The Tiger's Daughter

4 Stars

The Tiger's Daughter is an enchanting and mesmerizing fantasy novel with a setting inspired by East Asian cultures. The main characters are Shizuka, the niece of the Emperor of Hokkara, and Shefali, the daughter of a warlord of the Qorin people from the Steppes. Most of the novel is written in the second person, as a letter from Shefali to the Shizuka, relating their shared history that began when both were young girls. At it's heart, it is very much a love story, but it is perfectly balanced with the larger story of two kingdoms in peril - the Hokkara people dealing with famine and demons; the Qorin people dealing with the fallout of decades of warfare.

I adored so much about The Tiger's Daughter. The writing is exquisite and poetic. The world building is phenomenal. The plot is engaging. The character development is superb. And it is a beautiful complicated love story that was very believable. I was swept away by the story, completely captivated by the stories of Shizuka and Shefali and their romance.

I really only had two complaints about this book. One is that most of the characters go by a variety of different names, which was often confusing. And the second was that there were a few rather graphic erotic scenes and that is just not something I like to read.

Overall, however, I highly recommended the novel to anyone who appreciates character-driven fantasy and is looking for a book that goes beyond the fantasy norms of white men on a quest in a medieval-style setting.