Odriel's Heirs by Hayley Reese Chow || Review

Updated: Jun 9, 2023

Before I get into my review, I would like to give a huge thank you to the people over at BookSirens and Hayley for being so understanding when I wasn’t able to get this book read before the date I was meant to.

I received an eARC from BookSirens in exchange for a review, this doesn’t affect my opinion of the book, all my thoughts are my own and are honest.

‘The brave, burning with fire, harnessed the Dragon’s Rage’

Being the firstborn, seventeen year old Kaia is the Dragon Heir and has been given the power of flame to protect her homeland from an undead army created by a powerful necromancer. But feared by those she is sworn to protect, Kaia has been confined to her family's farm for most of her life.

When she runs away to help her father she now has to work alongside her childhood rivil the shadow heir, and a snarky cat to save the land. She must accept and embrace her gift if she is going to have any chance to succeed.

When I first picked this up, the timing wasn’t great for me. I had a lot of family problems and was in the start of a really bad reading slump, which lasted till the start of December. I think my thoughts about the start of the book was due to that reading slump as I had none of the same problems when I picked Odriel’s Heirs up again.

It was really hard for me to get into, it felt like I was reading a lot while reading none whatsoever. I couldn’t for the life of me get invested in the story, or attached to the characters, which made it harder and harder for me to pick the book up. It got to a point where I was considering DNFing it, but due to my slump, I didn’t think that would be fair. I decided to wait and try again. I didn’t end up DNFing and flew through the rest of the book.

Kaia was stubborn, hotheaded, and naive, but also kind, caring, and unsure about herself and just wanted to help save everyone, even when they didn’t appreciate it. She was a good MC to follow as you were able to see her journey to self-acceptance. I didn’t love her, but I also didn’t dislike her either.

Klaus, the shadow heir was interesting to read about because you only got to see him through Kaia’s eyes, but even then you picked up on things Kaia didn’t. He was quiet, intriguing but also very kind. Shay the cursed cat was cute, wise and snarky.

The world was interesting to read about but wasn’t completely developed, and there was just something lacking. The magic system is very unique and I really enjoyed learning about it. I really liked the creatures, they were well described and could image them very clearly.

One of my favourite things about this book was the romantic development of Kaia and Klaus. It was very natural and wasn’t rushed at all. I really liked their interactions.

The pacing in my opinion was way off. It was very fast, then slow and continued on throughout the book like that and I found it hard to keep up with all the changes. The book just lacked some depth in some areas.

There were a lot of things I liked in this book, a few things that were lacking but overall it was a fun read. Would recommend it if you are looking for a different magic system, well-described creatures and a romance that was there but wasn’t overpowering.

3 ⭐️

Thank you to BookSirens, Hayley Reese Chow for approving me a copy.