The Red Tigress, Ana Mikhailov, has returned to Cyrilia, but the country she once called home has fallen under a dark rule. Across the land, the Empress Morganya is tightening her grip on Affinites and non-Affinites alike.
Ana dealt a blow to the Empress when she and her allies turned back Morganya’s troops, but she couldn’t stop Morganya from gaining possession of a dangerous new weapon with the power to steal Affinities. Ana’s forces are scattered, and her alliance with the rebel group, the Red Cloaks, is
becoming more frayed by the day.
What’s worse, she’s lost her Affinity to blood and without it, Ana barely knows who she is anymore – or if she has the strength to defeat
Morganya.
Morganya’s reign of terror is close to crushing the nation Ana was born to rule. And now Ana will finally face the sinister empress, but will she survive? Will anyone? And will her Empire welcome her back to the throne, or turn her out to survive on her own.
The Affinites and Non-Affinites of Cyrilia will determine Ana’s future, if Morganya doesn’t kill her first.
My Review
Thanks to Anne for organising this blog tour and to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book.
I got this book as a hardback from the publisher, and it’s a chunky book. It will be going on my hardback shelves in the sitting room. I also bought the audiobook, because I was enjoying the story so much I didn’t want to stop because I was going out somewhere. Today (Monday 4th April) I took the physical book out with me so that I could read it between sessions at the Wellbeing Hub, and listened to it during the sessions and while walking home.
I haven’t read the first two books in this series, so I went without knowing anything other than the blurb. It’s a YA Fantasy novel, which I mostly forgot as I was reading it. Occasionally, one of the characters would refer to another as a boy or girl, meaning they must be 18 or under, when I’d been thinking of them as adults in their twenties. YA isn’t my preferred genre, but fantasy is, so I can get behind YA Fantasy when it’s well written.
This book is well-written.
The characters and their relationships are well-rounded, complex and fun. I particularly liked Linn and Kais. Their relationship is based on mutual respect, surviving difficult events together and friendship, rather than sexual attraction. They both have their own paths to walk, and they’re happy to walk together for as long as their paths are going in the same direction.
The relationship between Ana and Ransom is more of a traditional relationship for YA fiction. It’s tempestuous, they’re separated by events and pining for each other, only to find it hard to get together when they’re in the same place, because of their internal beliefs about themselves and the other person. It works out, obviously, because as much as I enjoy torturing readers with dead MCs, most people prefer HEA endings.
The descriptions of the Cyrilia are clearly based on Siberia and northern Russia, while other places are possibly based on China and Italy or a Mediterranean generally. It’s not uncommon to see a fantasy world with a Chinese or generically Mediterranean or Medeieval European setting, but Russia is unusual. Folklore and Russian history is rich and a potentially deep source for fantasy writers. Wen Zhao does a fabulous job of tapping this source while giving it her own twist. The landscapes and magical creatures, the social setting and words used are recognisable, but have a unique take in the concept of Affinites and the conflict between Affinites and non-Affinites.
There’s hints of the 1919 Revolution and the war between Red and White Russians in this story, but some of that is colour association. Ana and her troops, who want to overthrow the old regime are identified by their red cloaks, while Morganya’s Inquisitors and Imperial Patrol, who are fighting any change to the system, wear white cloaks. During the Russian Revolution of 1919 – 1921, White Russian forces were those who supported the Czar and the old regime.
I found Part 2 of the book to be very affecting. I cried quite a bit. I understand the motivations of Yuri and his Red Cloaks, and found myself deeply emotional about their rhetoric and dreams of equality and freedom. Thee development of Ana’s character as she comes around to their way of thinking, with the conflict as people are pulled between revolution and saving Ana, also brought me to tears. I was crying in public!
The final showdown between Ana and Morganya was painful, very clever and I loved the descriptions of the landscape and magical events caused by their actions.
This book was a wild ride, and I highly recommend it to fans of YA Fantasy.
Amélie Wen Zhao was born in Paris and grew up in Beijing in an international community. Her multicultural upbringing instilled in her a deep love of global affairs and cross-cultural perspectives. She seeks to bring this passion to her stories, crafting characters from kingdoms in
different corners of the world. She attended college in New York City, where she now lives. Amélie is the author of the Blood Heir series: Blood Heir, Red Tigress, and Crimson Reign.
Everything Is Better With Dragons 
Thanks for the blog tour support x