Book Review: The Tournament of Heirs by Amilea Perez

Official Synopsis:

Bloodshed is Coming

Acalan and Metztli Amos have been preparing for The Tournament of Heirs their entire lives. Ignoring their duty has never been an option. They must do whatever it takes to win, or leave their empire heirless.

It's simple.

Six Houses,

Twelve Heirs,

Only two blood bound tributes can win and bring home victory.

Acalan has a duty to the empire he will inherit, and his sister Metztli has to make sure to keep Acalan alive long enough to see his rule come to fruition. Together, both siblings must compete in The Tournament of Heirs, but nothing in the empire is quite as it seems, and destiny has plans of it's own.

Only one thing is certain for the two heirs of the House of Life.

Sacrifices must be made

I have been looking at this book for a while, and it was finally time to open it! I was immediately intrigued when I saw the Aztec inspiration that went into this book, especially when it was compared to The Hunger Games.

Metztli is a strong female lead, who is the second heir to the House of Life, and her mission is to keep her brother, Acalan, safe while they participate in a tournament put on by the Gods every 25 years. Their father being the last winner means there is a target on their backs, and some of the heirs to the other houses are vicious, raised to be the ones to win the tournament by their own families. This tournament is to the death, as a punishment for a war against the Gods from the distant past. The House of Life is in predicament, Acalan and Metztli are the only heirs, and one of them needs to survive in order to take over. Acalan is not a fighter, he is deeply connected with the Gods and learning, whereas his sister is a warrior, built to fight with a reluctance to the Gods.

As the days tick down to the tournament, the rest of the houses come to their home. Metztli meets the heirs to the House of Blood, Necalli and Coatl, and is immediately put off by Necalli and his instance on annoying her whenever he has a chance. When Acalan learns of a prophecy that means his sister has to win in order to stop this tournament from happening again. Now, both siblings are trying to make sure the other survives, while also being placed against heirs they have never meet. As the tournament continues, they are placed in situations they never expected, including an alliance with the House of Blood.

The book is well written, with a lot of mythology built into the character's actions. Told in dual POVs between Metztli and Acalan, there are moments where you can see the secrets the siblings are keeping from each other, and how that impacts their trust and relationship. The dual POV definitely helps this story and we get to know a little bit more information because of it. I enjoyed how stubborn Metztli can be and how determined she is to protect her brother and the legacy of their house. I also liked learning about the other houses and am intrigued to see how they manage to work together in the next book (without spoiling the ending).

My biggest issue with this book was how long it took to get to the tournament itself. I appreciated a lot of the background information, but it took until over 45% of the book to enter the tournament itself and I really wished there was more time spent within the walls of the pyramid. Though the anticipation and knowledge we gained from the beginning of the book was helpful, it felt at times was it was just going on and on. I would have liked to see more of the action, or even more conversations about the prophecy that mentions Metztli, as I don't recall hearing much about it since we switched between the two siblings point of view a lot. We also learn at some point that the House of Blood is deeply ingrained in the prophecy as well, but in order for the Gods to not catch on they can't always talk about it, which I think didn't help with understanding a lot about the prophecy as the reader.

Overall, I liked how the characters were written, even with feeling lost at times, I found that I was immediately attached to the characters and wanted to see their survival in this vicious tournament. I liked how the novel had a basis in Aztec mythology, which is definitely a new mythology to see within novels. The book itself also has some aspects of romance, with both Metztli and Acalan finding people they find attractive and deciding to act on those feelings. I liked how the Aztec beliefs and histories worked into the novel. I think that gave a really neat background to have this tournament to the death with the heirs. It meant having a lot of different weapons and methods of fighting that aren't often seen in some of the newer novels.

Overall, the book has a slow burn, enemies to lovers romance, but the romance itself is not at the forefront of the story. There is a moment or two where the feelings are definitely known, but there is a lot happening for the characters and romance is hard to build into that. This book is the beginning of a duology, with the second book out now, and I'm excited to see where the story progresses after that ending. The book is indie published by a Latinx author who has another book coming out soon! I'm excited to see how the author's writing also improves and grows in the next books as well.

I would recommend this book to anyone who doesn't mind a slow start and is interested in Aztec mythology. There is a lot of action and bloodshed, so be prepared for that. Any romance is semi-open door, with 'fading to black' before anything too detailed happens.

I rated this book 3.5 / 5 stars!

The Tournament of Heirs and its sequel, The Reckoning of Heirs are available right now!

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