Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao
In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are reviled. Their varied gifts to control the world around them are unnatural—dangerous. And Anastacya Mikhailov, the crown princess, has a terrifying secret. Her deadly Affinity to blood is her curse and the reason she has lived her life hidden behind palace walls.
When Ana’s father, the emperor, is murdered, her world is shattered. Framed as his killer, Ana must flee the palace to save her life. And to clear her name, she must find her father’s murderer on her own. But the Cyrilia beyond the palace walls is far different from the one she thought she knew. Corruption rules the land, and a greater conspiracy is at work—one that threatens the very balance of her world. And there is only one person corrupt enough to help Ana get to its core: Ramson Quicktongue.
A cunning crime lord of the Cyrilian underworld, Ramson has sinister plans—though he might have met his match in Ana. Because in this story, the princess might be the most dangerous player of all.
Full disclosure: I’m not intending to dive deeply into the uproar on Twitter that originally led to the author deciding to pull publication of her book. It’s been highly publicized so you can use Google to read more about it.
But I will say that I was interested in reading this book when I originally read the back cover copy and was rather disappointed to hear that it wasn’t going to be published. I’m glad the author has since changed her mind (it’s unclear to me if the book has also been significantly changed or not) and Blood Heir will finally be released this month!
I’m just as excited by the back cover copy now as I was when I read it originally and I absolutely adore this cover of a moody, dangerous-looking princess with an equally dangerous-looking crown. I love the idea of a Russian-inspired young adult fantasy with magic, danger, and political intrigue.
Blood Heir is scheduled to be released on November 19th from Delacorte Press.
