I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
This was not what I was expecting at all. I did not care for this book because it felt very removed from everything and I couldn't find a common relation between me and the characters involved which made me feel removed from the reading

I read these out of order, thought maybe that was the cause for my confusion. Either way, I didn't enjoy it.

i never ended up downloading this, i've been reading other reviews on this and it sounds pretty good, so i might go get it~

This is the first book in the Phoenix Succession and we’re are introduced to several characters. There’s Moralynn, the Phoenix sparked who has been searching/waiting for the inheritor of the powers of the original Phoenix, Merlin. Alexandrea is her apprentice who she believes will be the new Phoenix if they can find all the necessary items. Adomhai who has joined them telling Moralynn that he had a vision of him putting the Grail in her hands. Jamie an old friend from Alexandra’s childhood, who trained with her father to be a doctor; due to disturbing visions he has left medical school and returned home. As events unfold all these characters and others will come together to search for the Grail so that Alexandra can become the new Phoenix.

**3.5/5 STARS: I received a free digital ARC through Netgalley in exchange for a honest, unbiased review. I sincerely thank Netgalley, author and/or publisher for giving me this opportunity.**

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review of the story.

I chose this book for the promised fantasy, mix of legends in the description.

I had a difficult time with the writing style and the wat backstory details seemed to derail the actual plot.

I apligize to the publisher and author but the book did not hold my interest.

I picked this up because I'm always on the look out for a good urban fantasy series, but unfortunately the opening did not hook me.

There are a lot of interesting story threads brought up, and if you like fey/real world crossovers, Arthurian remixes, and slightly gritty urban fantasy, you should definitely try it out. It might work better for you than it did me.

This is a nice blending of Arthurian legend and fae legend from other sources. Readers familiar with Arthur will see plenty of familiar names, while those who like fae mythology will find plenty to enjoy; the two are blended in a way that is natural and makes for a good story, with relate-able, unique characters, including a strong female protagonist. I look forward to the sequel.

Ugh. I really wanted to like this first book in a series. I liked the description and thought it would be a little bit different than other fantasy books. There were so many points where backstory is dumped on you. It is confusing the way the magic is explained as the info for that is dumped as well. I had trouble keeping it strait. It made the book hard to follow. The characters are not very fleshed out. The guy is a wimpy, scared and insecure person. He drove me nuts. You don't really get to know who the women are and why they make the choices they do. I won't be reading the others in the series. Disappointing.

Just completely confused, I don’t really know who or what was going on , too much information thrown at you at once, when I struggle to understand unfortunately I also struggle to care or connect, so sadly this book wasn’t for me.

DNF. I quite literally have zero clue what is going on in this book or why I’m supposed to care. Considering the huge amount of info dumping in this book the author never bothers to actually tell us what in the ever loving hell is going on or who these people are. I assume we would gradually find out (or hope rather than assume) but to get to 10% through a book and not even have a basic understanding of what is happening, who the characters are and what all the terminology means within canon is just not great writing to me. I had to keep checking that this was, in fact, book 1 in this series and I hadn’t missed the set up in another series - but even so, a good author enables the reader to enter a story at any point and still have a decent grasp of everything. I fear that the info dump style would be employed if the author ever did try to explain everything, rather than the more subtle and effective methods used by other authors.

One author who excels at this is Steve McHugh, the author of ‘The Hellequin Chronicles’, ‘The Avalon Chronicles’ and ‘The Rebellion Chronicles’. All are set in the same universe, working within the same overarching storyline and starring the same characters. I actually read the first book of ‘Avalon’ before ‘Hellequin’ and I had no problems following what was happening. Even in the first ‘Hellequin’ book, where the MC has amnesia, I was drawn in completely and was intrigued and excited by the character enough to keep reading without answers til later in the book. There are just so many ways to give necessary information to readers without info dumping and without it feeling clunky.

Not sure if I’ll bother to read more at any point, I just find it unforgivable for an author to get to 10% without crafting compelling enough characters and storylines. Needs a damned good edit for a start, and more natural (or any really at this point) explanation of the universe and the canon you’ve created.

It took me 3 days to slog to 10% in a book and that is unprecedented and unforgivable for me.