The Last Tiger
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  • Published: 29 July 2025
  • ISBN: 9781761357053
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 412
  • RRP: $30.00

The Last Tiger

Formats & editions
Tr. Paperback
29 Jul 2025
EBook
29 Jul 2025
Audiobook
29 Jul 2025
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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, two star-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.
  • Published: 29 July 2025
  • ISBN: 9781761357053
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Trade Paperback
  • Pages: 412
  • RRP: $30.00
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About the authors

Julia Riew

Julia Riew is a Korean-American composer-lyricist, librettist, and novelist from St. Louis and NYC. She is best known for her viral hit Dive, a reimagining of the Korean folktale ‘Shimcheong’, which has captivated millions online and is currently being developed for the stage at the American Repertory Theater with Tony-Award winning director Diane Paulus and GLAAD-Award winning playwright Diana Son.


Julia also wrote the book, music, and lyrics for the new original musical ENDLESS (dir. by Zi Alikhan, Seoul, 2026), which features an expansive, celestial mythological universe and a cinematic pop score. Julia’s literary work includes upcoming YA fantasy novel The Last Tiger (Penguin Random House, 2025), as well as MG fantasy novel Shim Jung Takes the Dive (HarperCollins, 2026). Other upcoming projects include a YA sci-fi comedy thriller novel, and two more musicals slated for development in Korea.


In addition to being the 18th Annual Fred Ebb Award winner, Julia has been Playbill’s Featured Songwriter of the Month, a Woman to Watch on Broadway, a Princess Grace Award Honoraria recipient, and the recipient of the Harvardwood Artist Launch Fellowship.

portrait photo of Julia Riew

Brad Riew

Brad Riew is an MFA candidate in Fiction at New York University's creative writing program. He graduated from Harvard College in 2018 with a degree in Psychology, where he won the Ecker Short Story Prize. The Last Tiger, co-written with his younger sister Julia Riew, is his first novel. Brad lives in Brooklyn, New York.

portrait photo of Brad Riew

Discover more

Article
Siblings Julia and Brad Riew on rewriting their grandparents’ story as a fantasy novel

Including what they hope the book teaches young readers about getting through difficult times, and how we can look to ancestors for inspiration.