crown of feathers was such an enjoyable, immersive read. once i truly got into it, it was so easy to lose myself in that world. i kept skipping paragraphs ahead because i was so hungry for more then i felt inordinately guilty and went back to read those missed passages. i could literally see scenes playing out in my head and smell of dust and morning dew, feel the sharp edge of a knife and the heat of phoenix fire. this book is atmospheric with truly amazing worldbuilding and lovable characters that grow and experience setbacks and triumphs. even the one character i started out not liking, i ended up loving by the end.

crown of feathers is gloriously diverse, with lgbtq characters and characters of colour on the page. here is where nicki pau preto shines, because her characters have such unique voices with differents wants, ambitions and desires! tristan, sev and veronyka are such interesting characters, even though i wanted to throttle tristan at first for how whiny he was. yes we get it, you have daddy issues! now look at veronyka, who is mucking out horse stalls and dying to be a phoenix rider like you! smh. okay it does get better, otherwise I’d have yeeted this arc to the moon. tristan’s irritating personality traits are tempered by nyka’s good-natured perseverance.

ALSO!! i’m telling you, if you’re an a song of ice and fire fan and you liked the dance of the dragons civil war in targaryen history, you will LOVE a crown of feathers. it’s literally about the aftermath of a war between two sisters meant to inherit their father’s empire; one is a phoenix rider with the support of the animage army, the other is without powers but with the support of politicians and governors. that’s the background to a crown of feathers but nonetheless, you’ll end up loving it!

'Sometimes the title of queen is given; sometimes it must be taken. And sometimes the honor becomes so drenched in blood and betrayal that it is slippery to the touch, but we reach for it nonetheless, poison on our fingers and vengeance in our hearts.'

there’s three main point of view characters: veronyka, sev, tristan. all of them are animages from different backgrounds and varying degrees of freedom and autonomy. veronyka lives with her sister older sister val, controlling and overprotective, as they attempt to hatch phoenix eggs to become phoenix riders together. we see val through veronyka’s eyes, an oftentimes cruel and cold siblings who exerts control over veronyka but protects her regardless. val is an incredibly complex character; even though she wasn’t a point of view character I found her so fascinating. I saw a lot of parallels between her and viserys from a game of thrones. viserys is bitter and hardened by reality and the struggles he’s faced, the sacrifices he’s made and the birthright he’s lost. once i got the twist at the end of crown of feathers though, I gasped because my comparison was even more apt than I’d expected!!

'Val’s mind was always elsewhere—on people and places long gone, or on distant dreams and future possibilities.'

sev is such a sympathetic character. I really felt for his struggle between wanting to live his truth as an animage and hiding it to avoid being shackled and made essentially into a slave for the empire. sev goes from being a self-described ‘coward’ to someone courageous, not through the absence of fear but in spite of it. he plays to his strengths, which aren’t the traditional sword-and-dagger but rather, trickery and sneakiness. he’s aided in character journey by other animages in service to the empire, who are secretly plotting to find phoenix riders. there’s also kade, a handsome animage who seems to hate and resent sev at first, but slowly their friendship progresses to something a little more, with mutual respect and knowing. also. sev is one thirsty mofo. i loved his ‘oh no he’s hot’ moment.

'Sev liked this side of him. He was usually so grim— even hostile— but with the animals, the stiff line of his shoulders relaxed, and his severe features softened into delighted smiles and gentle laughter. It made Sev want to be near him, to watch and bask in the warm light of his magical glow.'

'He was like a bronze statue of some ancient hero in a temple garden, gathering droplets of morning dew.'

veronyka also has an interesting character arc that intersects with tristan’s. once again, they go from rivals to reluctant friends to something close to lovers, with slow burn relationship development based on mutual respect and helping each other. by the end of crown of feathers, i was hardcore shipping them because they just work. I wasn’t too hot on veronyka crossdressing to get into the phoenix riders but hey, you gotta do what you gotta do. she works so hard to get where she is, shaking off doubts and darkness seeded by her sister and hiding her own gender and shadowmagic powers. she’s a genuinely talented animage with a different principle behind her power than the other other animages: to work with creatures instead of controlling them. it’s this power that saves her when empire soldiers come thundering in to wipe out the phoenix riders.

the action scenes are truly spectacular and i could clearly everything playing out in my head. there’s a perfect balance, for me, between inner thoughts of the characters, the events around them and external tensions like political power and world building. i wish we’d gotten a tiny bit more info on culture and customs, but that might have been pushing the word count because this baby is big and packed with helluva details. it’s an incredibly immersive and enjoyable experience, but not for those who are faint of heart and new to ya epic fantasy. the phoenix riding scenes were so good, a true joy to the soul. i could feel the wind beneath phoenix’s wings and the exultation of flying.

the worldbuilding was fantastic, if a bit heavy on the detail but it didn’t veer into info-dump territory. my personal preference is more detail over less, because that’s what truly makes crown of feathers epic fantasy. i truly loved the little historical tidbits and excerpts from histories, chronicles and ballads. i loved the letters from avalkyra ashfire and her sister pheronia, the back-and-forth of politics and complicated sibling relationships, with the undercurrent of tension and manoeuvring. I had a ball of a time trying to figure out all the twists and turns and hidden secrets. at one point i literally GASPED out loud. every little is so important and comes back to bite the reader in the ass later on.

i don’t want to give too much detail about the plot because it’d ruin the twists, but trust me when i say it’s a doozy. you think you know one thing, but ding dong you’re wrong!! sev, tristan and veronyka are travelling very different paths when we first meet them, but by the end all of their paths converge and we get to see some truly great fight scenes, along with dramatic reveals and secret identities! crown of feathers left me reeling and grasping vainly for any sort of direction. i was left in a mini book slump after finishing it, it was that good!

I’m loving the recent trend in ya fantasy towards duologies, because it’s much better for my health and my wallet. I’m vibrating out of my chair in excitement that we’re, hopefully, going to see a resolution next year!!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

Argh, I was hooked from the beginning. PHOENIX riders? That was something I didn't know was missing in my life. It was just such a new and different concept, like I'm always in awe of dragons but phoenixes now hold a speacial place in my heart. I loved how detailed this world was; there was an entire history that I didn't always understand but so much of it turned around to be important later on anyway. There was a sister relationship that wasn't your average one either, but no spoilers as to what it is that makes it different!

This book also feels like it will lead on really well to the next one, but I really want more of Nyk's story more than Sev's, and I can see that Sev has plenty more ahead of him too. That was probably my only concern with this book; I much preferred Nyk's story and I didn't want to read Sev's or Tristan's chapters. Oops.

If you're in the mood for a fantasy with a twist, add this to your to-read! Five stars!

I loved this story so much! This an action packed story with a rollercoaster of emotions. The characters are fantastic, I love all of them: Veronyka, Tristan, Sev and Kade and the phoenixes of course.

I can't remember when I last enjoyed a YA fantasy so much. I fell quite out of love with the genre, but Crown of Feathers gives me hope.

I simply cannot wait for the next book in the series! And can we please admire that cover art?

Thank you so much Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read the eARC and share the love.

This book was intoxicating from the first chapter and to be fair I was ready to dive in after reading the blurb, no swaying needed. I couldn't believe just how complex and diverse the world was that Preto laid before us. She used details from the past to enhance the present and interweaving them together flawlessly. We have a history of fierce queens and a past tale of sisters that mirrors a present tale. You want to cheer for the Phoenix Riders and you are sitting on the edge of your seat when danger lurks near -and let me tell you that happens quite often-.

Unable to put down the book, I stayed up until dawn, I needed to find out what would happen to Val or Sev, to know what would happen next in the world. And the ending had my jaw dropping to the floor.

I was nothing short of impressed. She made my heart drop to my stomach and soar back up, and it was the best emotional roller coaster I have ever ridden. I would certainly categorize this as one of the best books of 2019 and one of the best reads of the year for myself (and I've now marked it as a favorite on my kindle)

I absolutely, undeniably, irrevocably loved this book. It had everything you could possibly need from a high fantasy book.
The plot was full of twists and turns and I did not see any of them coming, resulting in a lot of hand over the mouth and gasping moments.
The characters were fantastically written and the split narrative really added depth to the story.
It felt like I didn’t take a single breath until I finished the book, it was such a rollercoaster read.
Beautifully written I cannot praise this book enough, 5 stars.

First up, thanks to Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Has anyone else heard the buzz about this book? I think it was last year at YALC, that I first heard about Crown of Feathers, and boy did it sound exciting. It has magic, phoenixes, an intricate world, phoenixes, rebellions, phoenixes, romance, and did I mention…PHOENIXES?

So yeah, you could say that I was pretty thrilled when I got approved for a review copy. Even though I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump recently, I thought this might be the book to pull me out of it.

Except I was wrong.

I should start by saying I didn’t hate the book. I loved the premise, and I thought that when it got going, it was really actually quite good. There’s lots of intrigue and high stakes drama, and there were some plot twists that totally struck me unawares. There were moments when I was frantically turning the page, so keen to find out what happened next. And I will also say that, despite having three main POVs, it never lacked in character. I could always tell whose chapters I was reading, and all the voices seemed really strong and well developed.

In fact, I have only two gripes with this book. And my main one is the amount of exposition. The first few chapters were littered with info-dumps, like huge chunks of them. There was one point where there was a bit bit of exposition every two paragraphs or so, and one bit of backstory lasted two pages. I get it, some of it was a necessary evil, but it just felt so heavy handed. In the first chapters alone, I learned all about the mythology of the world, the history of the rebellion, how phoenixes worked, how animage abilities worked, the history of one of the main characters and a lot of other things that I probably did need to know, at some point, but it felt so crowded so early on that I usually found myself skipping them. I know I shouldn’t have, but good books aren’t meant to have that much info-dumping. If you can’t avoid it, keep it as short and sweet as possible. I figured it would be a short-term problem, and that we would get to the actual story soon, but unfortunately the info-dumps just kept coming. And it was a huge shame, because they turned an amazing story mediocre in my opinion.

The other flaw is kind of a spoiler [albeit a fairly predictable one], so if you’re really keen on reading this sans spoilers, you might want to skip the following paragraph.

I won’t get too much into it, except to say that YA has a bit of a problem with chemistry between two characters when one of them is pretending to be a different gender. Honestly, if this happened in real life, people would be so pissed. I mean, the idea behind it is ‘wow, I find you so attractive that I like you even while you’re pretending to be a boy’ but in reality, it’s just kind of wrong? It would be so confusing and problematic if people did this in real life, but it’s fantasy so we’re meant to be okay with the catfishing that goes on when someone pretends to be someone they’re not like this.

Also, as a minor point the last twist right at the end of the book is utterly predictable. The foreshadowing was not subtle at all, and I knew right from the beginning that the twist would be there and what it meant.

Overall, I would give Crown of Feathers a 6/10 stars. I loved the premise, but in all honesty the exposition killed it for me. I might be tempted to pick up the sequel, just to see where it heads, because the characters were all great, but I was not happy with the info-dumps.

A great debut novel, action, intrigue, fast paced, characters you care about I loved it ! I really look forward to the sequel and can’t wait to see what happens next. Great book.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

*4.5 stars!

Crown of Feathers is an awesome adventure with kick-ass characters. The story is set in a world where the governing Empire prosecute people who are animages: people who possess magic that allows them to connect and influence animals. The most powerful animages were the legendary Phoenix Riders, who were at one point the protectors of the land and of the people before the Blood War saw both phoenixes and their human counterparts executed or imprisoned. At the books opening, anyone who is found to be an animage is either heavily taxed or enslaved, which is why many animages are in hiding.

Meet Veronkya. She and her sister evade the empire by living just outside the empire’s border, and dream of becoming Phoenix Riders. Veronkya is ecstatic to learn there is a small rebellion group who trying to bring back the Phoenix Riders, however, she’s disheartened to learn they don’t recruit girls. However, she decides no gender will get between her and her dreams, so she joins the group under the guise of being a boy. There she meets fellow animages and feels like she has a purpose, but quickly gets on the wrong side of Tristan, the leader’s son.
Meet Sev. He’s a secret animage who is part of the Empire’s military, who gets roped into a plot against the empire when someone uses his secret against him. Whilst this predicament frustrates him, he can’t help being drawn to one of the animage’s who is involved in his blackmail, the very handsome Kade. Sev’s journey involves healing past wounds and questions of morals, which makes for an enthralling read.

This book has inspiring world building and imagery. The setting is “The Golden Empire” which has different regions with varying levels of Empire influence. The regions, such as the landscape and the people, are written so vividly and distinctly, making the story all the more enjoyable. These illustrations were supported with events prior to the novel’s beginning, that act as a backdrop to the main storyline, like the Blood War and the adventures of past king and queens of the realm. It was effortless to imagine the scenes that unfolded, particularly the climax. It was really entertaining.

Also, this deserves recognition for its inclusion of diversity. We have gay romance, a girl with a disability whose attitude is larger than life, and some focus on mental illness through phobias and breaking free of psychological abuse. This diversity made the book all the more enjoyable because the way in which the characters and storylines were written was really brilliant.

I must mention this for anyone who could find this distressing: there is a small amount of animal slaughter. I’m really in two minds mentioning this, because I don’t think it should put anyone off, but it could certainly distress someone who isn’t perhaps prepared to read such scenes, as quick as it is.

I'd say good characterisation is one of the strongest elements of the book, which is achieved by blossoming relationships and terse family bonds.
The book alternates between three POVs; Veronkya, Tristan and Sev. This serves the pace of the book really well, as all three characters are likeable, and beyond the overarching story, their independent stories are interesting too. The development of these characters, and secondary characters, is well done and thoroughly satisfying. I can’t wait to be back with them in the sequel.
And seeing as I’ve mentioned the sequel, I hope to see both of the early and subtle romances pick up in the next book.

Overall, I read this over 3 days and I'm going to give it 4.5 stars. Toward the beginning of the book there was some repetition of details which stood out enough to distract my building enjoyment. I'd actually say this goes down to an oversight in editing. Nonetheless, what we have here is the beginning of an immersing and enjoyable series, as its plot development and characters show promise. The ending was breath-taking and left me wanting more – I’m going to be one impatient lady waiting for the sequel. Definitely recommend to all fantasy lovers!
Thank you kindly to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an e-copy, in exchange for this honest review.

Plot: 4.5/5 Characters: 4.5/5 Writing: 5/5

When I realised that this book was not only about phoenixes but also phoenix riders I knew I had to read it. I probably love phoenixes just as much (or maybe even more) than I love dragons and I really hoped this book would do these ferocious, fiery creatures justice. It sure did. It probably increased my love for phoenixes tenfold. If I could, I would definitely become a phoenix rider without hesitation.

Crown of Feathers told the tale of a people still recovering from the aftermath of a brutal war and trying to live in peace in the face of oppression and discrimination.

Apart from the phoenixes, I loved the world building and the history of the novel. It was clear that the author took her time to fully flesh out her world and all that happened in it. I've seen other people complaining about there being too much info-dumping in the book which ruined their reading experience, however, I actually liked it. It didn't feel like info-dumping to me because the extra information was relavant to the story line and was actually really intriguing.

The plot was quite slow-paced and character-focused which was interesting but some parts felt a bit unnecessary and could have easily been taken out. The book was from three character perspectives which I think was handled pretty well.

16 years before the start of the book there was the Blood War between two sisters: Avalkyra and Pheronia. Avalkyra was an animage and a phoenix rider. After the war, animages were feared by the Empire and any known animages had to pay a tax or become a debt-bonded slave.

POV Characters:

☆ Veronyka was an animage who lived in hiding with her sister Val. Val's love for Veronyka was twisted and she showed it by controlling her life and never allowing her to settle in any place or form long lasting friendships with anyone- all apparently for Veronyka's own good. After having been betrayed by Val, Veronyka left her to join a group of phoenix riders. However, there was one problem: they only accepted boys and men. Therefore, Veronyka disguised herself as a boy to gain entry and fulfill her greatest wish of becoming a rider.

I liked Veronyka- she was definitely my favourite character and the POV character I connected the most with. She was brave and strong without hurting or controlling people, she was compassionate and would never force an animal to do something for her, she would just kindly request. Despite everything that had happened, she was always full of hope that the future would hold better things and her determination to make that future happen knew no bounds. Out of all of the POVs, she seemed to get the most, 'screen time' which was good because her story was fascinating but it also would have been good to give the other two perspectives more time to develop.

☆ Tristan was an animage and an apprentice phoenix rider who was the son of the commander of the phoenix riders. He never felt like he was good enough for his father because no matter how well he did his father would always pick out the one thing he had done wrong and make him suffer for it. I thought he was a kind and understanding character. He valued honesty and tried his best to change the things he thought were wrong. However, he was the POV character I felt the most distant from and it was harder for me to empathise with his emotions in comparison to the other characters. Also, I feel like his relationship with his phoenix could have been portrayed better.

☆ Sev was an animage in hiding who was a soldier for the empire. His parents were phoenix riders who had died in an attack when he was young and ever since that tragic event, Sev spent his life running away from who he was and living in fear. He buried his animage identity deep in favour of living in peace and out of slavery while his fellow animages suffered. During the book, his character develops so much and he realises the importance of having people he belonged with and people he would do anything to protect. He realised that instead of hiding his identity he should embrace it and use it to help others like him. I found him to be a really interesting character and I wish we got to see his perspective more in the book. Also, his relationship with Kade was so briefly mentioned and never got time to develop which is something I hope happens in the next book.

I know this book wasn't perfect in every way but I enjoyed reading it so, so much. What really differentiates a four star book from a five star book for me is the emotions it evokes from me. Whilst I was reading it, every plot twist shocked me to the core (there were so many and I didn't predict some of them!) and I felt the pain, sorrow, happiness and anger of the characters as if it were my own. Crown of Feathers was a truly magical read for me and deserves five fiery, feather-crowned stars!

Thank you to Black & White Publishing and Nicki Pau Preto for providing me with a digital arc of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I was really excited to read this book as I barely see any books that have a Phoenixes and I love these mythical creatures. Unfortunately was disappointed by the book.

I really struggled to get through the first 100 pages and nearly dnfd the book several times. There was a lot of info dumping and I felt it slowed down the story too much and felt it over shadowed the actual plot. I also struggled to connect with the characters and so I found it hard to be invested in the story.

It has a really interesting concept with phoenix riders and I wish we got to see more of that. I did love the phoenixes that were in the book though and their connection with their riders.

Sometimes, you can tell within a few chapters that a book is not quite for you. Unfortunately, this was one of those times. The first few chapters so put me off the book that I had to drag myself through the rest of it (for Sev, and only Sev).

What put you off it? you ask. Well, I think it was the infodumping. The first two chapters were about 50% infodump and it didn’t work for me. I just skimmed it because, quite honestly, I prefer to pick up that kind of information as I go. And really? Skimming the infodump didn’t even confuse me in the slightest when some of the information came into play later on (I say some, because I swear, half of the infodumps had no bearing on the later plot). Sometimes, you just have to trust readers to pick up on the worldbuilding rather than infodumping (and that includes infodumps which are framed as flashbacks of your grandma relating a story. So many of those happened mid-scene and just broke the flow of the scene).

There were also parts of the worldbuilding I had trouble taking seriously (like animages. Animal mages, geddit?). Particularly in the language. Because it was all hodge-podge and not really actual-language-sounding. Like a phoenix rider in Pyra? Phoenixaeres. A phoenix egg? Phoenovo. So. How do you combine words? Why do you keep –ix– for the first but not the second. And you seem to be able to combine any words you like. Even when they’re of Greek (phoenix) and Latin (aeres, ovo) origin. It just never felt like a real language (and, trust me, people are pretty good at being able to extract rules of languages and tell when a language is realistic or not).

But, worldbuilding aside, I did have other issues. Namely that I didn’t like Veronyka. She was just so boring, and didn’t even seem to have a personality until the end (yeah, yeah, so she’s been under Val’s thumb for a while, etc, etc but actually she leaves Val 60 pages in). And unfortunately for me, Veronyka had the most chapters. Tristan, I liked him, and Sev, I loved him. But Veronyka (or “Nyk”) was just not my kind of character.

One final point: the rep. I was not convinced that Tristan was bi. If he was, I’d expect more from his chapters regarding attraction towards “Nyk”, but as it was, he never seemed to see “Nyk” as more than a friend. The one line that seemed to imply he was bi was along the lines of “boy, girl, whatever – I like you”. Which. Okay, I guess. But it just felt like another example of being told this was the case, and not shown it. And then secondly, What Happens With Kade (Sev’s love interest). He ends the book being “probably dead”. Part of me is thinking no body means no death (so it’s not another case of bury your gays), but the other part is so frustrated. Even if Sev thinks he’s dead, can we as readers not find out he’s alive? Can it not be another case of the m/f couple getting a happy-ish ending and the gay couple being separated and/or dead? (Partly because Sev was my favourite, and his and Kade’s relationship was turning into a great slowburn enemies-to-lovers, but also partly because, really? In 2019?) But yeah. I’m holding out hopes that Kade is actually alive and there’ll be a reunion scene too look forward to.

So yeah. Overall, I was pretty disappointed by this. And then the epilogue from Val’s POV (something I wanted so much more of anyway because she was a much more interesting character than Veronyka but that’s a whole other kettle of fish) was so good and it just made me even sadder because that’s what it could have been.

Overall I really enjoyed this book, the world was amazing and detailed. Im someone that enjoys learning about new worlds, what they believe and their history which is why I enjoy fantasy so much.

I did struggle to get into the book but once I did I flew through.

[To be published on The Nerd Daily on April 23rd]

The Golden Empire was ruled by fierce warrior Queens, built upon the backs of mythical phoenixes and the men and women they chose to become their riders. Until sixteen years ago, when a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.

Nowadays, war orphans Veronyka and her sister, Val, are living a less than luxurious life. Both girls dream of becoming Phoenix Riders, just like the legends their grandmother told them about. But when Veronyka suffers a betrayal at the hands of her sister, she strikes out on her own, desperate enough to become a Rider, she pretends to be a boy to hide amongst their ranks.

But nothing good ever lasts forever, and just as Veronyka feels her feet underneath her again, Val shows up, revealing the tangled web of lies surrounding them. And maybe worse, the new empire has learnt of the Phoenix Rider’s return… and they’ve set out to destroy them, once and for all.

Crown of Feathers was… brutal. This is a book that is set less than two decades after a war and really, it reads like one. It didn’t shy away from the death and poverty that often follows the start of a new regime. And - being totally spoiler free here- the betrayal that Veronkya suffers at the hands of her sister? Wow, hardcore messed up. And that's the most eloquent way I can describe it whilst retaining some mystery!

My initial thoughts for Crown of Feathers is that it’s very info-dumpy, the first 50 or so pages felt like the author was throwing information at me, with just enough plot to get the story moving, and to be completely honest, it was a bit hard to get going. In these initial pages, world building swayed towards the “tell, don’t show” method, and it felt like a bit of a drag, but I guess the flip side to that is that Pyra, and the other kingdoms in The Golden Empire felt incredibly well created.

The story is written with multiple POVs, and Pau Preto spends time writing in history and culture into each of the POVs, so you spend a lot of time learning mythology, the details of the war, and the relationship between the Sister Queens: Avalkyra and Pheronia, as well as a history of the Phoenix Riders and how the phoenixes themselves grow, and are cared for. Which all means to say, that, there’s a lot of information in the book. It’s almost as if you’re reading something that’s part fantasy book, part history book. The undeniable result is a solid fantasy world. But it also felt as if you had to put a little too much work into figuring the world out.

As for our characters, we follow three main ones: Veronyka, Tristan, and Sev.

Veronyka is our heroine, and one of my favourite aspects of the novel was watching her develop from the broken shell of a person she is when she first leaves her sister, to a strong and confident young woman. She’s got this real go-getter attitude, but she refuses to knuckle under when someone tries to push her back into line. She’s an animage, as all Phoenix Riders are (they have to communicate with their mounts somehow), and even the way she ‘talks’ to various animals is different than the norm. She’s a little left of centre, and I really appreciate that as a personality trait. One of the other great parts about Veronyka, or Nyk, as she becomes, is that, even as a boy, she questions why the girls aren’t included, or aren’t allowed, but more on that a bit later.

Next up, is the commandant’s son, Tristan. So, I still have unfortunate ‘Commandant’ fear’ leftover from reading An Ember in the Ashes, but while Tristan’s dad expects a lot of his son, he does stop short of being outright cruel. Tristan is desperate to prove to his father that he has the potential to become a great general, but nothing he does gets his father’s approval. With a tendency to be dark and broody (just how we like them), Tristan is at his core, a good person, and a young man who’s fighting an internal battle to overcome something that’s impeding him from being able to become the best version of himself. He’s hotheaded, stubborn, and a little bit of an ass, and I love him. There’s something very refreshing about the “strong male protagonist” fighting his own demons that makes him very human, and his developing relationship with Nyk is just beautiful to read.

Last up, we have Sev. Sev is probably both the most and least interesting character. He’s an animage, hiding in the army for an empire that enslaves animages, and it’s made him bitter and untrusting. Sev is flawed, you’ll see what I mean when you read the book, but because he’s primary place is locked inside the story that’s unfolding across the kingdom, not just with the Riders, and it’s made him bitter and untrusting. He lives in a constant state of fear that he’s going to get caught out and placed into indentured servitude, so much that when he finally gets a part to play in the bigger picture, he’s so reluctant, and yet, so helpful to the main cause.

A lot of the plot of this book is setting up for the inevitable final battle, but I found just a couple of things worth noting. The first is that when I was first reading this book, I was getting very strong Eragon vibes as something about the Phoenix Riders, and how the birds chose the rider… it just reminded me a lot of Eragon. However, that was before it swapped to giving me mad Mulan vibes.

Now, here’s where I need you all to not kill me, because I love a good Girl-Disguised-As-Boy story as much as the next person, but it felt like it didn’t need to be there. It would’ve been enough for the Rider’s to exclude new members based on wealth and their ability to pay for their own training, it didn’t need to be gender exclusive. Even in the book, none of the characters had a reason for why women were being excluded besides “just because”. I understand the point it’s trying to make (an important one), but devices like this need to move the plot forward, not just be there for the sake of the drama.

Overall, I enjoyed Crown of Feathers, the writing style is quite beautiful, and I certainly can’t argue with the depth of the world, but it’s a long book, and I think you have to want to read something quite intense to get the full depth of the story here.

It’s 100% worth a read, especially if you like complex political plot lines, badass women, and phoenixes- but it’s not for the faint of heart.

Crown of feathers is a slow burn that end up lightning the pages on fire by the end.

The book is told through 3 main Pov, Veronyka a girl who dream is to be a Phoenix rider. Sev an animage conscripted to the Army that killed his parents. Finally Tristan a Phoenix rider in training hoping to live up to his father expectations and deal with his fears. All three are interesting characters but I found myself more drawn to Veronyka and Tristan story. Although I have a feeling Sev will play a big part in the next book.

The World that Nicki Pau Preto has created is interesting, colourful and complex. There is a lot going on is it’s a book that best not to rush.

Let’s talk about the ending, it lifted me wanting more especially after the knowledge bomb it dropped at the end. It left me double checking that I had read it correctly.

The main thread in the story for me is friendships, friendship between people and animals. friendship in family and friendships between strangers. 

My rating for Crown of Feathers is 4 out of 5.

This sounded like something I would usually love but unfortunately I DNF'ed this book at 20% as I wasn't a fan of the regular info dumping and found it a bit confusing at times. Some parts I did enjoy and I liked some of the characters but nothing made me want to keep reading.
Thank you for the opportunity and I am truly sad that I didn't end up enjoying this book, as I won't be finishing it I won't post any reviews online.

I read this as March’s ultimate reading challenge, a fantasy read.

I went back and forth on the rating for this book so many times! In the end, I did really enjoy it, but I can understand why people won’t like it or will DNF it.
It IS slow to start. There’s a lot of information, the names are very similar and hard to pronounce. I would suggest here moving the glossary from the back of the book to the start. I wasn’t really a fan of the history retellings, even though I know they are useful to the story. It makes the book a bit of hard work and too much like Furyborn, which I also struggled with.
I also don’t really understand what the characters motivations are or where the story is going. It’s more a story you read, not one you experience. You see what the characters are doing but you don’t feel involved.

All this being said, I did really enjoy it. I loved the relationships between the animals and the animages.
I also like the human relationships, especially Sev and Kade. The light touch of romance is good, but I do expect it to be ramped up in the next book(s).

All in all, I think this is a book which will divide opinion. I enjoyed it, but I know it’s not going to be for everyone.

This book. I really don’t know where to begin. Because on the one hand, this book is quite ‘YA’. I know that sounds like an obvious statement but let me explain what I mean. You know those books where you feel like you can predict what’s going to happen from the off because it’s so trope-y? Those books that feel like a number of other YA novels? Yeah...half of the time this book feels like that. The other half of the time it punches you in the face with the unexpected. It’s very weird. I felt like I predicted all of the major plot points but everything in between came out of nowhere. I know that some people prefer a book to be predictable, while others like to be surprised - so maybe this book is a happy medium?

I think I could have done with the worldbuilding and the history being a little more explicit, it mostly comes in drips and dregs in between chapters - which sometimes is hugely effective as it means you find out crucial information as and when you need it, but I did get a little bit lost at various moments and some stronger background would have been good.

My biggest problem with this book is actually a minor issue that I think stuck with me just because it was so incongruous. There are a couple of moments in the story where characters use words that are just completely inappropriate - I don’t mean swearing. The example of this I remember most strongly is one character using the word ‘stuff’. It came out of nowhere and it was incredibly jarring. It’s entirely possible that won’t have made it into the final edit but it’s quite telling how important these things are if it left such a lasting impression.

It’s been a while since I read such a nasty sibling relationship - I feel like the trend has drifted more towards friendly relationships between sisters and, as ever, it’s quite refreshing to read the opposite. Since a lot of the other relationships in this book follow more established patterns (fans of the ‘I didn’t realise you were a girl and was struggling with my feelings’ will be pleased with this one) it was nice to explore a more difficult - rather toxic relationship.

One thing I think this book lacks is good provision for LGBTQIA+ characters. It has the issue of ‘I have set up the idea that Phoenix riders fall in love and then the phoenixes do too - but what about the gay Phoenix riders? These are not problems I would have ever seen myself caring about - but here we are.

Overall I had fun with this book, it’s a good, fast-paced fantasy novel that does some new things alongside the familiar. As far as I’m aware there is a second book planned in this series and I will certainly be reading it at some stage!

My rating: 3/5 stars

I received a digital advanced review copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Crown of Feathers follows the point of view of three characters in the aftermath of a large bloody civil war that had people with the ability to communicate with animals (animages) villianised and the powerful warriors, Phoenix Riders, to be completely wiped out.

Or so it was thought.

Nicki Pau Preto’s writing is easy to read and wraps you completely in this new world of her creation. The pacing of the plot and the character development was well done, each character seeing the story from completely different parts of life and each twining together to create this detailed story.

The three main characters are Veronkya, a girl who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider; Tristan, part of the resistance, and Sev, a solider for the Empire who has much more to his story than it seems. I adored each of them. Sev was complicated with conflicting thoughts surrounding his current duty and his place in the world. Veronyka is someone who has always been at odds with her much colder twin sister, Val, and her story is one of finding her own footing and deciding on her own future. Tristain is weighed down with expectations and his own ambitions and fear, and over the course of the story, he fights to overcome them.

I loved reading each of their stories and when they overlapped and weaved together when you understood how connected they were, it just made it so much more enjoyable to read.

While this book focuses on current events and how they affect these characters, the importance of the past and how it affects everyone is obvious. The civil war, known as the Blood War in the book, the one of battling sisters sixteen years before and the tragic events that lead to the ending, is incredibly important and influences every event and every character that you meet.

The importance of this is shown at the end of each chapter, where an extract from a book about Phoenix Riders and the history of the world, or a letter from one sister to another, is placed to just enrich this world all the more. It’s such a good way to get worldbuilding and other important information across, without slowing down the pace of the book.

And as for the big reveal at the end of the book? Goddamn, I am excited for the second book in this duology.

I don’t think I had any complaints about this book. There were aspects of the story that had more tell than show, particularly in the characters’ thought processes, but honestly, that didn’t take away anything for me.

Crown of Feathers is a book with a rich world, engaging characters, and fantastic writing. I really enjoyed my time reading this book and I can’t wait to finish reading the story of the Phoenix Riders whenever the second book is released.

Crown of Feathers is a YA fantasy centered around 2 sisters in a land once ruled by phoenix riders.

I almost DNF'ed this book at 25%, i was really interested in the concept going in and the first couple of chapters were pretty good but after that the story slowed and started to drag. It is pretty heavy on the description which i'm not the biggest fan of but i am really glad i stuck with this. Around the half way point this started to really pick up and i was a lot more engaged in the story. I particularly enjoyed the flashbacks and thought that telling another story through letters was a really clever idea and done incredibly well.

The world building was excellent and the world itself had a rich and fascinating history that really added depth to the story.
I liked the characters for the most part but i didn't really love any of them. I was intereted in Veronyka's and Tristan's story line but found Sev's to be a little dull at first and far more interesting in his last 3 or 4 chapters.

If you're a fan of YA Fantasy you might like this but do persevere through the first quarter!

Worth the read, if a little heavy on exposition at times. A great introduction to the genre for those unfamiliar with it, with some excellent characterisation and pace.