Heir of Blood and Secrets by Linda Xia: Strong Female Leads, Classism, and Rejecting “Not Like Other Girls” Behavior

Heir of Blood and Secrets is a young adult dystopian novel following Scylla Delevan, daughter of a Magistrate, as her father is found to be the number one suspect of another Magistrate’s murder. In this story, we see Scylla as she embarks on an investigation to exonerate her father and uncover who truly committed this crime.

Started Reading – April 17, 2022

Finished Reading – April 29, 2022

Rating: 3.25 stars.

Despite not picking up a dystopian novel in several years, I was glad to have given this a read!

In the city-state of Devovea, behind the walls of the Castle, Scylla Delevan waits for a chance to prove herself. When a Magistrate is murdered and her father stands accused of the crime, she eagerly sets out to prove his innocence. As she races to find the real killer before it is too late, she begins to unearth dangerous secrets that could throw the fragile balance of her city into chaos. In too deep to turn back, Scylla is forced to question all she has ever known and choose between what is expected of her and what is right.
Description via Amazon

There were several factors in this read that I found incredibly refreshing and actually straightened out some things I tend to dislike in other books of a similar nature.

Firstly, we have our protagonist, Scylla. The daughter of a Magistrate, she was brought up in the comforts of finer society known as the Castle, in contrast to the slums beyond known as the Tiers. However, despite this leg up in the world due to her father’s status, she has her mother’s features, a woman foreign to Devovea who died while she was young, and has faced discrimination because of it.

Something the author made a point to emphasize with her strong female lead is that femininity does not equal inferiority or weakness. This feels like a given, especially since the remarkable rise of “strong female” characters (the pinnacle of which being the likes of Katniss Everdeen of The Hunger Games, Tris Prior of Divergent, and all the others along a similar vein), but this story illustrates the distinction between better examples of this and the often bastardized “strong female” lead. Often seen within the dystopian genre in the young adult market is a teenage girl with traditionally “masculine” tendencies being referred to as a strong female lead, when what it fails to get across is that a) “strong” relates to solid characterization, not solely physical attributes, and b) the “masculine” girls aren’t innately superior to “feminine” girls. This, of course, is a commonly discussed topic and laced with nuances of misogyny, girl hate, and far too much to be unpacked here. My point in bringing it up is to say that this novel takes care to distinguish that and it is so very much appreciated.

As usual, I’ve eschewed the fancy gowns other girls my age prefer. It’s hard enough to be taken seriously when you haven’t reached the age of majority without also introducing something as frivolous as a dress into the mix.
Heir of Blood and Secrets, page 12

Above is a section in the first chapter that had me worrying that it was going to play into the “Not Like Other Girls” trope, but I think it’s more representative of the misogynistic society and the views the people of it hold whether subconsciously or otherwise.

“If you’re smart,” I add, “you’ll get rid of the flowers. You’ll never earn the respect of your fellow guards if you don’t.”
Celez smiles a little wryly. “Or I could earn it by destroying them in physical combat. Enjoying pretty things doesn’t make me any less strong.”
Heir of Blood and Secrets, page 127-28

The way I read that is more carrying the truths of a discriminatory society rather than a personal conviction. And even if it falls into the latter, the story holds a bit more to combat it.

Something I appreciate about the dystopian genre overall is its tendency to explore classism. This novel touches on that a bit as well, though I wish I could’ve seen even more.

These neighborhoods were meant to be temporary, just a cheap place for those down on their luck to stay, but over time they’ve only grown as housing prices near the Castle rose to astronomic sums, and families without generational wealth were slowly pushed out to make room for the moneyed.
Heir of Blood and Secrets, page 33

Tying into the topic of classism, I’d like to mention the world-building. The world was fascinating with its distinction between the Castle and the Tiers and, similar to the classism, I would’ve loved to see it even further developed. There are some compelling and unique features to it, gondola transportation systems, illegal work factories, and so forth. This story is the first of a series, I believe, so I hope to see further exploration of Devovea.

There’s a small romance in this book, but it doesn’t come anywhere near detracting from or overbearing the story. At first, I felt it lacked a bit of context or preceding foundation, but it’s sweet, minimal, and free of any trivializing of plot or character.

I think the freshest breath of air that I found within this book would be the relationship between Scylla and her best friend Ilya. Throughout the course of the story, friendships, alliances, and trusts waver, but the part of their dynamic that I appreciated most was the friendship between a guy and a girl that is completely void of anything romantic. The tendency to push together such characters is so often forced, unnecessary, and dismissive of platonic relationships’ potential to be deep and true without other strings attached. I think I gain a few extra years of life everytime I stumble across that. I’ve found it very few and far between, so when I come into contact with it, I behold it and appreciate it entirely.

The only thing about this story that I was a bit disappointed by was how easily everything came to our protagonist. While the stakes are high with her father’s life on the line, it’s hard to feel any tension because every discovery made comes with hardly any effort put in, and some plot points are fairly predictable. So, I found the tension a little lacking which is unfortunate for a murder mystery novel, but it wasn’t enough to tarnish the material or the experience for me.

I’d recommend this book to readers of young adult dystopian stories in general, especially those looking for female leads working proactively against internalized misogyny. There were parts that reminded me of my younger years devouring Marie Lu’s Legend series, specifically with the contrast of higher and lower society, and the general dystopian feel.

Have you read, or do you plan on reading Heir of Blood and Secrets? Did you like it? Why, or why not? What are your thoughts on strong female characters, and their existence in relation to or separate from the tomboy-ish tough girl type so popularized? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!