Author Photos Ramona Park & Marcos Ramirez

Join us for an in-person event at The Strand with debut authors Julia Riew and Brad Riew for the release of their new novel The Last Tiger.

Inspired by true stories from the authors’ grandparents’ lives during one of the darkest periods in Korean history, The Last Tiger is a young adult fantasy novel about the power of love to give voice to a broken people.

In a colonized 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 a 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 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.

Joining Julia and Brad in conversation is critically acclaimed, bestselling author Chloe Gong.

Julia Riew & Brad Riew @ The Strand

Tuesday, July 29, 2025 | 7 PM

Strand Book Store - 3rd Floor, Rare Book Room
828 Broadway
New York, NY 10003

About the Speakers:

Julia Riew is a composer-lyricist, playwright, and novelist best known for her viral hit DIVE, a reimagining of the Korean folktale “Shimcheong,” which is currently being developed for the stage at the American Repertory Theater. In addition to winning the 2022 Fred Ebb Award for Musical Theater Songwriting, Julia has been Playbill’s Featured Songwriter of the Month, a Woman to Watch on Broadway, and a Princess Grace Honoraria recipient. Julia was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 2022 with a BA in theater and music.

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.

About the Moderator:

Photo Credit: One Grid Studio

Chloe Gong is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Secret Shanghai novels, as well as the Flesh and False Gods trilogy. Her books have been published in over twenty countries and have been featured in The New York Times, PEOPLE, Cosmopolitan, and more. She was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30 for 2024. Chloe graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, she is now located in New York City, pretending to be a real adult. Visit her online at thechloegong.com and on Instagram, X, and TikTok at @thechloegong.

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