I’ve been eagerly awaiting Heavenly Tyrant with everyone else! And it’s finally here! Unfortunately it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me. There were elements I really enjoyed and some that left me a bit puzzled. Keep reading this book review of Heavenly Tyrants for my full thoughts.
Summary
After suffering devastating loss and making drastic decisions, Zetian finds herself at the seat of power in Huaxia. But she has also learned that her world is not as it seems, and revelations about an enemy more daunting than Zetian imagined forces her to share power with a dangerous man she cannot simply depose. Despite having vastly different ideas about how they must deconstruct the corrupt and misogynist system that plagues their country, Zetian must join this man in a dance of truth and lies and perform their roles to perfection in order to take down their common enemy, who seeks to control them as puppets while dangling one of Zetian’s loved ones as a hostage.
With political unrest and perilous forces aiming to undermine Zetian at every turn, can she enact positive changes as a fair and just ruler? Or will she be forced to rely on fear and violence and succumb to her darker instincts in her quest for vengeance?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Heavenly Tyrant is an exercise of be careful what you wish for. It’s a sequel that examines what you have to do to maintain power and control. We can have these ideas of what a better future will be like, but how do we achieve that? What innocent casualties and collateral damage do we have to accept? This has to be my favorite theme of Heavenly Tyrant. I enjoyed how Zetian explores the cost of rebellion, of revolution, of change. While this was a theme that I think could have had a few more explicit conversations, it was my favorite element by far!
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However, some of the decisions made in Heavenly Tyrant puzzled me. While I can’t get into it because of spoilers, I was surprised by some of the interactions and character choices. I’m not sure I’d go so far to say that they felt a tad too convenient, but the timing of some of them certainly gave me pause. Additionally, the ending or one of the big twists, left me reeling. Not only was it very shocking, but the amount of time we have to process it left me feeling more confused than not. There wasn’t enough time to fully detail and describe what happened. It almost felt like the book was split into a few different parts.
I would definitely read the next one – because there has to be one right?? – but this one may have fallen victim to the slump. For fans of action and battle scenes, toxic romance and the line between hate and love, this definitely delivers. Find Heavenly Tyrant on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.