I was so hyped for this book, I've loved following Julia Riew's music in Tiktok and I think it's so cool she and her brother wrote a book based on their grandparents. From the start I was really captivated by this story, I thought the romance was sweet and the best part of the story was Seung and Eunji's interactions, which unfortunately meant when they were separated halfway through the book lost some momentum for me. But the building revolution was well done and really let you feel the build up of frustration and hope necessary to spark that change.

I originally asked for this arc for two reasons; tigers are my favorite, and the cover looked really pretty 😍😂
And honestly, it was a great vibes choice if I do say so myself.
It starts off with this lovely anecdote about the authors grandparents and how their love story inspired the story we were about to read and each act of the book started with actual quotes from their grandparents. I thought this was such a sweet and unique touch to what felt to me a sweet and unique story that explored love, identity, justice, strength, power, and hope.
The writing style created a vibrant world and realistic characters with both magical powers and relatable problems.
While I felt the story got a tiny bit long winded in the middle, it overall was so lovely, I’d highly recommend to anyone looking for a more lowkey fantasy world, steeped in real life stories and Korean culture.

What a captivating novel. I enjoyed the personal letters from the authors' grandparents before each part. I would've loved if there were more of them. I really loved the writing style of this. The characters and conflict were clear and had the space to breathe, especially in the beginning and middle of the novel. The dual POV really worked for me especially after the time jump, and each of Eunji's and Seung's voices were so distinct which is something I really enjoyed. The world building and magic system with Dragon, Tiger, and Serpent ki was right up my alley and felt fresh and inviting. I would've liked more on the ki aspect. The pacing towards the end does ramp up quite a bit and that was startling/kinda took me out of the book, but overall a stunning Asian fantasy novel.

Unfortunately I did end up DNFing this book. I just really couldn’t get into the story and didn’t feel any connection to the characters. The pacing was odd and the world building a bit lacking in my opinion. Ultimately just not for me!

Thank you for the opportunity to read The Last Tiger by Julia and Brad Riew. I wasn’t able to finish the book, as I found the formatting and grammar a bit difficult to follow in its current form. That said, the premise really intrigued me, and I’m looking forward to revisiting it as an audiobook in the future. It’s definitely still on my radar.

The Last Tiger is an adventurous debut novel that merges the authors' grandparents love story with historical trauma and magical realism. This story was deeply moving with romance, political upheaval, and personal transformation at the center. I truly felt the weight of sacrifice, grief, and identity. The prose pulses with tension, longing, and the slow burn of rebellion. The emotional pay off feels earned and timely. The Last Tiger is ideal for readers who crave a mature YA fantasy that channels heart, heritage, and hope. 4.5/5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and PenguinTeen for this beautiful story to read and review.

What made this book truly special was how the authors incorporated quotes from their grandparents throughout the story. This unique addition provided such emotional depth and authenticity, especially knowing the story was inspired by true events from their grandparents' lives during one of the darkest periods in Korean history.

The magic system was fresh and unique, and the pacing was perfect - there wasn't a single dull moment. As an Asian reader, I found the cultural elements beautifully represented and deeply relatable. I was completely hooked from the beginning!

Elements I loved:
• Friends-to-enemies-to-lovers dynamic
• Complex political intrigue
• Rich cultural representation
• Family legacy themes
• Fast-paced plot
• Unique integration of family history

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book.

Strictly speaking, I don't think this book is bad, necessarily, but I think it ultimately was not for me.

I initially found out about this book through the author. I followed Julia a while back for something unrelated (musicals) and saw a bunch of her promo posts for this book, which looked gorgeous. I enjoy Asian-inspired fantasies, and the book promised to be a romantic story that's directly inspired by their grandparents' love story—which is really cute... but does it make it slightly blasphemous to say that I didn't care so much for the main romance in this book (sorry to the authors' grandparents), and the focus on said lackluster romance appears to have actively detracted from the world-building of this fantasy world (not even thinly veiled East Asia).

This book definitely reads a bit younger YA. I thought the writing was rather simple, even somewhat juvenile at times. The anticolonialist messaging was unsubtle but fine—I understand it's geared toward a younger audience. The magic system was just "ki" but Japan, Korea, and China each got associated with an animal power (dragon, tiger, and serpent, respectively). I didn't hate it, but I can't say I was a huge fan. It was vaguely baffling because I've always associated dragons with China and not Japan, but that could just be because I know relatively more about Chinese culture than Japanese. Anyway, that's not the point, and Japan is portrayed as an abusive colonial power, so... moving on.

The main characters, who I can only assume were modeled after the authors' grandparents—and no disrespect to them—I hate to say it, but I found them to be less compelling than the supporting cast (namely, Jin, Kenzo, and Nari). It sure was a choice to write the second male lead in such a sympathetic way that, really, I didn't think Eunji's chemistry with Seung was any better than hers with Kenzo. I mean, I get it—it ties into the story's theme that everyone is human and deserves compassion & that everyone except those at the very top are victims of an oppressive system. Which is not a bad theme. I liked the theme. I think it's a perfectly good theme for a YA novel that tackles Japanese colonialism at a surface level. I just also think the romance was very weak. The plot (defeating the oppressive colonialist regime) was kinda hand-wavey, not gonna lie. Things happen and it kinda just magically gets solved by the power of teaching people compassion... or something.

So in the end, my issue with this book was primarily (what I perceived as) its false advertising. Rather than promoting this book as a romantic story, I think it would have been better suited as a story that focuses solely on their grandparents' struggle against the colonial powers and fighting for liberation.

Unfortunately, while the premise was interesting, the writing and pacing felt quite choppy to me. I also didn’t understand the connection between the notes they chose to use and the fantasy story. Much of the time, the notes took me out of the story rather than further immersing me. Much of the relationship development was really superficial.

The story of two young people from opposite classes coming together in a world inspired by the true story of the authors grandparents. There is a parallel between the Japanese occupation of Korea with instead the Dragon clan occupying the Tiger clan. There is ethnic cleansing and economic inequality interwoven with magic and romance.

First few chapters I knew this was too young for me. I’m sadly going through a tough time with my reading and YA is not working for me and this is very YA. If you like Romeo a Juliet- forbidden romance and colonialism interlaced with Korean inspired magic I would say give it a shot!

This was such a cute story! I loved the multiple povs and motivations of the two main characters. The quotes at the start of each chapter from the grandparent’s own love story, it made the whole story feel that much more special.
The ending left me wanting a little bit more considering how fast things wrapped up but I understand word counts and it’s hard to predict what people would do.

Thank you for the arc!

Thank you Julia and Brad Riew, and NetGalley for the eARC.

Influenced by the true love story of their grandparents, this book was emotional. Forbidden love, resilience and Korean history. It was beautiful, respectful and all around great. I can’t wait to buy the stunning hardcover edition.

I was super intrigued by the premise here which involves the author’s grandparents’ love story: The worldbuilding had some really fun elements, and this is a very accessible YA fantasy story. For me though, the integration of the actual letters didn’t quite fit the story being told, as lovely as they were. They really jerked me out of the narrative. I also just didn’t find a ton unique in this one to hold onto.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me at 30%. I read YA often so the genre wasn't the issue. There just wasn't a lot happening, I didn't feel any connection to the characters and the writing style wasn't for me. I absolutely loved the fact that the authors wrote this with the intent to showcase their grandparents love story, I thought that was sweet and touching.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Disappointingly, this is a DNF at 26%. I know that isn't very far in, but I have a lot of criticisms despite that and looking at other low reviews, it seems like I would have just kept accumulating even more. First off, I was very excited for the concept itself not only being based off of the Japanese occupation of Korea but also the authors' grandparents' real life forbidden love story. I think it's very heart-warming that this book was the result of their grandfather's request and it's really interesting that the story includes excerpts of the grandparents' emails about their real experiences.

However, I feel terrible about this but that's all the nice things I have to say. This book, while not being the absolute worst I've read, is just not very good in a variety of ways. In terms of world-building and character-building, it reads like a first draft where things haven't been fully fleshed out yet and there's still a lot of placeholders left behind. I'm not talking about the fact that there's a Tiger country or a Dragon country, in fact I find those names cool and adequate for their purpose, but rather the fact that there doesn't seem to be a lot of thought behind the particulars of life within this universe. For example, the characters talk with modern slang despite this setting supposed to be analogous to 20th century Korea, using phrases like "buddy", "pro", and "relax, dude" (the last is especially egregious to me - "dude" has no place in historical fantasy unless you're deliberately going for an anachronistic comedy). Eunji, despite being a highborn noble girl, talks exactly as casually as the impoverished servant Seung with lots of "yeah" and "gonna/gotta", further making the two POVs nearly indistinguishable from one another, which is a problem when your love story hinges on the fact that the two leads are from such impossibly different worlds. There are other weird out-of-place details as well. Mondays exist by that exact name, despite Europe or fantasy Europe not being mentioned, and I would expect a story so focused on the colonization of Korea by Japan to instead use Japanese terms as would have been enforced. Taking that with the modern slang, despite the book being advertised as a lush Korean fantasy steeped in Korean history and culture, the atmosphere of the book feels weirdly Americanized or whitewashed, which seems like a disservice to the real events this was based off of. Additionally, in the last chapter I read, the light bulb and electricity are presented as new and historic, but paragraphs earlier and even later, cameras are said to be "flashing"...but if electricity and the light bulb hadn't yet been introduced to the public, how? This lack of attention to detail makes me wonder what on earth the editor was doing.

The prose and overall structure of the story itself also need improvement. There's a lot of telling over showing, particularly in regards to characters' emotions or motivations. Things are spelled out rather bluntly for the reader, and personally, I think there's an overuse of adverbs for dialogue tags (like "said warily" or "said coldly"). The authors also overuse ellipses and em dashes, ruining the flow of the scene or the character's inner monologue. The em dash usage is especially egregious during exciting scenes where things are happening quickly, and while I understand the authors' intent with making it seem as though the thoughts are cut off, it's just disruptive when used so often in one scene. In regards to the story's structure, there's a timeskip/montage of Eunji spending time with Seung as the Exam approaches, which fundamentally does not work. We are simply told how they are growing closer and how Eunji is developing as a person, and we're expected to just accept they have feelings for each other after that? For a supposedly epic love story that's based on their own grandparents' experiences, it's giving me nothing to work with. I genuinely found the excerpts from their grandparents more compelling emotionally, and I don't mean that as a knock against the grandparents' story but rather, the fantasy story needs to be on the same level if not higher for the proportion it is of the book.

I really wish I liked what I read enough to pull all the way through, but sadly, this is the fourth miss for me in 2025-published Asian-inspired YA fantasies.

Thanks to the authors, NetGalley, and the publisher for granting me this ARC!
It was such a beautiful experience to read this book with a personal touch that made it stand out.
I am glad that I could learn about these extremely dark times without feeling hopelessness. Instead, this was an educating story of growth which was profound and emotional.
All of the characters were rich and well-developed and could very much stand on their own. The main characters has a meaningful connection that developed as their characters did.
The fact they are inspired by the authors' grandparents made them that much closer to the readers.
My only complaint is that I wish that Seung and Eunji spent more time together but I understand why it was done this way. The ending was a little too neat but again I suppose it was done to focus on the hope for the future.
Overall, it was both informative and inspiring which is what I want to see in books and I would read the authors' future work.

It was a great read with all these twists and turns, I couldn't put it down.
It had a unique magic system, that I loved. With the tiger ki and dragon ki and it giving different powers.
And I also really liked the characters: Seung and Eunji and their character developments. It was a very realistic development and I loved how despite his circumstances Seung still was so kind. I also loved how Eunji became a strong female character, who wasn't a damsel in distress. And their relationship with each other was also written really great.

I really wanted to like this book, but the pacing didn't work for me. I feel like we spent a lot of time in part one with Seung and Eunji together, but with little payoff for their relationship development. When they kissed at the end of part one, it didn't feel earned to me. On the other hand, I think Seung didn't spend enough time with his family for me to feel like his father's death mattered or the impact of his mother saving for the pencils.
Additionally, I think this book, being written in first person, did not work. I found it hard to remember whose point of view I was in until I was able to see the other's name somewhere outside of the dialogue.
I was thrown off when I finished part one and saw the excerpts from the author's grandparents' story, and I thought something went wrong with my device. I wasn't expecting it. I do like that they continue to weave their grandparents' story in throughout.
Again, I really wanted to like this book. I think some of these issues come from the fact that I'm an adult reading a book aimed at a younger audience or the fact that I've read other books recently that I've loved, so I didn't give this book a fair shot.
I plan on reading this book again in the future, and hopefully my opinion will change when the circumstances are different.

This book intrigued me greatly because of its premise: two brothers writing a fantasy inspired by their grandparents' troubled and embittered love story. Of course, I spent the whole book trying to find the parts, situations and even characters inspired by this true story.

The story, thanks also to the explicit reference to the grandparents' story at the beginning of the book, seems to be set in Korea during the Japanese occupation at the beginning of the 20th century even though the two countries are never named but metaphorical and speaking names are always used: Dragon Empire to refer to Japan and Tiger Colonies for Korea. Almost until halfway through the novel, however, the narrative is less fantasy and more historical and serves to set the book and frame the two protagonists and the society (with its rules) in which they live.

The second part, on the other hand, gets us into the thick of the adventure and above all the fantasy element becomes the beating heart of the story and is no longer at the margins. In this book, fantasy is combined with folklore, with the legends of Korea and this is something I always like and fascinate.

Although there is no shortage of plot twists and in general it is a super enjoyable, smooth flowing and pretty book, in my opinion during the reading at times one glimpses that it is the authors' first book. This is especially in some narrative and stylistic choices that go in the direction of simplicity and eliminate some complexities, and in particular in the final part that in my opinion lacks that something that gives a real feeling of closure to the story, even though the ending is not open-ended.

Finally, I make a personal reflection: the strangest thing for me, honestly, was to see the narrative equivalent of the Japanese as the antagonists, the villains. Of course this is not a bad thing, since no people are absolutely positive, good and with a history devoid of acts of cruelty, it is simply the first time I read about this historical period on the side of the vanquished.

A fantastical re-imagining of Korea under the Japanese occupation, The Last Tiger examines the suffering of the Tiger Colonies under the Dragon Empire through the perspectives of a commoner boy and an aristocrat girl as they set off in search of the last tiger, the symbol of their people.

This is a story about how people of various circumstances survive under colonialism, and what they do: will they try to escape and better their lot in life, or will they take up arms and rebel? Because of their different backgrounds, Seung and Eunji have vastly different perspectives on how they should respond to their shackles, and while I did find their romance a little underwhelming, the way they would come together, only to later clash because of their differences, kept me waiting to see how it would all resolve itself.

To add some context, each chapter also comes with an autobiographical snippet from the author's real-life inspiration for this story, her Korean immigrant grandparents. They serve as a reminder that these truly were things that happen, but that there was ultimately joy to be found in those dark times.

The main thing that irked me was the 2nd male lead romantic subplot aka the love triangle. While I think that our 2nd male lead added a very compelling perspective to Eunji's internal journey and to the themes at hand, it added some love triangle shenanigans that I had enough of in the 2010s. I quite like the guy, though! He's second only to the best side character, Jin. I always love a complicated, deadly female side character with a sharp tongue and so much baggage.

I really enjoyed how this one ended, especially. Without getting into details, that was awesome. If only we could do that in real life.