Heir (Heir, #1)

HEIR is a riveting and intricately woven YA fantasy, and I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on the next installment. The story primarily follows Aiz, a young girl who grew up suffering in a small country, Quil, Helene's nephew who is the heir to the throne, and Sirsha, a magical tracker who agrees to do an unexpectedly large job. Their stories are woven throughout the book to tell of their collisions, devastations, and changes wrought as something ancient is set free and war befalls the empire.

What I loved: WOW. This was quite the read with a perfectly timed pace that brought the story together and made the many points-of-view easy to follow. The beginning of the story follows many threads as the characters are each living their separate lives. As the book continues, the reader begins to understand how they fit together and where their paths intertwine. There are many surprises and reveals along the way - and I loved that Tahir leads the reader to them but allows them to discover them on their own. There is a lot of power in the narrative and the way the story unfolds.

In terms of the characters, they were each really compelling. The reader really gets into each of their heads and understands their motives, even when they seem terrible. They felt like whole and entire people that came to life during the course of the story. Some are objectively making the wrong decisions, but their paths are so laid out that it seems how could they do anything but what they have done. They are perfectly imperfect. In addition to the main three, there are many other new secondary characters that were easy to become attached to - and the main three from the AN EMBER IN THE ASHES series all make appearances so that the reader understands what has followed - and the major roles they still play in their empire.

The themes were evocative and thought-provoking including about resources/what makes wealth, socioeconomic disparities, sacrifice and the value of such, honesty and betrayal, friendship and love - especially the strength and power of love, stories and their importance, making mistakes/ what makes a villain, and grief. This was quite an emotional read, and it is hard to step away from the lush and atmospheric world that was created. The end certainly leaves the reader eager for the next installment - this will be a tough wait!

As a heads up, this does contain some difficult content around death/loss (particularly child death)
and torture as well as some sexual content that would make it work best for older YA readers.

Final verdict: HEIR is a riveting and unforgettably lush YA fantasy that is truly written by a master storyteller. The next story cannot come soon enough!