Heir of Prophecy, Analeigh Sbrana (Review by Skylar Wetzel)

Rating 3.2/5 Stars

The tropes for Analeigh Sabrana’s book, Heir of Prophecy, are off the charts creative. A girl who is the backbone of her family gets stolen by fae and finds out she might be a magical heir to save their realm. Magical war academy with found family aspects. Hot demon prince wooing her to join the dark side. Cult-like priestesses are trying to indoctrinate the initiates in the academy. This plot and depth is a recipe for a phenomenal story, but at times I found myself confused with the tone and narrative consistency. The book starts with the protective, direct and uncompromising protagonist, Audra, protesting against the city watch for not protecting the women and children of the brothels in her town. It leads into Audra’s backstory and shows her commitment and endurance to her family and their inn after the death of their mother. At this point, I was completely hooked and in love with this story, and I felt this way for the first 30% of the book. You could not have painted a better picture of the morality and depth of experiences Audra had overcome to be the adult person she is. 

The middle section of the book then moves on to the introduction to the war academy and the magical system world-building. Audra never fully gives herself in a deep and meaningful way to her new friend group, and often times speaks out more against her peers than the new oppressive institution itself. She’s aware of it and even notes the cult-like ways in the system, and yet I found her inner dialogue to be very juvenile and a complete juxtaposition to the person we are originally introduced to in the beginning. I found myself wishing to have that voice back. The magic system tied to the weather season and the world-building of the fae, humans and demons felt very original and was a big highlight of the book for me. 

This book is the definition of a slow burn and has all the elements to make it one of a kind!