Heir by Sabaa Tahir
Aiz grew up in the Kegari slums. She’s seen terrible things, and that’s part of why an old trauma has filled her with enough stamina to seek revenge. But her temper gets the best of her, and she finds herself in prison before she’s sought that revenge.
Sirsha was banished from her own community because of a crime she committed. It’s not nice being an outcast, but she’s turned her luck into tracking and working with the elements of Earth. She’s desperate enough, though, to take on a job that requires hunting down a killer who has murdered children. She can do it, as she’s got the skills, but she keeps getting distracted by someone else. Someone charismatic. Cute. Deeply inconvenient.
Quil is to become the prince of the empire the moment his aunt steps down. He’s not especially excited, in part because he knows power is not good and in part because he’s the son of the most hated person in the empire. But with an enemy threatening the survival of the empire, he is in a position to use his power for good.
This book weaves together the stories of these three very different teens as they navigate power, survival, and, of course, love. This will scratch the itch of readers who’ve been sucked into the world of romantasy but who want it to lean more heavily in the fantasy direction.