I unfortunately forgot to download the e-book on my kindle before it was archived and/or lost interest in the book because it’s been on my tbr for way too long, so I wasn’t able to read and review it (on time). Since I Must give a star rating, I’ve given it 3 stars to stay neutral/in the middle. Sorry to the publisher for not having gotten around to actually read it. I never request a book without the best of intention to read it and review it, since I know how important it is to the authors in particular. But sometimes life happens and/or reading preferences change so much that you just don’t always get around to read a certain book anymore, even though at the time of requesting I was definitely planning to actually read it of course.

The Phoenix Grail offers another take on the Arthurian Legends, that is unique enough to matter. The first instalment of Helen Savore's series, the novel started off as a drag. It was difficult to get into, and just when you begin to understand the going-ons of her characters, Savore cuts the novel short. Building from the first line, the novel offers a promising premise, only fall just short of the mark. Perhaps this is the intention, to build the hype for the next novel, if so then it's very well done.
I enjoyed the books substance and am excited for the next instalment.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I so love anything that to do with King Arthur and that list of legends. I have my own opinions about is, but this was a take on that whole magical storyline that I did not really see coming. I can see how Fae coming to do and causing issues can be a problem. I see that Alexandrea has to do what her ancestors did long before the lost the ability to do so. Now she has to find the Phoenix Grail and stop the Fae from hurting anyone else. It is a detailed story and the characters are so realistic you have no choice but to follow their journey and see where they end up. I had to keep reading and I did not want it to end.

Whew, finally finished this book.

I enjoyed the early chapters and the premise intrigued me, but then it got really hard to follow, and although I think there's a good story in there, the delivery felt flat. I didn't feel a connection to the characters or their efforts.

As the first in a series, this one doesn't really resolve anything. At that point, I was looking forward to finishing, but not really interested in how anything panned out.

Sorry to say that I don't think I'd recommend this book, but it does seems geared towards folks who enjoy fantasy based on fae lore and arthurian legends. So, maybe someone who's into that would like it?

I received the review copy of this book from NetGalley.

Great book. I loved the mysterious ish quality of the story line. I’d definitely recommend it to others.

Thanks to Oberon’s Forge, Weaponry and Netgallery for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. I enjoyed this book. It was a little slow to get into. I personally found that I didn’t like most of the main characters. Jamie is awesome. The story was good. I enjoyed the Arthurian vibe and law. I do enjoy a story set in the Arthurian world but modern. I found my enjoyment marred by characters I didn’t like and and the pace of the story seemed all over the place.

Alexandrea’s family descends from King Arthur’s knights, the sole humans who can see the Fae. They’ve worked with Merlin’s forgotten apprentice for generations to stop Fae from leeching life. Now she is the last, and must follow in the footsteps of the grail knights, seeking the Phoenix grail. Worse, the fae are visiting Earth more, including Alexandrea’s friend Jamie who sees visions predicting his patients deaths. Can Alexandrea summon the Phoenix in time to regain what her ancestors lost and stop the deaths that plague our world?
This was an interesting book. I’ve never read one with this particular aspect to it. It did take me some time to adjust to this author’s world, but I did find it interesting. It threw me off a little as the first two chapters were in a different POV, but after I adjusted, it helped me to understand Jamie much better. I really liked following Alexandrea as she works towards her end goal. I highly recommend.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

I really enjoyed the focus on the characters of the Arthur legend like Arthur, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, and the knights. The addition of Oberon, Titania, and Puck seemed to make this a perfect set up for a modern fairy tale telling of Arthur. However, this was a really magic dense world and because of that I kind of felt like some of the mechanics were either left unexplained or became an info-dump. But keep in mind, this is an advanced copy that might not be final yet!

Thank you to Oberon's Forge Press, Weaponry and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review! I would also like to thank the publisher for reaching out about doing an author interview, which will appear in my blog on July 9th!

I have mixed feelings about the book itself. I love books about the fae, and the concept of Moralynn and the Phoenix and the whole fae resurrection cycle are definitely interesting. Wrapping this around the grail search as an object to resurrect the phoenix (Merlin) and bringing the entire King Arthur legend in as well made for a great concept....with a lot of ground to cover. If this seems like an overwhelming amount of information, it really was! The book jarred between info dumping and little preamble to new ideas, which could be confusing at times.

What threw the book off for me was (and I know that this is an early copy, but) how it really needed a very strong round of editing. I think the author's brain goes faster than her hands, and sometimes a sentence would just not make sense, lacking punctuation, or just jump from one idea to another without transition or any sort of preamble. Some times the jumps would make sense, other times not, but if I just kept reading I could figure out what was going on again.

I also really did not feel much for the characters, I liked Adomhai and Raebyn for their sarcasm and Moralynn for her literal way of speaking, but Jamie was boisterous and his doctorly pursuits didn't wow me. I can empathize with a resident freaking out a little but the fae weren't explained too well by that point, and the visions were just weird. Useful but weird. Can't honestly say I shipped any kind of Jamie/Alexandrea romance either, but her aloofness to the matter was a bit funny at times!

IF you like books about the fae, and King Arthur legends/Grail searches, I would recommend this book. I would recommend it further after a final round of editing has been completed I am sure! Just for the confusing aspects and imbalance of info dump vs no info at all, I would give 2.5 stars at this point


Here is my blog link, I will post the author interview on it's run date of July 9th!
https://onenursereader.wixsite.com/onereadingnurse-1

I was dragged in to want to read the book because i liked how their cover looked and the summary of the book sounded like. But, this book did not meet my expetations at all, sadly. At first, i was very interested in the prolouge and the building that happend there but we changed scenery and i got confused because we We jumped right into a scenery where Jamie, is and trying to be a good at his job - but there is this phantoms or monsters of sorts that he can see, and we get no information until later why he can see them: But he dosen't seem to fear it or question it too much. It is what it is? Regardless of this : Jamie was the character with most character development and basically the only character i truly liked through the book. He seemed to be always true to his heart, speak his mind and he showed emotions.

i feel like it's pushed upon me so much world building and information i can't keep up, plus most of the information i didn't need nor want. I feel like that the information we ge and the things that happends, it is too fast - we should maybe have gotten some more time a page or two to work it out, get to see more of for example Jamie and his friends or that other thing could bee explained in a not so rushed matter. At least that is how i felt how it was.

But i liked that they added that Marelynn had been at the court with Arthur and Merlin and that this was somewhat connected to the Phoenix Grail, but i would have loved to see some "past-memories" or happenings as we see how Marelynn was at the court, how she interacted with Merlin & Arthur. How she came to support them and want the same as they did, so many centuries ago.

I were interested at first, but i got lost and confused with all the world building and too much information and happenings in such short time. This also made it hard to like any of the characters, i didn't get the time to form an opinion before we moved on to the next scenery, this bothered me a great deal.

The premise of this novel sounded exactly like it would it would be right up my alley. I wanted to like the mashup of Arthurian mythology with other mythological figures, but it didn't quite end up working out for me. The main reason was the massive info dump in the beginning which was quite overwhelming. Plus, the world-building was all about telling rather than showing which felt rather forced. Thanks anyway.

Unfortunately for me the world building was lacking in this, throwing a ton of information at me doesn’t build a world or create a clear picture, atmosphere or place I want to be in. Due to this it was a struggle to read and connect or care about the characters, so it’s a no from me for this, which is a shame as it seemed so promising

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

This is a 2.5 star book for me. It's an interesting premise and decently written, but there is something missing. It didn't start off well. There was a bit of an info dump instead of letting us get to know the world and its rules through its characters. Then it took a while to get to the heroine. I was never really able to connect with any characters or truly care about what was happening or what could happen. It's not a bad book, it's just missing something. What, I don't know. That it thing that draws you in wasn't there. That being said the story has potential so I wouldn't rule out reading the second book in this series after I noticed good reviews.

The Phoenix Grail by Helen Savore, an interesting concept. This book was a little bit of a struggle for me, while it was written well, it had a hard time being cohesive felt like it jumped around between concepts without setting them up. I did like the idea though, and wish the book well.......

The Phoenix Grail is the first installment in author Helen Savore's The Phoenix Succession series. This story actually features several key characters: Moralynn, the so called Phoenix Spark who was an apprentice to Merlin until his demise. Alexandrea Morgan, a Druid who was taken in by Moralynn to be her student and heir apparent. Jamie Penderson, a friend of Alexandrea's as a teen, an accolade of Alexandrea's father, and a trained doctor who has the ability to see phantoms who appear when people die.

This is a different take on the whole Arthurian mythology by adding Odin and Puck to the mix. In this reality, Arthur has not been seen in centuries, but it is hopeful that his return will save humanity. In order for Arthur to return, the Phoenix must rise to take back Arthur's sword which now rests in the hands of Odin. I really did take a chance with requesting and reading this book because I like stories about Arthur, Morgan Le Fey, and Merlin. This is a modern story that features descendants from Author's time fighting to bring peace to humankind while also dealing with Oberon, Puck, the Lady in the Lake and Adhomai who might be ally, or may have an ulterior motive.

While Moralynn, Alexandrea and Jamie are searching for a way to bring back the Phoenix and balance to the world, there are those who stand in their way. At every avenue, it seems as though someone is one or two steps ahead of them. The conflict between Raebyn (aka Puck) goes back centuries to the point where she lost her life, woke after years in stasis, and found out that everything she cherished was gone. She is remanded to perform the rite of reincarnation to all fae who pass by Odin and Titania.

While Moralynn's memories slowly fade away, and a war is brewing in the fae realms, she's been fighting her own battles to bring back magic to the world and thus saving humankind from being overrun by the Fae. The Fae have all but committed genocide against the Druids leaving only a handful left in this world. With Jamie's help and a bit of surprises along the way, the allies will travel to many historical sights that you can easily look up on the internet to see what their significance was to Arthur and his hopeful return.

Will I read the sequel? If the author and the publisher release a sequel I will. As I am looking at this on Goodreads right now, there seems not to be any interest in reading this book. I would definitely urge you to rethink not reading this book if you are a fan of Arthurian tales and mythology.

Thank you for allowing to preview this title. I was unable to finish it. While the writing was good, I just couldn't get into the story. For some reason I just couldn't stay focused.