Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was really excited by the premise of this book. As someone who was a major fan of kpop (and still occasionally dips my toes in), the possible exploration of alpha x omega dynamics in that setting was very intriguing. This story does a good job of setting the cultural and societal tones of the world, in which alphas are at the top, and omegas don't have as many (or any) opportunities to succeed in many fields. These are the bones of the conflict our MCs have to deal with.

Unfortunately, I struggled with the story's execution. It felt pretty rushed, and there were some vital scenes I felt were missing at least a couple of panels that would have developed the story and characters in a way that would have really benefited the story. It essentially went "you found out I'm omega, so that means we have to fuck now." I was sitting there like... what just happened? How do you come to that conclusion? I could have added extra panels or text bubbles that could have really added context to such decisions like that (though the thought process itself is so flawed I don't really know how you would). It felt like it was there purely for the sake of creating that book's conflict, and not something that was fully thought out.

The power dynamics between the two MC's were really interesting, with one being a seasoned veteran in the industry but hiding his gender, and one a rookie but an alpha. This was something that was explored a little bit, but I feel like it could have been explored a little more, especially considering the way they come together and how much these power dynamics played a role in the instigation of the conflict to begin with.

It seemed like there was a pretty good setup for the author to explore another character's story in a sequel, so I would be interested in reading that!

I don’t even know where to begin with this review. Going in, I knew I would like the book, but I decided to refrain from reading the synopsis again so I could go in mostly blind.

The Jasad Heir has got to be one of my new favourite explorations of political corruption, systematic racial genocide, and complicated emotions of love and betrayal. Sylvia is an incredibly complicated character, starting out as a self-serving individual who can’t give or accept love to anyone (including herself), to a selfless person who can’t give sacrifice their own safety in the name of love (in the many forms it takes).

I love her relationship with Arin. As someone who loves enemies-to-lovers but also occasionally hates it, this has to be one of the best additions to the trope I’ve read. One of my favourite aspects of their connection and chemistry is the fact that it didn’t blossom from a place of inescapable lust and attraction, but from the urge to conquer the person you see as an equal force, which is much more true to their characters. The amount of times I’ve read a book with this trope that was like “I hated him because he murdered my whole family with seemingly no reason and he just kidnapped me removing me from everything I’ve ever cared about, but then he took off his shirt and the sweat dripping down his abs made me completely forget everything.” It’s enough to make me want to rip out all my hair (and I love my hair), so this was a very welcome divergence.

I struggled with Arin’s character in the beginning. Before I got a grasp on what his motivations were and where he was coming from, it was hard for me to place him in the love interest role as he is a continued major force in the entity that is conducting the genocide against a whole people. He grew on my exponentially and I can’t wait to see how he progresses in the next book, but I was a little disappointed in his thought processes at the end, despite how I could see it coming and it was a valid response to the situation, so that’s very much just a me thing. I’m eager to see how his views on magic as a whole (because magic is very much what he was a problem with) evolves throughout the next book and how that impacts his relationship with himself and Sylvia.