie pulled her book from publishing...
Folks this is just mob-style bullying. The book is fantasy, not non-fiction or even historical fiction. The book might as well be banned, burned or censored. I cannot believe that some people's opinions have persuaded the writer to pull the novel. Not only that but Blood Heir was being published by Random House for goodness sake! It's not like it hasn't been edited, proofed, etc. Saying that authors can't kill off minority characters or touch on certain subject is absurd. Creativity should be about freedom of art in any form as the creator chooses. Social media is out of control and this is a sad day for publishing and free speech.
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Posted afternoon of Jan 30, 2019
Yes I have an eARC.
Usually I don’t read books months before they are published; however, due to controversy’s I may make an exception here and read this very soon...
Three things to say in advance:
1) many people are upset that a young black girl dies in this story. Is this to say we can never have a minority killed off ever again? Cause that seems wrong.
2) The is zero, ZERO proof that the writer is screen capping or ‘listing’ reviewers who give her poor reviews. The rumour is based one on twitter post by some random chick who won’t give provide any sources. That’s not journalism folks. It’s just flat out, ridiculous rumour. Don’t accuse someone if you don’t have at least a shred of proof (and no your word is not worth crap on Twitter, sorry but it’s not)
3) The line from LOTR many have mentioned being used in this book has been used by a dozen or more fantasy or other genre books over the years. I don’t think you can claim that “don’t go where I can’t follow” is so iconic that it can never be used again... it’s a very symbolic phrase perhaps but I see no reason why this concept can’t be revisited many times over in literature.
PS: I have NOT yet read Six of Crows, so parallels to it I won’t be able to speak to even when I do read this one...

*This Arc was provided to me by Netgalley and the publishers.* Thank you for letting me read this.

"What good was goodness itself, when the world was ruled by the cruel?"

Blood Heir is a book that I have seen described as an Anastasia retelling with powers, and it is an apt description.

The characters in this are so fascinating, some try to be guided by good but does morally wrong things, there are consequences to their actions, the characters portrayed seemed real (even if some have an Affinity).
I loved reading and savouring every moment of this book.

Also, Ramson just made me think of Flynn Rider from Tangled.

Wow! This book was sure a slow read, but it was worth taking my precious time!!

The beginning is sure a drag to start, which I was so close inloosing my interest in this book , hence , the time I took to finish it - lol

BUT!!

I read on and I’m so so so happy I did. I read a few comments about how this book was portrayed a bit racist.. but honestly, I can’t see why but never did It cross my mind about the “slave auction”. When May dies it did feel a bit like Hunger games, but only because I read it in a comment and was waiting for it lol.

The story has SO MANY twist and turns, that was one of my favorite parts. Absolutely a slow flame as well, but was the author about to set fire to it? No! Guess what? We get a second book to swoon them both!

The character build up was great, for both Ana and Ramson. The story is fresh and great. I really really loved it a lot. I am so happy I received an ARC from NETGALLEY. The book has a dark setting in the beginning, but honestly, I don’t see any racism or such in this book.. c’mon people..

Now I have to wait for book 2...

Will I buy this book when it comes out? HELL YES!!

So sorry to hear about the status of this book. I hope to review an advance readers copy of this after it is revamped for publication.

This book is interesting, while it is well written and interesting story with unique magic systems I do see the problems that have plagued it. There are some racially insensitive aspects that I cannot ignore in favor of a pleading story.

I was looking forward to reading this so I'm a bit disappointed to find out that it has been pulled from publication. I'm hoping to still have the chance to read/review this in the future!

Given that the publisher has pulled the book due to controversy, I will reserve my judgement on this until I get access to an updated ARC.

Author and publisher pulled publication of this novel due to feedback from early reviewers. Adding a star review to remain compliant and to ensure my review percentage remains.

Unfortunately I will not be reading or reviewing this version of Blood Heir due to this book getting a postponed release for further editing.

I do not think it is fair to read the book in a state that the author is no longer happy with or doesn't thinks does her work justice. I look forward to reading her improved version in a few months hopefully! Thank you for the opportunity to read it though. Its nice that theyre willing to edit given the feedback that was received!

This book has been pulled from publication, so clearly this eARC is not the version that will be published, thus I am unable to give this a fair review.

It is a shame that this book is not being published. I hope that is changed in the future and I have the chance to read an arc at that time and review it fully at that point. I am giving it 5 stars in support of the author and against the mob mentality that is seeping into the YA community.

When I read the news that the author decided to stop the release of the book due to the criticism and the controversy of some themes, such as slavery and racism, I was very sad and confused. I feel this way because despite my personal issues, I found the novel quite good. The writing was good, the story interesting and the characters showed depth. It was a book with a lot of potential.
Ana was the main character of the book. She is a princess with an amazing power, she can control blood, and it was used against her in the past and made her the main suspect in her father's murder. So this story is Ana's journey to find the real killer, take her revenge and prove her innocence. I liked how she constantly fought not to use her powers because even she was scared of them. I believe she changed during her journey, mostly because of her relationship with May and Ramson.
Ramson was my favourite character and reason I liked the book. He was definitely the one with the most depth and growth. In the beginning he was selfish, cunning, funny and smart. After some events and when he saw how people with Affinities were treated he started changing, and by the end he was the hero of the story.

The things that I didn't like were mostly related to scenes and characters that reminded me too much of different novels. One example is the relationship between Ana and May witch seemed exactly like the one between Katniss and Rue (The Hunger Games). There was even a scene that I found almost the same as in the other book.
The other element that was confusing to me was the language. It started with Russian surnames and words, but I found some mistakes and I am not even speaking the language and then there were words in French and Scottish.
Now, as to the controversy, I understand that the constant mentioning of slavery and the detailed descriptions of gruesome deaths are very uncomfortable. There were times that it felt heavy to me too., but I believe that this was the main theme of the book. From what I personally understand, the author wanted to make us feel that way, like Ana felt. She knew this was wrong, that it was inhuman and she decided to do something about it.
I would like to read the rest of the series, but I am not even it's going to happen.

I want to thank the publisher, Amélie Wen Zhao and NetGalley for the Arc.

Due to the book being pulled from publication before I could read it, I will not be reviewing it at this time. I respect the author's decision to pull her book so that she can improve it and work on it before it is released to the general public though, and I hope she finds ease in fixing the issues that reviewers have pointed out to her. I would be happy to read the revised version when it is available.