Red Tigress (Blood Heir, #2)

by Amélie Wen Zhao

[Quirky Cat]

Red Tigress is the second novel in Amelie Wen Zhao's Blood Heir Trilogy, and I have a confession to make: I'm already counting down the days for the next installment. It's that addictive.

Ana Mikhailov is the last surviving member of her family, the royal family of Cyrilia. She's gone through so much already in the hopes of taking back what is rightfully hers. And she has further to go.

With no army and little resources, Ana's best chance of defeating Morganya is to seek an alliance. Unfortunately, all of those options come with plenty of complications of their own—the sort of complications that can get people killed.

“She was Anastacya Mikhailov, blood Affinite and rightful Empress of Cyrilia. And she would fight for her people.”

It feels like I've been waiting an eternity for Red Tigress when it hasn't actually been that long in reality. It's just my impatient reader's mind speaking! That being said, this book was worth the wait!

Ana's story is one that captivated me from the very first moment. It feels both familiar and unique all at the same time, and I think that's one reason why I've been so curious to see where it leads. Okay, the infusion of magic certainly doesn't hurt anything!

Honestly, I just can't get over how wonderfully Amelie Wen Zhao has described this world. It feels real – the good and the bad, the beautiful and the horrifying. I just can't get enough of it or of the challenges that Ana finds herself facing.

“He would turn his back, once and for all, on this strange chapter of a story he’d never meant to play in and a princess he’d never meant to fall for.”

I have to confess that there is one point in this story where I broke down and cried. I'm not going to tell you if they were tears of relief, or pure depression, because edges too close to spoiler territory! But I will say that clearly, Amelie Wen Zhao's writing got under my skin and forced a connection between me and this story.

Red Tigress is a fantasy sequel that I've been waiting for, and it sincerely did not disappoint. If anything, I found myself loving this novel more than the original (is that even possible??). I can't wait to see what happens in the final installment!

Thanks to Delacorte Press and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks (of Books)