Description
Inspired by true stories from the authors' grandparents' lives during one of the darkest periods in Korean history, The Last Tiger is a debut young adult fantasy novel about the power of love to give voice to a broken people.
In a colonised land where tigers are being hunted to extinction and ancient magic stirs, twostar-crossed teens - Lee Seung, a servant yearning for freedom, and Choi Eunji, a noble girl defying tradition - join forces to try and reshape their respective fates.
But their relationship evolves from begrudging accomplices to bitter adversaries as they soon find themselves on opposite sides of the battle over the last tiger - a symbol of their people's lost freedom and key to the liberation of their country. As the ties between Seung and Eunji are complicated by their conflicting loyalties, tensions rise, especially when a charming princeling of the empire begins to rival for Eunji's affection.
In this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story of forbidden romance, antagonists turned allies, oppression and liberation, neither Seung or Eunji can abandon their mission ... or each other. And as they embark on separate quests to find the elusive creature, each must also find the power within themselves to make their own destiny.
Review
In the town of Kidoh, life is hard under the Dragon Regime. They have taken over every aspect of the tiger colony and everyone must obey their laws and speak their language. They have also ordered that every tiger must be hunted and killed so there is no longer any connection to their history.
Seung comes from a poor family who have very little and must work hard to survive. Choi Eunji is the daughter of a wealthy businessman, and when their paths cross they make a deal to help each other avoid the life that is planned for them. Both of them want freedom - Seung to escape his life of hardship and control by the dragon regime, and Eunji the restrictive life as a perfect wife and mother who can never make a decision of her own.
It seems the fate of this friendship and that of the tiger colony is tied up in saving the last tiger from being killed. But both have very different ideas as to the best way to do this. In a last ditch race against time, they must both decide their own destiny, and save the tiger at the same time.
This is a compelling fantasy’s novel based loosely on the author’s grandparents fight to free Korea from Japanese rule in the 1940’s. Seung and Eunji are both wonderful characters - adventurous, kind, fierce, loyal and daring. You will become enthralled by the twists and turns of their relationship as the story unfolds. An inspiring story of friendship, love, perseverance, resilience and determination to fight for their freedom, all entwined with the magical Dragon and Tiger spirits which both Seung and Eunji have bestowed upon them. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and you will find it very hard to put down. It will be well loved by fantasy readers aged 14 and up.
