Book Review - Hereditary by Jane Washington

Hereditary by Jane Washington
(Beatrice Harrow #1)
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Young Adult, High Fantasy
[Content warning for sexual assault]

“What is the most powerful force in the world?”
Beatrice Harrow was raised in seclusion, separated from the Read Kingdom and protected from the mysterious mechanisms of the other four races, but they are not as blind to her as she is to them. Even before she steps foot inside the Academy, they know her name and they know the truth about her birth. She is one of the Tainted: a mixed-breed creature with the blood of a monster, clinging to legitimacy by the genes of her human father. She is more beautiful, more powerful, and more despised than any other being in the Read Kingdom.

Her life was never going to be easy, but when fate throws her together with Cale, the troublemaking son of her father’s sworn enemy, and Hazen, the intimidating crown prince of the Read Kingdom, she quickly discovers that her problems haven’t even begun.

In a world built on status, there are lines that can never be crossed.

In a time of peace, it is inevitable that war will whisper on the wind once again.

In a land of mixed blood, a Tainted Creature can either be killed … or they can be recruited.

Amazon US | Amazon AU | Book Depository | Available in KU

Bea’s mother was a Synfee, one of the Tainted Creatures. Beautiful, evil, immortal and possibly cannibalistic, the Synfee steal powers from other races who hate and fear them. So Bea has lived in isolation her whole life because people think she’s a monster. That is until her powers become too unruly and unpredictable, and she is sent to the Academy. With a mix of elemental, glamour, compulsion and caster magic, the Professors don’t know what to do with her so she gets teamed up with Hazen - the Crown Prince who can read minds - and Cale - a General’s son with equally rare magic.

"every nightmarish quality the synfees possessed was a product of something pure, pushed past the boundaries of its own purity by the strength of the twisted synfee magic"

Bea has never had friends before, no one apart from her parents has even touched her, so she is quite insecure. She expects everyone to hate and fear her because of what she is, but those who come to know her all end up loving her. She is adorable after all. Her power mainly consists of communing with plants (not very monstrous lol), but she also starts to feel the Synfee craving for desire - which she feeds off by kissing people. Enter Nareon, a powerful Synfee who offers to help her, but clearly has ulterior motives.

"The greatest powers have the strongest draw-backs; the most crushing memories belong to the strongest people; the brightest beauty feeds the darkest hunger."

I thought the magic was really cool, but we don’t get much explanation, which is part of the plot I guess, but I really just want to know how it all works. I especially want more about Cale’s magic, as we really don’t get much explanation there at all, and he’s my favourite character because he’s funny and such a sweetie! Nareon is kinda cool too, but he is pretty overpowered and obviously up to something. I found the character development was a little lacking, mostly in the magic department because by the end of the book Bea still doesn’t really know how to control her magic at all. Come on Academy - teach them how to do stuff!

"You’re not synfee, you’re not human, you’re a threat to anyone and everyone. Your power is feared and admired; people will want you for it, just as people will hate you for it."

There’s a bit of awkward teen romance-y stuff, which I’m not really a fan of, and she likes the wrong guy dammit! Long awkward stares aren’t really my thing. There’s actually not very much romance in this, apart from the kissing to feed on people’s energy, and I’m not sure where the romance would go in the next book because there is definitely more than one possible choice.

"Humanity is a choice"

The plot doesn’t flow very well, and things tend to only get explained when it’s convenient, which I found a little annoying. The ending is a bit weird too, cool but weird, and now I have more questions and they better get answered in the next book! Not the best book I’ve read by this author (I believe this was her first book and she has definitely improved since), but I do like the world with the different races (fae, elves, humans, rangers) and the magic and the idea of the Synfee. I also like the writing style, the prose gets quite poetic at times and everything is described really well so it’s easy to picture what’s happening, even if I don’t fully understand how the magic works. 

Happy reading!

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