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justdohna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent
callistag1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Genocide, Vomit, and Classism
witcheep's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
In the beginning of the book the main character Ana is an annoyingly naive, impulsive and irrational person who sees the world as black and white, divided clearly into good and evil. She has always regarded the world from the perspective of a vastly privileged aristocratic heir, which skews her thinking. Suddenly Ana is framed for the murder of her father, the emperor. Ana flees to avoid execution, but struggles to change her attitude and view of the world, even when her new position of no privileges forces her to face a whole new side to the world. I almost DNF'd the Blood Heir because how annoying Ana was, especially with her friend May.
Ramson's character is what saved the story for me and kept me reading. He is introduced as a crime lord, but it is revealed that he is actually more like a
Ana and Ramson don't always get along, but they get friendly with each other in their own ways even if they make mistakes along the way. It is fun reading her and Ana's bickering. Ramson's views on gray morality and defining choises rub on Ana as well, and she begins to try to think for herself a little more (
Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Slavery, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual assault and Death of parent
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Ramson was not the hardened criminal mastermind we were promised. He does think through his plans, but, whether it's his age or his original privilege, he is outsmarted by basically everyone he comes across. Some of his plans bear fruits, but he really does go through it, at the end of the day, despite all his planning. I did love how his character was fleshed out through flashbacks, but I couldn't get behind his overall characterization.
The same goes for Ana. She's said to be fierce and a badass, but she loses her battles often too. She doesn't have a good handle on her power and her own limitations (until suddenly at the end). Again, I loved how her story is built up, but there's definitely something missing from her.
It was so interesting seeing the Affinites' different powers. It really helped with the world building and the magic. Again, the slavery and indenturement aspect was so interesting and full of nuance in a way that breaks your heart. Additionally, the rebellion is presented in a way that you want to get behind, but also notes the impact and consequences of over correction. There are a lot of questions of morality, particularly what action goes too far? At what point is the hero a villain?
Lastly, the end was so staged. I hated how dramatic it was cause I thought of the solution immediately and it made me mad that everything was just yelling in a court room. Felt flimsy, though, again, I guess it was the age showing, in that Ana believed yelling crimes out in court would really change the tides. I don't know. This was a miss for me for the most part, but I truly do feel like this will set up the rest of the series well. I'm also curious to see how Amelie's writing improves as I go through her repertoire.
TW: blood, death, injury detail, murder, slavery, imprisonment, kidnapping, racism, drowning, fire/fire injury, death of a parent, branding, child death
Graphic: Child death, Death, Racism, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping and Fire/Fire injury
singalana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The main characters are exactly as you would expect them to be: a wilful princess and a silver-tongued criminal. As the story progresses, we get more and more glimpses into the past that shaped these characters into who they are today. Other than the two main characters, there’s a host of other characters, who all have a role to play in the story.
The story started strong with an interesting, action-packet setup. Unfortunately, I soon became tired of the structure of action packed chapters followed by slower chapters about the characters’ past. That was not the only thing I grew weary of, since these two can’t seem to stay out of trouble for two seconds. The author tried to pack so much action and so much emotion into every possible scene, especially towards the end, that it became tiresome.
I’m afraid that despite the interesting concept, the story tried to do way too much and piled on obstacle after obstacle. With better pacing and allowing the characters more time to breathe in the present timeline, this story could have been improved.
Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Chronic illness, Slavery, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
r1vana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Trafficking
Minor: Drug use
tkhenry99's review against another edition
3.25
i kind of liked ramson, kinda didn’t. i thought all the pet names were cringey and didn’t like that part of his characterization. it didn’t really seem to fit him. i wanted more chapters from his POV. he warms up to ana pretty fast for someone who was complicit in human trafficking just 4 months prior to the beginning of the story. literally spends like 3 days with her before he’s a changed man, and most of the time they’re just sniping at each other.
ana was too impulsive and that got annoying fast. i kept wishing she would be more …. ruthless? cutthroat? idk i felt like it was weird that she kept torturing people for no reason and letting them live bc she “couldn’t control her power”. i know it had to do with her whole “i can’t be a monster thing” but these are literal human traffickers?
all the other characters were so insignificant i literally did not care about them at all.
plot is unoriginal, very cliche, and suffers from having too many things going wrong. how are yaegers so rare and yet every time ana is doing something one shows up? of course theres also big scheme by the villains and secret affinites and mind control.
Graphic: Child death, Slavery, Blood, and Trafficking
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Death of parent
grace_yin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Torture, Vomit, and Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual violence
ghostlyprince's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Kidnapping and Abandonment
Minor: Confinement and Sexual violence
sqacedvst's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Blood and Murder
Moderate: Death, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Confinement, Gore, Grief, and Death of parent