This is a book about and outcast princess joining a rebellion against her own kingdom. Despite the fact that there's a blurb from Rebecca Yarros on the cover of Tiffany Wang's Inferno's Heir, if you're looking for a romantasy read (or just a fantasy read with a lot of romance in it), this is not the book for you. Instead, if you're a fan of young adult fantasy (or even adult fantasy), and you're looking for a book with a lot of political intrigue, morally gray main character, betrayals, and a twisty plot with a satisfying ending that will leave you reeling and wanting for more, then this might be the book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tiffany Wang, and Bindery Books for this ARC!

I saw a review of Inferno's Heir on tiktok and immediately ran to NetGalley to apply for this ARC. Inferno's Heir is Tiffany Wang's debut fantasy novel about a powerful princess who attempts to join a rebel group to help save herself and usurp her brother from the throne.

I really enjoyed our FMC Teia, who is more of a morally grey FMC - she reminds me alot of Jude from The Cruel Prince in the way that she's calculating and can be manipulative. It gives off Six of Crows vibe at times with found family aspects, as well as a sprinkle of Avatar the Last Airbender. There's lots of political fantasy in this as well, and honestly kept my interest the whole way through. I would say that there are parts that seem predictable, but I think it was mostly due to the fact that it's just a YA fantasy and alot of plots can feel predictable now.

Super excited to get into the sequel!

This was such a well-written, structured story (and debut!) with wonderful world-building and characters.

This story was very political. Most of the twists and turns were completely unanticipated. There is a lot of depth to the worldbuilding, and the story is complex while seamlessly fitting the YA category.

Teia, our somewhat morally grey FMC hero, is a total badass. While reading, it's easy to disagree with some of her cutthroat choices, but she's built in such a way that you understand how life has led her to who she is as a person, and you can't help but love her despite her flaws. I found myself rooting for her the entire time, even when I didn't agree with her choices. There are so many other great characters, and I particularly loved Enna, a notorious thief and somewhat confidante to our FMC.

This story is fast-paced. It has notes of found family, there is betrayal, and it is quite thrilling with loads of tension that will keep any reader on the edge of their seat.

I'm very much looking forward to where the story goes next. While some of the conflict is resolved, there's a sense of plenty more to come.

𝓣𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓴 𝔂𝓾 𝓽𝓸 𝓝𝓮𝓽𝓰𝓪𝓵𝓵𝓮𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓑𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻𝔂 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴𝓼 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓐𝓡𝓒 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓲𝓷 𝓮𝔁𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓶𝔂 𝓱𝓸𝓷𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀

Inferno’s Heir is a Wang’s debut YA Fantasy novel that is loaded with Royal politics, rebellion and self motivation.

I had a good time with this book. There is enough political gaming and scheming that it kept me interested with also a small hint of a possible romance down the line.

If you want a Princess, a rebellion and power hungry people, this is your book!

*ARC kindly provided by publisher for an honest opinion”

This book is incredible! I was sucked in right away and could not put the book down! There was the perfect amount of mystery, banter, friendship, angst... Literally everything you could want in a YA fantasy.
I loved how there was just enough fantasy that it wasn't over the top and was a semi relatable world. The plot twists had me on the edge of my seat and eager for more.
To top this all off, the writing was beautiful. The descriptions did not go overboard and only added to the world building and character building.

Inferno's Heir is about a reigning family who can control fire. Teia tyrant step-brother is about to take the throne after their father's death. Teia is a mixed race child- who can control both fire and water. Teia gets involved with a rebel group making moves to overthrow the monarchy.

This is a debut novel by the author. Requesting a fantasy arc from a debut author is not something I typically do. Good fantasy is hard to find, and I'm a tad picky.
However Tiffany knocked this out of the park. The writing was superb and the characters were everything. The fantasy elements were what I like to call "fantasy lite"- very easy to understand, and something I could recommend to someone that typically doesn't read fantasy.
The characters were well rounded and I especially loved the morally grey character of Teia. She was so real. Often the herione is so good, we get swept away in their perfections, and maybe lose a bit of authenticity in the process. Not the case with Teia.

I went into this thinking it was a stand alone. It wasn't until I was about 80% finished I realized there is no way this could wrap up by the end of the book. When this happens I'm typically dissappointed- I like a series, but like to know from the start what I'm getting into.
But honestly with this one, I'm just so excited that down the road I will get to read more of these characters and stories I wasn't even mad about it (okay well maybe a little).

This title release October 15- so available now. If you love YA fantasy/ political fantasy or "fantasy lite" I definitely recommend checking it out.

4.25 stars from me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for the advanced reader copy!

Immediately after finishing Inferno's Heir I researched if there was a sequel and if there was anything on it so far. The story cannot end here! This story has the whole spectrum of morals with its character from an evil prince (soon to be king) who likes to see how far he can go, a princess who feels like a caged bird in a fire but will never stop trying anything and everything to open that door, a master thief, and a whole host of revolutionaries (some with better reasons than others), and it all adds up into absolute chaos. It kept getting better and better!

Anyone who likes stories of magical powers, strong female leads, romantic side plots, and never knowing what exactly will be the next move, this is for you!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Inferno's Heir follows Teia Carthan, a powerful princess who joins a rebel group in an effort to place herself on the throne.

Tiffany Wang knows her way around a sentence, and that made the writing in this book one of its greatest strengths. I enjoyed how Teia was written as a sort of antihero, with a significant amount of moral greyness that made everything she did feel all the more interesting to watch. She wasn't a likeable character, but then should all main characters have to be likeable?

At the plot level, while I enjoyed generally the full arc of the story, I found the pacing a little bit slow and unbalanced for my tastes. I think, with a slower paced plot, I would have liked even more richness from the worldbuilding and the characters. That's not to say that I found what was presented in this book lacking, but I do think there was ample room for even more.

This is a solid fantasy debut, and I'm incredibly interested to see more in this world, or more from Tiffany Wang in general!

It's been a while since I read a morally grey FMC who has power and survival at the top of her priority. I think, the last time I read a character like her, it was Jude from The Cruel Prince !

Teia was a force of nature. She's cunning, brave but not reckless. She thinks and manipulates everyone around her to succeed. She even, manipulated me ! I didn't see the end coming !

I loved the rebels, the group of friends they make ! They are resourceful and I wanted more scenes with them together. I cannot wait to see what will happen next because the ending had me screaming into my pillow.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review!

This book was… fine. I liked the concept, which is what initially drew me to the novel, but the protagonist was just kind of awful— and not even in a “loveably evil” kind of way— she just sucked. The writing was also Fine, not great, not bad, but just okay.

Pity, but it will be a DNF from me. Didn't vibe with the writing style and the plot. I've read almost half a book and still don't care either about any of the characters, or the story itself. It's too slow, too much on the nose, and I've been struggling big time to get into it.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

I just capital L Loved this book. Especially the first 100 pages were perfection. The atmosphere, the bad-ass MC, the way the rebels are introduced, the sadistic half-brother ... wow. I´m keeping all my fingers crossed that there will be a sequel!

All of my thoughts of this reading experience can be found in my dedicated reading vlog where I read all four fall releases of Bindery.

This is a solid debut that fits right in with the YA fantasy you know and love. While putting some twists on the cliches we're familiar with, I didn't find it to be different enough to give more than a 3. I do think that Avatar: the Last Airbender and Six of Crows are great comps for this book, but unfortunately it just didn't quite live up to the massive success of either. I'd be interested to see how the series develops, but not super anxiously.

Thank you NetGalley and Bindery Books for this ARC Copy!

I really enjoyed this book. The balance of court politics and a heist along with an interesting magic system I had a really good time. I wish there had been more details about how the different magics in the world work, but I understand why the author didn't go into detail in this story. I feel like this was left open for another book and I am hoping that this is going to be a series, because that ending just blew me away.

TL;DR Review: A morally gray heroine, a psychopathic King-to-be, and a twisty-turny rebellion story with a lovely heist flavor.

Full Review:
Inferno’s Heir starts out strong and just keeps going!
From the first page, we’re given a very clear view of just what kind of badass we’re dealing with. Teia Carthan, daughter of a dead Emperor and his foreigner wife, may never sit the throne, but she’s willing to do whatever it takes to hold onto any power that will keep her safe from her psychopathic and sadistic older brother.
She doesn’t shy away from violence or the use of her magical abilities—both manipulating fire to torture the man who betrayed her, and using her water magic to drown him in his own blood. Not a kind soul, but living in her brother’s shadow, we can see why. There’s no doubt that when Jura Carthan takes the throne, Teia will find nothing but suffering and misery at his hands.
So when she stumbles across the leader of the rebellion that is causing her brother so much grief, she seizes the opportunity to join them—all so she can bring them down from the inside and use that triumph to gain leverage over her brother.
Inferno’s Heir follows her efforts to gain the rebellion’s trust, to implant herself as one of them, but over the course of the book, we see her coming to understand them, connect with them, empathize with them, perhaps even fall in love with one of them? And we find ourselves asking: is Teia capable of setting aside her desire for power in order to actually change her city for the better, even at the cost of her own throne?
The author does an amazing job of walking the insanely razor-thin line between unlikeable antagonist and troubled anti-hero. Teia is cold, hard, and manipulative in the beginning, but when we get to see her opening up and being vulnerable with the rebels, we can’t help but fall in love with her. There’s a really lovely brittleness and fragility to her strength that makes her so human.
There’s a nice little romantic story woven into all the action, the heisting, the treachery and manipulation, and this helps to make Teia a wonderfully relatable character. We even get the feeling that there’s a happy ending ahead, one where everyone gets what they want and the world is a better, brighter place.
But is that the ending you’ll actually get, or just another of the many twists the book will throw at you? Read the book and find out!
Inferno’s Heir was an absolutely engaging, compelling read, one I enjoyed from start to finish. Though it’s got a YA character, hard circumstances has matured Teia, so it reads like a classic adult fantasy, with some pretty brutally dark twists and situations.
Fans of Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone will love this book!

An fantastic debut!

The political intrigue and court politics of The Cruel Prince meets the action, adventure, and found family of Six of Crows.

The beginning was a bit slow, but once this book hit its stride I breezed right through.

Teia is about as morally gray as they come, and I love that about her. She isn’t overly self-sacrificing. She isn’t delusional in her optimism. She jaded. She’s critical. But she isn’t downright heartless. Which makes her an interesting, multi-faceted character, I genuinely enjoyed reading about.

There’s a romantic subplot that hasn’t been fully explored and I’m hoping we’ll get more of that in later books.

The main plot itself is a bit predictable at times. But it still had some tricks up its sleeve at the end. The book also ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Nothing too crazy, but enough to keep a reader on the hook for the next book 👀

Honestly, I’m excited to see how the rest of this story unfolds.

Inferno's Heir by Tiffany Wang is an enchanting tale filled with detailed world-building, in-depth characters, and an interesting and complex plot. The characters are the best part of the book in my opinion, they are very well developed and each have their own depth which makes them easy to love and relate to. There is also political intrigue, alliances, betrayals, and plenty of action scenes woven into the story. There was only one thing that I didn't enjoy and that was how rushed the end of the book was but it didn't outweigh how much I loved the rest of the book. Overall, Inferno's Heir is a well paced novel that will completely engross you and make you want to continue reading, I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys morally grey characters, elemental magics, dealings, and found family.

I was initially very intrigued by the description and cover of this book. I thought the writing was very well done but the story itself just did not hold my interest. At no point did i find myself craving another page, another chapter. Despite starting over multiple times, I could not get past the first few chapters. I feel the story dove right in without any chance to set up the scene properly to understand what was happening. I thought there was not enough world building overall and what we did get felt skimmed through so it made it very difficult for me to really grasp and understand what was going on the entire time. I also had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. I did not find any of them stood out enough to make an impact on me. In a last ditch effort to give it fair a chance ater not being able to make it past the first few chapters, I finally decided to skim through the chapters by going for mainly dialogue but ultimately found this just was not the book for me. I appreciate the approval regardless and I apologize that I could not provide more positive feedback.

Trigger warnings for Inferno's Heir include: racism, dehumanising language, sexual assault, physical abuse, violence, weapons, death and abuse of power.
☆
☆
I'll be transparent, I did end up DNFing the book about halfway through. Not because I wasn't enjoying it but because I just didn't have the energy to continue with it.
~
I really liked what I read. I liked the writing style and the characters. It was a fun read.
~
It gave me Six of Crows vibes. It was a fun time, though I'm not sure if I'd pick up other books by the author.
•
Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC copy of this book.

Out of the 4 books from Bindery Books that I've read, this was the best. I think this is the best writing and pacing of the four. I don't read much Young Adult fantasy, usually because the age of the characters lends them to making decisions that are very frustrating to read.

Our main character is Teia, young (half) sister to the soon-to-be-king. She has the power over two elements: fire and water. It is very interesting following Teia because she's not exactly the hero you would think of. I think you could actually categorize her as morally gray. I didn't expect the story to go the way that it did or for Teia to do what she did and I enjoyed the story's deviation from the norm. I don't know if I liked Teia or really any of the characters. I think all of them needed fleshing out. I will say this also made the stakes of the story not as serious to me because I didn't care enough for the characters to worry about what would happen to them.

You still have some typical YA fantasy tropes: a love interest, although he was standard as they come. The rebellion, and our heroine getting close to members of the rebellion, wanting to take down the monarchy and a heist plot. The writing is pretty good and the story reads very quickly. I was hoping this was a standalone because there could've been an awesome way to end this story. However, it seems as if it is the start of at least a duology if not a series. I am not that interested to continue reading.

I'd recommend this for fans of YA fantasy, revolution/rebellion stories, and a morally gray main character.