2.5 stars. While I started reading the ARC, I did not finish it due to the novel being pulled from publication. As such, my review is on-hold. I look forward to reading this after the writing has been revised. Thank you to Netgalley for providing the ARC.

I want to say that I am so glad I was able to read this book though I am upset on the author's behalf that this book was heavily criticized to the point of harassment and put into archive and will not be published anytime soon.

This plot was amazing and the characters completely relatable! I don't know the last time when a book just flowed for me naturally to where I could see the book playing a movie in my head. The descriptions, the emotions of the characters, and the world building were fantastic!! The OTP were completely adorable and DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING ABOUT THEM.

I hope to have this on my shelf one day as well as any other book that happens to come out after.

Shortly after downloading this ARC, controversy led to the the author pulling the book from publication. Due to these events, I did not end up reading this ARC, however, I respect how Amelie Wen Zhao handled the situation and look forward to her future work.

With this title being pushed back from publishing I decided to not read and review it, but will gladly do it if/once the book is revised.

I'm not going to comment on the scene that has already taken over Twitter and Goodreads, because everything has been said already and the book has been pulled.

However, that still leaves the writing and quality of this novel.

I felt like Blood Heir was a patchwork quilt of all other YA novels pulled together, the string of it being Amelie's own words. There were elements of SHADOW AND BONE from the Grishaverse with the Russian elements, RED QUEEN with the red blood elements, and having a power that people aren't familiar with, and even THE HUNGER GAMES, with the death scene of May. And of course, it has elements of the lost princess Anastasia, but less so than I expected.

The romance aspect was something that felt forced. I did not believe that Ramsom and Ana were a couple that could fall in love, it wasn't a believable plot for me. I felt like the romance bent against the character traits that they already had and, like I stated before, it felt very forced, almost like it had to check off the box that it had romance in it for the YA readers who love that element. I think, if this book had been published, the romance should have been stretched out over the course of a few books.

The ending was alright, but I found myself skimming it just so that I could finally get to the end. Overall, I would not have bought the second book in the series if it came down to it.

As this book's publication date has now been suspended (which I think was an admirable move on the part of the publisher and the author) I will not be reviewing this title at this time. What this has done is given me respect for both the publisher and Amelie Wen Zhao, and I will be sure to keep an eye out for books from her in the future, as I love to see an author who can learn and grow from a negative experience.

I thought that this was a great novel. It was entertaining and heartbreaking. It was a great fantasy story about a girl trying to get her kingdom back. Ana was a great main character who battled her own inner demons throughout the entire book. She worked so hard to make all of the right choices and she is such a great character because of it. She makes mistakes and she learns from it. Ramson was another great character. He was funny and the type of male character that I just love and can't get enough of. The plot was great. It was a typical YA girl wants her crown back type of story, but it was done well. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Okay now it is time to rant. A few weeks ago the author released a letter on twitter stating that she will not be publishing this novel at this point in time. People who had read the novel already thanks to ARCs were offended by the affinite slavery aspects of this book. In Blood Heir the people who can do magic are called affinites and they are looked down on by society. They are sold and traded at auctions and are treated terribly. People were "hurt" by this aspect of the book because it reminded them of black slavery in America. The slavery aspect of this book was inspired slavery and human trafficking that happens in China, where the author is from. It is terrible that this author was bullied into not publishing her book all because she used what has been going on in her own home country as inspiration. People need to understand that stories that feature slavery and a society where they think some type of person is less than another type are the most important stories. These stories get people thinking and you're supposed to be uncomfortable with it. There are so many books out there that feature magical beings as "slaves" in a world where people are terrified of magic. There are so many books out there that feature a "lesser" type of person. One example that comes to mind is Red Rising. Red Rising is about an rebellion because people aren't treated fairly. You don't see people bullying Pierce Brown into not publishing his books in that universe. If you are one of the people out there that were offended by Blood Heir then okay. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but you should not crush a persons dream of having a published book. If you don't like parts of the book, then don't buy the book or read the book. You don't need to go on twitter and attack this author. It is a shame that this book is not being published because I thought it was great and I would've loved to read a sequel to it.

Given the circumstances surrounding this book and it being pulled from publication, I will be postponing my read for now but look forward to picking this up when the author makes whatever revisions she feels are necessary.

Because of the situation with this book, my review is on hold. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

10% into the ARC and I find out that a) there's discourse concerning allegedly racist contents of the book, which I haven't reached yet but also can't get behind by googling it, and b) the author has published an apology on her twitter and explains that the novel is not getting published for now, so... guess I'm stopping this read? (3/5 stars to keep the balance, as I can not give the novel in this form an actual rating)

I picked this book because I found the blurb intriguing but I don't feel comfortable reading and reviewing this book over the whole controversy surrounding it.

In order to honor the author's wishes when they pulled the book for publication, Sadly, I will be holding off my review till revisions are made which I hope are pretty quickly.

This title has been withdrawn from publication at this time. Should it have a new release date scheduled and the problematic content be addressed, I will look forward to reading and reviewing it.

Given the book has been pulled by the publisher, I'll refrain from giving feedback. I look forward to reading any revised version.

I love this book! The story just sucked me right into it, there was always something happening and everytime when I thought "oh, finally some peace" the next tragedy hit already! The changing POV of Ana and Ramson was my personal highlight.. The ending making me beg for a continuation.

Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio. Giving a review of 50/50 as it was withdrawn from the publisher. I do not want this to affect my feedback ratio.

This book has been pulled from publication as per the author's and publisher's choice. I had read part of it before publication was pulled and found the writing style to be good. If the author and publisher choose to put this book out again I will certainly give it a try.

* I am aware of the situation with this book and that this copy is not the final version because of the issues*

First off, shame on those people for pulling such a stink over this book because this novel is brilliant and yes, it deals with things that may be uncomfortable for some people. However, I cannot imagine that world in any other way. It adds to who Ana and Ramson are as people and why they are the way they are.

If people like the Hunger Games, Red Queen, and Anastasia then you will love this book.

I am curious to see what the author will change because I loved every word of it.

For my full review, please check out my blog at https://bookgirlreviewsbooks.blogspot.com

4.5 stars

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a REAL and HONEST review.

To the people who didn't give this book a chance because of other people's opinions or the ranting on twitter - shame on you. Also, fuck you because this book was so fucking good.

ALSO, tons of spoilers in this review. I didn't feel like hiding them or nothing. So read this at your own risk people.

Now I know Amelie pulled this book but since I got the ARC anyways, I wasn't going to waste this opportunity. I wanted to form my own opinion on this book and see what the hell was causing these people to be butt hurt. So, I didn't even hesitate one bit - turned on my iPad and clicked the book. Boy, was I not disappointed one fucking bit.

Blood Heir is a dark retelling of Anastasia. You know that princess? She has a movie and seems to be pretty famous. In it, you will meet Anastacya Mikhailov, aka Ana - who just happens to be a crown princess and a monster. She's a monster because she's an Affinite and her Affitnity is blood - which basically means she's a fucking bad ass and can control or kill anyone by their own blood. She's one person you don't want to piss off.

Blood isn't the only Affinty in this world. No, there's wind, flesh, mind, fear, and so much more. Kind of like avatars or whatever. Honestly, I was hooked from the beginning. Blood Heir reminded me of so many freaking books.

I got Hunger Games, Throne of Glass, Red Queen, Divergent, and so many other freaking YA book vibes. Heck, one of the characters reminded me of Flynn Rider from Tangled - he's also a favorite character of mine.

Speaking of characters, other than meeting the bad ass princess you meet Ramson. God, I loved him! These two meet each other at a prison, mostly because Ana wants to free him so that she can find the person who murdered her father. She wants to redeem her name and her title.. all while trying to figure out why everything happened the way it did. Besides her little revenge plan, Ramson is plotting his own. He was also betrayed and wants to know who and why it all happened.

So much freaking betrayal happened in this book. As well as death - a lot of people freaking died. The twitter people ranted about unnecessary deaths but I claim bullshit on all of that. Yeah people died and they happened to be characters that I fell in love with.. but it wasn't like a fucking piano fell out of the sky and they just died. No, they didn't. May and Fisher died protecting a loved one. Even though their deaths happened at different times.. it helped shape both of the MC's to what they are now. Then there's Ana's brother, Luka, and that death definitely shook me to the core. I didn't see it coming and I just know that his last words spoken to Ana will definitely change her into a better person.

Throughout the book, Ana is seeing the world in a different view. Yes, she grew up in coddled in a castle. She had no idea how people were treated outside of the palace. She probably didn't care either. It doesn't matter that she was abused while living in the palace either. Once she was out and saw how her people were treated - her eyes were finally open. She wanted to fix everything that was happening.. and in order to do anything - she needed to be in power. Or at least talk to her brother, who was in power at the time.

Besides all of that, I was shipping the crap out of Ramson and Ana. There was so much tension between them and little flirting moments. I hope there's something going to happen between them in the next book because they are getting closer. They are choosing the other person instead of themselves now. Even if she chose to save her brother at one point - it's them, always.

We also get to meet a bunch of side characters. May, Fisher, Linn, and Yuri are just a couple that I'm remembering off the top of my head. I loved them from the first moment I met them. They kind of remind me of airbenders or whatever.

May was so protective of Ana. I loved her smart mouth so much because she wasn't afraid. I smiled so much when she told Ramson to shut up. Her death definitely reminded me of Rue's but her personality and spirit were inspirational. I hope I grow up to be like her one day.

Then there's Fisher, who we only really get to meet through Ramson's flashbacks. He definitely put him in his place from time to time. He was trying to get him to open up his eyes. To see how the world works and who matters and who does't. It sucks that seeing his friend die was what brought him down a dark path - but at least that path led him to start making the right decisions.

Linn was such a bad ass. When you first meet her, she is being auctioned off. After being rescued, she saves both Ramson and Ana's life a couple of times. Her wind power is freaking awesome and definitely unappreciated. I can't wait for her to be reunited with the revolution, Ana, and Ramson.

Then there's Yuri. Now him and Ana were best pals in the palace. After her escape from the palace, they run into each other at the auction. He's in charge of the revolution (or so we think at this point - haven't meet everyone yet) and he's pretty much a bad ass in his own way because he has fire power!

Overall, I loved this book. I fell in love with each and every character. I enjoyed getting to read about their journey and I can't wait for the next book to come out. I also can't wait for EVERYONE else to get the opportunity to read this book.

I will not be able to post a review during this time. This is due to recent events. I will read and write a review of Blood Heir when it is finally rewritten. I also respect the author's decision not to publish her book in the meantime.