While the future of the Blood Heir series in particular is uncertain, Zhao’s relationship with her publishing house seems to be in good standing, at least publicly. This led to a flurry of angry Twitter comments and one-star reviews, some of which were based on out-of-context quotes that were shared online. Like Blood Heir, the book was meant to be the first in a series, but was quickly called out for the comments made by racist characters. However, she begins to question those beliefs, ultimately joining a rebellion to fight back. The novel follows a girl named Elloren who was raised to believe other (fictional) races were inferior to her own. In 2017, a novel called The Black Witch by Laurie Forest famously faced major backlash and accusations of racism prior to its release. Why does this situation sound so familiar?īecause this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact moment, but last week, Twitter user accused Zhao of compiling screenshots of people who weren’t fans of Blood Heir ahead of its release and harassing them: “I’ll tell you which 2019 debut author, according to the whisper network, has been gathering screenshots of people who don’t/didn’t like her book and giving off Kathleen Hale vibes: Amelie Wen Zhao.” has since made her account private.) How did the Blood Heir controversy begin? Some of them receive Advanced Readers Copies, or ARCs, so that they can preview books similar to professional critics before they’re published. They’re YA authors and fans with substantial followings who are attuned to trends in young adult fiction and often push for better representation and diversity within the genre.

Hold on, what is a “YA influencer,” exactly? This led to both a Twitterstorm and one-star Goodreads reviews, including one in particular that accused the novel of “anti-blackness”. In a nutshell, some YA influencers in the Twitterverse accused Zhao of racial insensitivity, among other things. Why are so people so mad about it online?

Blood heir amelie wen zhao