Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Set in the world of An Ember in the Ashes, 20 years later, Quil is the heir to the throne. Reluctantly. Aiz is doing her best to fight for her people but one mistake has cost her everything as she’s thrown into prison. Sirsha is an outcast due to a crime she committed but her magic of tracking has caught the eye of someone important. In this story, three separate young adults will be on a journey of their own, but all paths will cross eventually.

*spoilers ahead*

This book was so great to get back into Tahir’s world. I loved AEitA and to see some familiar characters is amazing. With that, I could not imagine picking up this book without reading the series this is interconnected with. It relies heavily on the world building and the magic system. I loved all of the action in this book! I loved the new villain and Quil is a great MC. I don’t know if I overlooked it or if it wasn’t obvious to me, but I had to google to find out there are two separate timelines we are looking at. I kept trying to follow the story and would be so confused how Quil was in to separate places! This might be on me though. Once I had it straight in my head, it was smooth sailing from there. Tahir is a master of storytelling and her worlds and characters are so rich! Overall, I give this a 3.5/5 stars but it may change on a reread because I now know what I’m getting into!

PERFECTION.

Heir is set 20 years after the Ember in the Ashes quartet. We meet Aiz, Quil, and Sirsha as the three main protagonists. This book was well written. The pacing, the plot, the romance, literally everything was perfection. I loved the minor scenes we get with the original trio: Laia, Elias, and Helene. The plot twist in Aiz POV was so smart and well executed. The romance between Quil and Sirsha was amazing as well. Especially the fake engagement/marriage scene OHMYGOSH. Safe to say that this will probably be one of my top reads of the year and I hate that we won't get the sequel in 2025 BUT I will wait as long as I have to because Sabaa Tahir's books are always worth the wait.

Thank you netgalley and Penguin Teen for approving me for the arc! **Please approve me for the sequel!!!**

NO ONE, and I mean no one, can write a villain like Sabaa Tahir. But the villain in Heir is a covert one that made me more angry than perhaps any other villain I’ve read to date! Prepare for FEELINGS.

Heir is a new series that takes place in an interconnected world to her previous YA fantasy series, An Ember in the Ashes. Can you read this series without reading Ember? Yes. Would I recommend that? Absolutely not. For me, personally, I connected to this story MORE with the established relationship I already had with the characters from Ember that are present in this novel as well and getting to see the next steps following the resolution of that series, 20 years into the future. It was very satisfying seeing our beloved teenaged characters now as adults (though I wish Helene had played a larger part in the story out of pure selfishness!)

Though in the same word, the story that unfolds in Heir is something entirely new, bringing in new locations, magic systems, and narrative themes (specifically the corruptive power of religion) previously unknown which kept the story feeling incredibly fresh and NOT just Ember in the Ashes 2.0. What does feel familiar though, is Sabaa’s character work which is stand out in this series as well. Sirsha is no Helene, but I thoroughly enjoyed her character and can’t wait to see what comes next. I enjoyed the romantic pairing in this novel significantly more than Laia and Elias.

I had a solidly good time reading this story and will definitely be continuing on in the series though there was something I can’t quite put my finger on yet that kept it from reaching 5 stars. I am very interesting to see where this story ends up!

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read an early review copy of Heir.

Sabaa Tahir continues with the amazing writing and story telling as she releases another amazing fantasy story.

The characters were very well fleshed out and talked to each other so well. It made it very easy to root for our main character.

There were a couple slower parts that dragged just a tad but overall I found the pacing to be pretty medium and I never lost interest.

I truly enjoyed Heir and am so thankful to have received an advance copy to read and review!
I only held off on giving my full review because I realized I needed to read An Ember in the Ashes series prior to. While not entirely necessary, reading those did help add context to the world, the politics, and the characters. Without the context of the other series, Heir is still entirely enjoyable and a very nicely paced book. The character development is so good, but having the extra knowledge from the other books did help add context.
I love how all of the perspectives are written and you are able to follow to story without having to pause and figure out who is who. The story is concise, but definitely will keep you in your toes!

This is my first book by this author. As a YA fantasy, it was definitely entertaining with a good ending and the REVEAL. This is a great book to dive into that definitely evokes emotional responses. This is one of those books you will want to binge - to devour. Overall, a great start to a new series, I’m definitely intrigued for what’s to come! A book that is highly recommended. Thank you to NETGALLEY and the publishers for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really enjoyed this! I absolutely loved all the characters. Until I got to the big reveal/plot twist, I thought to myself about how much I liked all the characters and non of them were unlikeable (however that eventually changes for obvious reasons). I thought the continuation of the two series was very well done and I enjoyed seeing some familiar faces.

I am beyond grateful to Sabaa Tahir, NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group for this opportunity.

There are few works in literature that have their reader fully under their spell.

Sabaa Tahir weaves a spell-binding story about a group of people, from the most diverse backgrounds, on their respective journeys to attain a better world for their respective people. We view the story in dual timelines, where the past carries the air of an orphan character in pursuit of freedom of her people with the help of a divine force. In this process she comes across the brilliant prince and heir, who is the common thread that ties the reader between the past and the present.

The intricacies of the story makes us question, who is the real enemy? A dark force, that wreaks havoc and chaos across the world of Heir, appears to have a totem in this world who remains hidden until the very end. As the Heir of the empire sets to save his kingdom with his closes allies, he comes across an outcast, who is one of the most powerful entities with regards to the magic she carries. Can the prince trust her? What is her ultimate goal? Will she ever have redemption in her own home?

Heir is a gripping tale of strangers, each carrying the burden of expectations of their people and themselves, ultimately trying to save their world. It is a tale that resonates deeply with the eternal reality of our world, where oppressors and oppressed continue to struggle, and the choices the oppressed may face about their path to freedom. It is a masterfully written story that carries elements of magic, fantasy, anger, hatred, courage, sacrifice and a passionate romance that is neither overbearing or distracting from the ultimate story. This was one of very reads that I could not keep away and ultimately purchased a hardcopy.

I don't read fantasy as much as I used but this book was amazing and I'm excited to see what happens in the next book.

4.75 stars

A really great start to a new series!! I don't think I liked this one as much as An Ember in the Ashes, but I had a lot of fun with this. I loved reading the individual povs and how they ultimately come together as the plot develops. The romance was *chef's kiss* and I can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of the characters in the next book!

I definitely think that you're going to have to read/know the world and plot of An Ember in the Ashes because this story relies on the information from the first series.

Sabaa Tahir is incredible as always. I'm left in such anticipation of the sequel that I'm glad I read the Ember in the Ashes Series after all 4 books came out. As always, incredible character and world-building and I cannot wait for what happens next.

I have not read anything by Sabaa before so I didn't know what to expect. I was really skeptical of Heir since I hadn't read the original series too. That probably helped make it a bit slow for me to start but I think there was a really well planned plot building situation happening because I was just swept away. It had me hooked by the end. I'm still reserving judgment as a whole because I really think book two could fall flat. But I can't wait to find out.

Thank you so much to Sabaa Tahir, Penguin and Netgalley for this ARC. I attest that I am leaving my review voluntarily and honestly.

I did decide to read the original Ember in the Ashes series before reading this and I will say, I am very glad I did.
Although this can be read independently, it was so nice to see past characters in this book and see how they interact with the new characters of this book.
Sabaa Tahir is so amazing at story telling. Heir was interesting, exciting, and felt like coming back to an old friend but with a whole new light.
I don't want to say too much because I don't want to ruin anything but the twists were exciting, And I only say part of one twist coming and that was so refreshing.

An excellent read. I feel like I missed quite a bit by not reading the author's original series before diving into this title. Despite that, I still enjoyed it immensely. Heir is very well paced, the characters are fantastic, and the settings are awesome. The author did such a wonderful job of describing everything that I felt like I was with the characters every step of the way throughout the title. I was a little bummed out by the ending of the book, but I do look forward to the next entry in this series.

Despite not reading Tahir's other series, I wanted to read Heir, thinking it'd be a true standalone. While I believe the plot of this book can be understood without having read An Ember in the Ashes, I personally struggled to figure out the world and society. It's definitely not impossible, but this made it hard for me to fully understand and reasonable review the book fairly.

I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

If Sabaa Tahir writes it, I will read it. But also, the way her mind works. Twist after twist regarding timelines, and what we think we know as a reader, only to find out something else. I cannot wait until I have time to read this book again to see if I can pick up clues, if any were made, about what happened.

Heir
by Sabaa Tahir
Heir Duology #1
YA Fantasy
NetGalley eARC
Pub Date: Oct 1, 2024
Penguin Group
Ages: 16+

Aiz grew up in the slums, her people suffering under their rulers, until one day...

Sirsha, banished by her people and forbidden to hunt as her people hunt, has magic that enables her to talk to the elements and uses the gift to hunt non-magical others for a price.

The Empire's crown prince, Quil, sets out to find the enemy who has attacked the Empire, and his path crosses with both Aiz and Sirsha...


Sadly, I don't get what all of the excitement is about this book. It was a good story with a creative world, plot, and characters, but I guessed most of the who, what, and why pretty quickly because of the 'history'.

At first, I was really interested in that part of the story, until the relationship with the rest of the story unfolded, then well, I don't even think I was halfway through the book when I started to guess, and was mostly right.

The ending was too 'easy' and I wasn't surprised because I already knew there was a second book, which as of me writing this, I have no overwhelming need to read because I can already guess where it's going.

If the story hadn't been so predictable I think I would have liked it more. And I guess this is set in the same world as a previous series from this author, which I did not know about when requesting, (Grrr!) but I'm not sure if reading those first would have made a difference in my opinion.

There is violence and borderline adult content so it's not suitable for readers under sixteen.

3 Stars

2024 has not been a strong year for fantasy, but I’m so glad I read Heir.

This is actually my first Sabaa Tahir read, I’ll def go back and read her other series plus All My Rage after reading Heir.

I really like the world building and the character development of the three leads Aiz, Quil and Sircha. Each character has his/her own unique background and story, very strong side characters around them as well.

The magic each character possesses is different too, and I like one of the strongest magic in the book is the magic that lives in a story.

The book ended with a pretty big cliffhanger and I cannot wait to read the second book and see how things will end!

4.5 ⭐️ roundup to 5

It took a while to get into the book, and by this I mean months! but it was definitely worth it. The first third of the book was a bit slow, but the rest was very enjoyable (I finished the latter two-thirds in a single day!) I am definitely looking forward to the sequel because the ending was a cliffhanger and I need more!

→ Would recommend - 4.5 stars