Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

That’s IT. I have confirmed that Sabaa Tahir can do no wrong and every book she writes is a BANGER. NO NOTES. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE.

Every moment of this book I was on the edge of my seat. I could think of nothing else. Tahir KNOWS how to write a fantasy story that will tear your heart to shreds and leave you wanting more, literally begging her for craps.

I need more time to sit with this story, but it was just phenomenal. I cannot WAIT for the next book!!!

CW: blood, violence, war, death, murder, child death, injury/injury detail

Aiz - defintely the tragic figure
Quil - royal and human
Sirsha - outcast
A religious legend
So well written - just a joy to read. Intense. Magic. Corruption.
Absolutely looking forward to the next book.

This book was honestly not what I expected. I love it when an author throws us into a fantasy world and creates events and occurrences that wow us and keep us turning pages, but unfortunately, this book did not have that. It just seemed very long, drawn out, and boring. I am writing my review days after reading the book, and unfortunately, I'm finding it difficult to recall what exactly happened and each character's storyline. Overall, I felt it was underwhelming and not quite for me. 2.75 rounding up to 3.
Thank you NetGalley, Penguin Group, and Sabaa Tahir for this read.

Whoever approved me of this arc-- I hope you always have the cool side of the pillow, you only have green lights, your beverages are the perfect ratios and temperatures, and anything else wonderful you can think of.
Ember in the Ashes series owns my soul and I was nervous going into this continuation. I don't know why--because Sabaa Tahir does not know how to write a less than stellar book. Now, it IS different in the sense this book had much more romance than the other series (uhm, I melted a handful of times) and I do not know how I feel being attracted to Quil since we were there for his birth in the other series...haha.
But truly, I cannot wait to see where Tahir takes us in book two and how else she will make us want to cry into our pages.

It's tough for a writer to take a finished series, continue it with a new series, and make the new series just as good as the original series. Sabaa Tahir accomplishes that here. I enjoyed Heir just as much (if not more at some points) than the An Ember in the Ashes quartet.

How does Tahir do this? She expands on her world. Some of the story takes place in The Empire, but Tahir expands the map of her world south and we learn a lot about new countries through characters traveling there or being from them. Tahir's strengths with this book also lie with the 3 POVs we're reading from. All 3 of the characters were easy to empathize with and root for.

The last 20 pages had me screechingggg!!! While it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger (as any first book in a duology does), the ending was still so satisfying. While I am psyched to know what happens next, I am also satisfied to wait for Tahir to make the sequel as great as possible.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this one! There was so much complexity and intricacies to the world building that I felt immersed. The different POVs were each unique and well developed and I liked how they intertwined as the book went on. My only complaint is that this would have been better if I had read this author's previous series. This is marketed as a standalone but I still feel like there were a lot of references and context I missed because I hadn't read the previous series.

Sabaa Tahir enjoys torturing us, doesn’t she?

What I liked:

I love that we got parts with Helene, Laia and Elias, but that the story really centered on the next generation.

I missed being in this world, and I am so happy we get more of this world with this series.

The pace of this book was perfect for me, especially on audio. I was hooked and really didn’t want to stop listening.


This may just be a favorite fantasy of 2024 for me.

I was so excited to get this book from NetGalley and I’ve waited months to talk about it. To say it was good is a huge understatement. I loved this book so much!

You all know that I enjoyed An Ember in the Ashes. This book is set in the same world and we do encounter some of the main characters briefly (Laia, Elias, Helene), this could very easily be read as a standalone. Except that it’s the beginning of a duology in which I need the second book NOW.

I absolutely loved our three main characters, but I mostly loved the two female leads. Don’t get me wrong, Quil was a wonderful character as well and I really enjoyed how he had such an inner conflict as to his status and place in the power structure of this realm. But Aiz and Sirsha – I do love some kick ass heroines, especially morally gray ones. We first meet Aiz when she is literally trying to kill someone! Yes, he deserves it, but still! I also really loved Sirsha’s backstory and her amazing tracker abilities. Her growing relationship with Quil was also very sweet, as neither one of them are particularly good at trusting people.

It was just so nice to sink back into this world again. Sabaa Tahir is an amazing writer and her world building, magic, characterizations, etc. are always so brilliant. This is a duology, according to GoodReads, but there is currently no information about a second book and when it might be released. Which is sad, because the ending of this one felt very ambiguous and I really need to know more.

I love Sabaa Tahir's writing, and this book did not disappoint! This was Tahir at her best, with strong world building and character depth, an expanded world from what we got in Ember, and a new story in the universe fans love. I can't wait for the second book in this duology.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Steam Level: 🔥🔥 (fade to black)

If you've read and enjoyed the entire An Ember in the Ashes series, you'll probably like this. If, like me, you weren't crazy about the series and didn't finish it, then you might find yourself as confused as me. Yes, this had a nice plot twist around the middle that intrigued me. Yes, there was a decent, if rushed, romance. Unfortunately, there were so many references to past events, characters, places, etc. that just weren't explained for new readers. This left me scratching my head and uninvested. Yes, it's my own fault for requesting an ARC before finishing the first series, but, in my defense, the book isn't marketed in a way that makes it clear you need to have read the previous series. Oh well, I tried.

Three characters, three interwoven storylines, and all the reasons I love @sabaatahir -even when she puts her characters through absolute hell! I loved this book! I LOVED seeing familiar faces from the Ember Quartet! I enjoyed the immersive writing style and storytelling! I knew this would be a hit for me since I loved Ember so much, and it absolutely was! (How many exclamation points is too many?) When I first started Heir, I was worried I might not be in the right frame of mind for fantasy, but page by page the story grabbed me more and more until I couldn't stop. How long do I have to wait for book 2? Heir takes place in the same world as the Ember Quartet, and while I think you could enjoy Heir without reading the Ember books, I definitely recommend reading them first- 1. Because I love them and 2. Because it lays the groundwork for some of the side character backstories. Heir is a young adult fantasy, 16+ for violence and some very mild Sexual content

“𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙗𝙮𝙚. 𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠. 𝘽𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙚.”

I knew this book was going to gut me. And @sabaatahir delivered. I loved being back in the AEITA world. I knew the book was going to have us be in proximity to Elias, Laia, and Helene and it did. However, I really enjoyed Quil and Sirsha POV’s!

I loved this book so much!!! There are very few authors that I would trust enough to pick up the first book of a duology. This author is one of them. Did she gut me and leave me heartbroken? Yes. Did it kill me to end on this cliffhanger? Also yes.

I cannot wait for book 2! If you loved An Ember in the Ashes or any kind of fantasy then you should definitely pick this one up!

Thank you @prhaudio and @penguinteen for the complimentary audiobook and ebook!

4.5 stars

WOW! This started off my October with a bang. The only other Sabaa Tahir book I’ve read was All My Rage and while I loved it, it’s a completely different genre so I wasn’t sure what I would think going into this. The start was a little slow as we are introduced to the 3 main characters but a good slow if that makes sense. I was invested right from the start. As the 3 stories begin to come together and the action began I could not put it down. So many twists and turns and an ending that left me completely stunned. My only complaint was I thought the last quarter of the book was a little drawn out. I can’t wait for book 2 and will be starting the Ember in the Ashes series ASAP! I loved the full cast of narrators. I started the eBook one morning, and then listened to the audio on my way into work and never looked back, the narrators brought the story and characters to life and made it easy for me to always know which POV I was listening to.

Not so funny story, I gave up on An Ember in The Ashes quartet (also written by this author) on the 3rd book, years ago. I loved the authors writing and the world showed SO much promise but the plot and characters unraveled to the point of agony. I decided to reach out for an ARC of her new book the Heir, HOPING with everything in me this book would would be the come back book that made everything better again.
Wrong. Imagine my brain having a trauma flashback when THE SAME CHARACTERS were in this book or mentioned. I said, "Nope she did not try to build off her other book. Please no. Please be original."
She did guys, she did. This book is set about 20 years after An Ember in the Ashes. I fought through until the end because I HAD to give this author a shot to prove me wrong.... I was so disappointed. This book has the exact same plot holes and needless YA Tropes that made her last series a DNF for me. On the other hand, I am thankful I even read one book of the last series or absolutely nothing would have made sense. She jumped straight into the world with no explanation. Overall the verdict is a big flop. So much for being a big book of the year.
Sigh... hoping this doesn't put me into a reading slump 😪

I feel like I'm coming up for air after reading this book; I absolutely devoured Sabaa Tahir's masterful writing and weaving storyline. I LOVE books with multiple character POVs, but Tahir really threw me through a loop with an added time jump, which pulled me in even more. Just when I thought I knew exactly how things were going, I'd be proven wrong, and the predictable pieces were written well enough that I didn't care that I knew the storyline. The world-building was phenomenal and the character development created a longing to know each character more - I found myself screaming at the book like one would with a scary movie: "DON'T GO INTO THE DARK, CREEPY PLACE." 1000/10 you must read this book!!!

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Penguin Group, and Sabaa Tahir for allowing me to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

There is nothing that makes me happier than an all-encompassing fantasy novel. This book has everything. The world building was done well and it was easy to get swept up. I loved each of the places that we were taken in the story. It took me a minute to really get the characters straight and keep the storylines straight but once i got me bearings i was absolutely hooked. I couldn't put this book down! I loved the characters and found myself really invested in their stories. There were so many twists and turns in this epic adventure and that ending!! I cannot wait for the second book and look forward to re reading this one before the second comes out!

The lives of an orphan, an outcast and a prince intertwine on a journey. While one is running for his safety, another is searching for a killer and the other is searching for answers.

This story starts 20 years after the ending of the Ember in the Ashes series. (I love that series but I don’t feel it is necessary to read before reading this). A predator is killing children and the individual journeys of Aiv, Sirsha and Quil give us multiple angles which presents a compelling story. They are easy to like and root for.

The story was full of exciting reveals and great characters. Even the side characters were great additions. The big reveal is one I didn’t expect but I think most will love this one. I recommend this for fans of YA dark fantasy with a unique magic system!

AUDIO REVIEW: I love a good full cast for such in-depth stories. Each narrator did well and sounded as I believe the characters should. It was well done!

Thank you to Penguin Teen, PRH Audio and NetGalley for the copy!

The book releases October 1, 2024.

If Sabaa Tahir writes it, I will read it. Heir was SO good — a continuation of the Ember universe set a few decades after the end of the last book, with a new set of characters as the focus but visits from our old faves. I love how she writes personalities, and the magic she imagines is captivating. There’s humor and warmth, but also devastation and stark reality. And I don’t know if she intended it, but I also read this as an allegory to Israel/Palestine, and the power dynamics at play. An absolute favorite, and I think I loved it even more than Ember. It’s out now and you should run to get a copy.

I loved the Ember in the Ashes quartet so I was super excited once Heir was announced. It focuses on new characters but old characters who are loved and so very dear to me also made appearances. I didn't give this five stars because I felt like it lacked something that Ember Quartet had but I still enjoyed it. Sabaa Tahir still has the ability to absolutely wreck me into pieces.

Sabaa Tahir does not miss! I have yet to read one of her books that doesn't hook me from beginning to end and completely rips my heart out and have me asking for more! Even though this story takes place in the same world as Ember in the Ashes, you do not have to read thst series to read this one but I do feel that you will miss out on some Easter eggs if you don't. I fell in love with all of the characters in this (especially Sirsha!) And the way this world is so vivid because of the way Sabaa writes makes you not want to ever leave it. The twist blew me away (and it is not where you expect it) I did not see it coming and was just amazed how Sabaa put it in so seamlessly. I'm really excited for the next book in this doulogy and cannot wait to see what other surprises that Sabaa has in store!