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A review by booksthatburn
Blood Heir by Ilona Andrews
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
BLOOD HEIR is set in the same world as the Kate Daniels books, and serves as both a sort of sequel and as a new story which can be enjoyed by readers who are unfamiliar with the earlier book. It has its own story with Julie, renamed Aurelia Ryder after she left Atlanta at the conclusion of the earlier series. One of the draws to this book is that it continues a world readers will already know, but there have been a lot of changes in Julie as a person and in Atlanta as a city so this is very approachable for new readers.
Aurelia returns to Atlanta after a long absence, magically changed and now (hopefully) unrecognizable to those who knew her before as Kate and Curran's ward. At the word of a Witch Oracle she's trying to avert a prophecy which promises terrible things for the people she loves. In addition to her powers as a sensate, Aurelia has magic learned from her (sort of) grandparents and years of physical training to back it up.
The worldbuilding does a good job of explaining things that are relevant for Aurelia, without getting bogged down in the tangled mass of relationships and events which were established in the earlier series. It presents people as they matter to Aurelia, not necessarily commenting on whatever role they played before unless it becomes relevant. This means that characters like Conrad, Derek, and Asciano (who play important roles) get far more attention than even Kate, since she's far away and needs to stay there long enough for Aurelia to make a difference.
The main plot is a combination of a murder mystery and mind games while Aurelia tries to solve the murder of a pastor who ministered to the poor in the city. Atlanta has become a much harsher place in recent years, not that it was particularly kind when Julie was a child.
A good follow-up to Kate Daniels, I'm hopeful that this will be the start of a great new series.
Aurelia returns to Atlanta after a long absence, magically changed and now (hopefully) unrecognizable to those who knew her before as Kate and Curran's ward. At the word of a Witch Oracle she's trying to avert a prophecy which promises terrible things for the people she loves. In addition to her powers as a sensate, Aurelia has magic learned from her (sort of) grandparents and years of physical training to back it up.
The worldbuilding does a good job of explaining things that are relevant for Aurelia, without getting bogged down in the tangled mass of relationships and events which were established in the earlier series. It presents people as they matter to Aurelia, not necessarily commenting on whatever role they played before unless it becomes relevant. This means that characters like Conrad, Derek, and Asciano (who play important roles) get far more attention than even Kate, since she's far away and needs to stay there long enough for Aurelia to make a difference.
The main plot is a combination of a murder mystery and mind games while Aurelia tries to solve the murder of a pastor who ministered to the poor in the city. Atlanta has become a much harsher place in recent years, not that it was particularly kind when Julie was a child.
A good follow-up to Kate Daniels, I'm hopeful that this will be the start of a great new series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Blood, Violence, Death, and Body horror
Moderate: Kidnapping, Medical content, Torture, and Child abuse
Minor: Alcohol, Rape, Vomit, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Ableism, Excrement, and Mental illness