Odriel's Heirs

Odriel's Heirs is a 2020 young adult high fantasy novel by Hayley Reese Chow. It is being self-published by the author and is scheduled for release on March 1, 2020. The e-book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon and you can purchase it here.  The author provided me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The novel's blurb reads as follows:  As the Dragon Heir, seventeen-year-old Kaia inherited the power of flame to protect her homeland from a godlike necromancer’s undead army. But after centuries of peace, the necromancer has faded to myth, and the Dragon Heir is feared by the people. Persecuted and cast out, Kaia struggles to embrace and control her seemingly useless gift while confined to her family’s farm. But when the necromancer’s undead terrorize the land once again, Kaia runs away to join the battle. With the help of her childhood rival, the handsome Shadow Heir, and a snarky, cursed cat, Kaia must figure out how to control both her fire and her confidence in time to save Okarria. If she fails, she will sacrifice her family, her new friends, and the enchanting world she has only just begun to see. And time is running out.

Before I discuss what I think of the story overall, I'd like to talk about the characters within the story. Kaia is the main character, and our point-of-view character, for the novel. I liked her character, I enjoyed her growth as a character from a girl who's unsure of herself and her powers to a confident and powerful fighter. She had fears and doubts and agency which made her story compelling. Even when she did things that frustrated me, it didn't make me stop liking the character, I just didn't like the choice she made. Best of all, she's a seventeen-year-old character that reads as being a seventeen-year-old. Along her journey, Kaia encounters, and the reader is introduced to, an array of colorful and interesting characters. There is Klaus, the Shadow Heir, and Kaia's childhood rival. At the beginning, he mostly serves as a foil to Kaia as she struggles to gain control. She's unsure of her abilities, while he's confident in his. She's optimistic while he's most pessimistic. Their relationship at the beginning can best be described as "playfully antagonistic"; they aren't friends but for the most part, their fighting isn't serious. Klaus is a well-rounded character in his own right, having needed to come to terms with his own abilities long before the current crisis arose. I liked Kaia and Klaus, but my favorite character by far is Gus, Kaia's ragehound, who serves as a quasi-therapy dog making sure that Kaia keeps her emotions in check. Because as the Dragon Heir, Kaia sometimes experiences something called Dragon Rage, which is pretty self-explanatory. Gus is a good boy and deserves nice things. There are a number of side characters that I could discuss, but it would take me a long time to say what I need to say about all of them. Overall, I liked the diversity with these characters. I liked the fact that characters didn't drop out of the story entirely after they served the initial purpose they seemed to have. I enjoyed the simplicity of the main villain, the necromancer Nifras, as well. He didn't have some complicated motivation where he thought he was doing the right thing. He wanted to use his Lost, the term for the undead in this world, to overrun the world and cover the planet in darkness. Villains that are evil, simply to be evil, are great when utilized properly and Chow did that here. This novel had excellent characters.

Now that I've finished gushing about the characters, let's talk about the story itself. Reading Odriel's Heirs, it's easy to see what works inspired this world and this story, and there's a great deal of variety within that pool. At the same time, while the author took inspiration from Tolkien and others, the story is its own and not an attempt to retread old grounds. I liked the world-building overall, in that there was some information given about specific groups and races, but not everything was spelled out. The reader was able to fill in the blanks and create their own vision of parts of this world. I enjoyed the plot of this novel because things escalated in a way that makes sense. Kaia leaves home to save a handful of people, which turns into needing to save a village and that snowballs into needing to save the world from the undead. The stakes keep getting raised, but they aren't going from very low stakes to extremely high stakes right away. I appreciated that all fight and battle scenes were giving an appropriate number of pages to take place. Short fight scenes didn't run as long as the battle that's going to have more lasting and widespread consequences which is exactly how it should be. Most stories have several plot twists, with some being smaller than others, and this story is no different. I don't spoil books as a rule, and I'm definitely not going to ruin the plot twists of a book that, at the time that I'm writing this, hasn't been released yet. What I will say is that the twist that happens towards the end of the book surprised me in the best way. I didn't see it coming, but on reflection, I could see the hints and pieces of foreshadowing that preceded it. Overall, the novel has a good, solid plot with some fun surprises thrown in.

One of my favorite parts of this book relates to Kaia's character arc, but I wanted to discuss it on its own. That is the focus on problems Kaia faces due to her being the Dragon Heir. Inwardly, there's a great deal of self-doubt and struggle she faces with her role as the Dragon Heir. In-universe it's explained that only the first-born child of the Dragon Heir will inherit his or her parent's gift. Kaia's father is the Dragon Heir and she is also the Dragon Heir because she was born six minutes before her twin brother. One of her biggest struggles is dealing with the fact that, maybe, her brother should be the one with this gift. She wonders if she's going to be enough to stop Nifras. Is she able to live up to the destiny she's supposed to fulfill? At the beginning of the story, she's not sure that she can. She messes up, she fails and she has to learn not only how to use her gifts, but why she's meant to be the Dragon Heir. Aside from Kaia's inner struggle, there's also a degree of outer conflict around her gifts. Normal people are scared of Kaia, scared of what she can do. Even as a child, people were wary and cruel to her. Through a few short interactions, the reader gets to see what the downside to being a Chosen One is. Or what it's like when the people you're meant to defend and protect don't actually want you around to do that. I found the focus on Kaia needing to accept, but internally and externally, that she is the Dragon Heir and that she isn't meant to be normal, to be interesting.

While I enjoyed the book overall, there are a few pieces of criticism I need to share.While the novel has a good, solid plot, the pacing needs a little bit of work. It's a bit too fast-paced in certain parts, making it easy for a reader to get lost or need to go back and reread to figure out what's going on. I liked Chow's writing style overall, but there were some aspects that are indicative of this being a debut novel. Mostly, this was when she told the reader things rather than showing it. This is her first novel, and as a debut, it's excellent, but occasionally, I came across things that reminded me of it being her first novel. The third, and final, criticism I have is about the romance in the story. I didn't think that the romance was bad, but it was a bit predictable. It was predictable, which isn't necessarily bad, and it somewhat relied on a trope that I don't enjoy reading. However, the romance didn't overshadow the rest of the story, so while I'm so-so about that, it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment. 


I loved this book more than I expected to. It told an amazing story and it doesn't read like an author's first novel. While not perfect, it's a solid, enjoyable story. I recommend it to any fantasy reader that finds the premise intriguing. I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel's release, which doesn't have a release date, but the author has announced that there will be one. I'd like to thank Hayley Reese Chow again for providing me with an advance copy of novel so that I could write this review.

Rating: 4.7 stars

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Blogtober Day 2: October Releases

Like any month, October has a lot of new books coming out. I've decided to share three that I'm very excited about. I know three books isn't a lot, but I tend to hear about books through word-of-mouth after their release, so I'm a little surprised I know of any books that are awaiting release. There's also the fact that so many books come out each month that there's no way I could keep up with them all. Still, I found a list of books coming out in October, and to avoid having a list that's too long, I selected the three that intrigue me the most and I'm going to try and get my hands on.




Rebel by Marie Lu. Genre: YA Sci-Fi. Release Date: October 1st

Eden Wing has been living in his brother’s shadow for years. Even though he’s a top student at his academy in Ross City, Antarctica, and a brilliant inventor, most people know him only as Daniel Wing’s little brother.

A decade ago, Daniel was known as Day, the boy from the streets who led a revolution that saved the Republic of America. But Day is no longer the same young man who was once a national hero. These days he’d rather hide out from the world and leave his past behind. All that matters to him now is keeping Eden safe—even if that also means giving up June, the great love of Daniel’s life.

As the two brothers struggle to accept who they’ve each become since their time in the Republic, a new danger creeps into the distance that’s grown between them. Eden soon finds himself drawn so far into Ross City’s dark side, even his legendary brother can’t save him. At least not on his own

Salvaged by Madeline Roux. Genre: Sci-Fi Thriller. Release Date: October 15th

Rosalyn Devar is on the run from her famous family, the bioengineering job she's come to hate, and her messed-up life. She's run all the way to outer space, where she's taken a position as a "space janitor," cleaning up ill-fated research expeditions. But no matter how far she goes, Rosalyn can't escape herself. After too many mistakes on the job, she's given one last chance: take care of salvaging the Brigantine, a research vessel that has gone dark, with all crew aboard thought dead.

But the Brigantine's crew are very much alive--if not entirely human. Now Rosalyn is trapped on board, alone with a crew infected by a mysterious parasitic alien. The captain, Edison Aries, seems to still maintain some control over himself and the crew, but he won't be able to keep fighting much longer. Rosalyn and Edison must find a way to stop the parasite's onslaught...or it may take over the entire human race.



A Kingdom for a Stage by Heidi Heilig. Genre: YA Fantasy. Release date: October 8th

Jetta is a wanted criminal. The army wants her for treason against the crown, for the sabotage of Hell’s Court temple, and for the murder of General Legarde. They also want her for the power in her blood—the magic that captures wandering spirits to give life to puppets, to rocks, to paper . . . to weapons. They’re willing to trade the elixir that treats Jetta’s madness for the use of her blood. The rebels want her, too, to help them reclaim their country. Jetta may be the one who can tip the scales in this war.

But Jetta fears using her power will make her too much like Le Trepas, the terrifying and tyrannical necromancer who once held all Chakrana under his thumb—and who is Jetta’s biological father. She’s already raised her brother from the dead, after all. And scared off Leo, the only person who saw her as she truly is. With Le Trepas at large and a clash between the army and the rebels becoming inevitable, Jetta will have to decide if saving her country is worth sacrificing her soul.



Those are my top 3 October book releases, what are yours?

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