Blood Heir (Blood Heir Trilogy, #1) by Amélie Wen Zhao
Published by Delacorte Press on November 19, 2019
ISBN: 0525707794
Pages: 455
Genres: Fantasy, Folklore, Horror, Romance
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Goodreads

A YA fantasy set in a world that reminds me of historical Russia. The main characters are a princess and a con man who are both trying to hide from their pasts and their feeling towards each other. I would recommend this book to teens 14-19 who don’t mind a little bit of gore mixed in with their romance. If gore isn’t their kind of thing then I would steer them away from this choice.  Also, I would like to take a second to address the controversy surrounding this book. Before this book was published some reviewers found this book to be racists and posted online reviews saying as much. This led to people boycotting the book and partaking in online bullying of the author. I read this book and did not find it to be racist or offensive. This of course is just my opinion but I will definitely be adding it to the library’s collection.

Reviewed by Sophie Gagnon, Skidompha Library, Damariscotta