3.75 stars

I was super curious to read this since I'd been seeing so much about Bindery Books online! If you're a fan of "Six of Crows" and "Throne of Glass" this is definitely up your alley. It's the first in a series, which I didn't realize until I got to the end, though (how does this keep happening to me), so be aware of that. 

We're following Teia, a princess but also an outsider, as she struggles to survive in her malicious half-brother's court after their parents' deaths. A rebel group is threatening the crown, and Teia's plan to save herself from a deadly arranged marriage is to infiltrate the rebels and turn them over to her brother. However, once she's met them, the rebels aren't so bad. And, actually, they have some good points... What ensues is a morally questionable heist and the choice between a coup and a betrayal. 

I enjoyed the world-building and magic system here and wished we'd gotten more about it, as the elemental magic and politics tied to it were fasicnating and unique. I'm assuming that'll come into play more in the sequels. I wasn't super connected to any of the characters in particular, but the plot was fun and fast-paced, and the last half of the book was wild. If you're looking for a new fantasy world with found family, interesting politics, and questionable moral choices, this one's for you. Thanks to NetGalley, Bindery Books, and the author for the advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this! can't believe that this is a debut. I felt like the story was well paced and I thoroughly enjoyed the characters. I am excited to see what Tiffany Wang creates in the future!

This was unfortunately not a winner for me! I ended up dnf’ing at around 40% because I felt the world development was rushed and felt too YA for me. Such a cool concept that fell victim to a lot of familiar tropes

This book was all sorts of amazing! Congratulations on such a great debut book!!! I couldn't put this down. There were all sorts of twists and turns, one of two i see coming, but i was surprised on others! Can't wait for more books set in this world!

This book caught my attention immediately and didn’t let go! The characters were intriguing, and the story moved along at a fantastic pace. I particularly enjoyed that it wasn’t clear how the story would be wrapped up- there were multiple ways it could have gone.

I am eagerly anticipating the next book in this series, and frankly anything else that Tiffany Wang writes!

I enjoyed Teia's cutthroat scheming by joining the rebels in hopes to remove her evil half-brother Jura from the throne. During Teia's journey with the rebels, she ends up befriending them to the point where she second guesses her true intentions and debates what would be the best option for her kingdom. I am curious to see if there will be a sequel and if so, how Teia's decision will play out. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

Many YA fantasy books market a morally gray lead character, and many ultimately fall flat. However, Teia truly lives up to being the self-preserving, disagreeable, morally grey character I want to read about.

Unfortunately, the other characters' overuse of sarcasm and hypocrisy (or perhaps willful ignorance?) lost me. This youthful naivety, which results in hypocrisy, amongst some characters was frustrating to read because it felt unrealistic in the context of a violent rebellion.

I agree with other reviewers that perhaps this is not the book for me at this time. That noted, I can see the book's popular appeal and wish all the best to the author.

Thank you, Bindery Books and NetGalley, for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Teia is a princess, and she’d do anything to stay alive. And she has, especially with her brother Jura’s attempts to assassinate her. But things are getting even more dire with Jura’s upcoming ascension to the throne. When Jura moves to quash a rebellion, Teia sees an opportunity to ingratiate herself with the rebels and turn the tables on her brother.

This was a really fun fantasy. Despite how popular the “morally gray” trope is, it’s genuinely rare to see a morally gray character rather than just an evil, sexy one… especially a protagonist! But we get that with Teia, and it’s both off-putting and refreshing. Another reviewer commented it feels a bit like we’re reading the book from the villain’s point of view. It’s true, there are points at which Teia does feel like the villain, but I think it’s a fun change from the standard Mary Sues that pervade the genre.

The story itself is a quite fun heist story. The world building is more fleshed out than I usually see in a YA fantasy– a nice surprise that I hope influences the rest of the genre. I especially appreciated Teia’s perspective as a dual-race character and how we see how she’s treated by others.

I should mention that this is clearly the first book in a series.

Highly recommended if you like YA fantasy and heist stories like Six of Crows, Heist Society, and The Inheritance Games.

I struggled a lot with this book. I really couldn't get into it. I absolutely loved the political aspect of it, though. I unfortunately didn't finish it. I'm wondering if it just wasn't to right time for me to read this book. I would love to try again some time in the future.

What an incredible Debut novel for Tiffany Wang. This story was fun and easy to read. This is perfect for anyone from younger readers trying to get into fantasy, all the way to well read readers who enjoy an easy YA Fantasy. Overall, I really enjoyed this story, it was a fast read. The beginning felt a little slow and the ending a little rushed, but nothing too uncomfortable when reading.

I just finished this debut novel, and wow, what a ride! It combines the political intrigue of The Cruel Prince with the action and found family vibes of Six of Crows. There is some necessary world building that may slow some readers in the beginning, but once it hit its stride, I couldn’t put it down.

Teia, our morally gray protagonist, is such a fascinating character. She’s jaded and critical, yet there’s a depth to her that makes you root for her, even when you don’t always agree with her choices. I loved how flawed and real she feels. And let’s not forget Enna, the notorious thief and confidante—such a fun addition to the cast!

The plot does have its predictable moments, but it also throws in some surprises that kept me guessing. Plus, it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger that definitely has me hooked for the next book.

Overall, this story is a well-crafted blend of politics, tension, and thrilling adventure. Tiffany Wang’s writing is an absolute pleasure to read. I’m excited to see where Teia’s journey goes next!

I think this was a pretty good debut! It had good characters and a very interesting ending. I do think it was a bit of a basic story, and I wish the author was a little more creative with the classic "princess joins rebel group and falls in love" trope. It is exactly what it says it's going to be, and I don't think that's a bad thing! I will probably still read the sequel, because I'm a sucker for a rebel princess.

Morally gray princess Teia Carthan blackmails her way through life avoiding the wrath of her even worse half brother and soon to be king. The rebels aka the dawnbreakers are looking to overthrow the corrupt Carthan throne, and Teia is going to infiltrate their group to get a favor from the crown… or more….

I’ll start with the positives; first of all what a gorgeous cover, I love the design and all the little details included. I find Teia to be an interesting main character. She does what she has to, to get her way, and she doesn’t care who has to get hurt along the way.

Few of the other characters really stood out to me, as most of them lacked much depth or characterization. We’re introduced to a band of rebels who naturally are reluctant of Teia at first, but fear not, a few chapters later they’re all the best of friends! They all have their specialties and quirks, but not much beyond that.

Most of this book felt like a very generic fantasy story to me. The world building was pretty shallow and the story wasn’t terribly complex. It all just fell a little flat for me. This is a young adult fantasy however, and perhaps I’m just outgrowing my YA phase, so I’d take that into consideration. Overall it was a fine book, it just didn’t stand out to me much.

POV : third person limited
Genre : YA Fantasy

Such a beautifully written YA political debut fantasy that had me flipping pages and screaming left and right. The characters are so well-written and developed that I could cry — the character relationships and banter and found family couldn't have been orchestrated any better! So six-of-crowsesque with the multiple heists! The plot twists??? SO UNEXPECTED AND INSANELY CRAFTED.

Our low-key morally gray main protagonist Teia is snarky and intelligent and it is so intriguing to stay in her mind! Jura on the other hand is so disgusting I almost retched, goddesses, what is this man made of????

I am looking forward to see where Tiffany takes this series because the possibilities are endless and the plot is SO intriguing and I'm in love with this world. Alsoooo looking forward to seeing where the romance subplot goes because JWXJXJUCJSJAOAOXOXOSIXKSKKSKS

Also that cover is SO beautiful I'm so getting a physical trophy T-T

(Thank you to Bindery Books & Netgalley for an e-ARC in exchange for a honest review)

This book is simply boiled down to this: princess is trying to save herself from her half brother's evil and sadistic ways, and his future he has planned for her. The princess does her best to join the rebels who hate her brother/empire, complete an impossible task, and over throw the crown before her fate is sealed to marry an old fart. Of course she finds herself with internal conflict of right versus wrong, and finding unlikely relationships.

My sentiments while reading this and afterwards? Blah. This story and writing falls flat. The dialogue is dripping in sarcasm at pretty much any character interaction. YA can be more than just sarcasm. The main antagonist is very one dimensional, sadistic. The FMC, her back story seems lacking. Yes, a "halfling" in her kingdom, but what happened in her past does not seem enough to spark this level of vengeance/ruthlessness at times.

I had expectations that Inferno's Heir would be at least an average, middle of the road level story. However, It seemed to fall a little short of even that. It is possible that book 2 will be different so that the characters and story will shine through. If political intrigue, romantasy lite, FMCs, found family, magic/fantasy is your thing, then I would read this.

2 out of 5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and Bindery Books for this opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

I will be posting to socials, GR and storygraph.

I forgot to give feedback for this one, but I really love the cover, and I can't wait to read it when my TBR gets less unwieldy!

Enjoyable and fast paced YA fantasy! I enjoyed the main character and thought her characterization and development throughout the plot was well done. An appropriate amount of world building, but definitely more of a focus on court politics and plotting than magic. I really enjoyed the first 75 percent, but really ended up not enjoying the ending and that ruined some of the enjoyment for me. I feel Teia’s choices at the end of the novel were completely misaligned with the character development throughout the rest of the novel. I do enjoy a strong female character who is a powerful negotiator, so I definitely enjoyed that aspect of the book. Overall solid, and will considering reading a sequel.

Thank you to Bindery Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this one! Elemental magic at play, drama, not one but TWO prison breaks?! So exciting. The characters were well developed and I loved the pacing- I was figuring out what was happening behind the scenes right along with Teia in real time.
I guess this is a YA book so I can understand why nothing explicit happened between a couple of characters that were CLEARLY pining for each other. But I was still sad that physical connection didn’t happen. Maybe next book?
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

A fantasy rebellion with strong female leads. An emotionally intense story that was nice! However, the pacing felt off, and at times (at the end), it felt like more was happening that we didn't get to read.

My jaw is on the floor!! This book was so good and so refreshing.

This story is about girl named Teia with an absolutely evil half brother, Jura, who is about to become king. Jura plans to marry off his sister to the most awful yet noble person he could find in order to get Teia out of the castle (if he doesn’t kill her first). Teia decides to take matters into her own hands and starts to work with a group of rebels to escape her fate.

The first half of the story took me a bit to get through. The world building was done pretty well so I’m honestly not sure why the first half seemed slow to me. The second half really picked things up and we got a few awesome heists and I fell completely in love with the side characters, especially Enna.

The last 10% of this book really surprised me. I did not expect Teia to do what she did and I have so many mixed feelings about it. Part of me was heartbroken by her actions yet somehow I still wanted to root for her (because she’s a genius bad ass).

I will be anticipating a book 2!

Thank you to Bindery Books, Net Galley, and Tiffany Wang for an eARC of this amazing book.