The Last Tiger — Julia Riew

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.The Dragon Empire rules over the Tiger Colonies with an iron fist—enabled by Dragon ki, which gives their soldiers superhuman strength. Their goal: to erase the Tiger culture altogether, starting by eradicating every last Tiger from this occupied land.When sixteen-year-old Lee Seung, a cleaner boy trapped in a life of poverty, catches Choi Eunji, also sixteen and the youngest daughter of the illustrious family for which he works, sneaking outside of her family compound against the rules, their fates intertwine in ways neither could have imagined.Eunji agrees to help Seung prepare for the Exam, his only hope for a better future, in exchange for him showing her the world beyond the confines of her family’s estate. But just as they start developing feelings for each other, Seung and Eunji are torn apart by forces beyond their control.Before long, they find themselves on opposite sides of a battle for the last Tiger—a spirit whose magical powers hold the key to their freedom and the destiny of their country.In this friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story of forbidden love, antagonists turned allies, oppression and liberation, neither Seung nor 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.