I like book 1 for the unique magically take on thing and while this book had quite a lot of that, it was too long.
So long that I felt it drag the story and characters arc out a little too much.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had an amazing plot, but I felt the characters were a bit hard to connect to.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

I was unable to read this title due to archive date coming before downloading. Thank you for the opportunity.

The best part of this duology is the diversity and so much queer rep. The world is interesting, the fantasy and magic have a dreamlike quality, very Alice-esque which I absolutely love. However the plot is often confusing, meandering, and repetitive and there are still things I can’t quite make sense of. Nonetheless, I enjoyed it and I’m glad I read the sequel. I found the ending satisfying. Kite really came into her own in this book and she was easily my favorite. This isn’t a series I would re-read but I’m glad I read it once.

Tav struggles to come to grips with who they are ― and who they are becoming ― in this thrilling sequel to the queer witchy fantasy The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass.

After stealing the Heart of a magical world with the help of a supernatural assassin, Tav discovered that they can’t just see magic ― they know how to use it. Returning to the human City of Ghosts, Tav, Eli, and Cam race to heal the wounds in the veil between worlds before the Earth’s lifeforce is drained by the tyrannical Witch Lord … and Eli’s new Heart-infused body falls apart.

Meanwhile, in the City of Eyes, Kite has joined forces with the bloodthirsty childwitch Clytemnestra, and together they are raising an army to overthrow the world-eating Coven.

With blood and magic spilled on both sides, who will survive?

A magical story with a unique cast of characters.

I loved reading about each time that a witch was stripped from their physical form down to their true essence. Described as a ball of light, it reminded me of “Navi” from my Nintendo 64 days playing Zelda.

In The Boi of Feather and Steel, Adan Jerrat-Poole again takes readers into mystical scenes that are beyond imaginative. I was blown away by the scenes in The City of Eyes in the first book of this series, and was even more impressed in this book during the tale of Kite’s journey through the library in her realm. Books had feelings, and were like creatures. For instance, Kite “fed sacrifices of insects and fishbones to the living words”. I was entranced by Kite’s visits to the library.

Tav’s character is non-gender conforming and uses they/them pronouns. This isn’t difficult to read and follow in the first book, but this time around it did trip me up in the story because of several jagged transitions between perspectives. A few times we’re in Tav’s view and then suddenly in Eli’s who is referred to as she. The jumps between them weren’t clear at times and would pull me out of the story.


I appreciated the raw honesty that Adan wrote into their foreword of this book. They wrote this story during a rough year of a global pandemic. I can relate deeply to the feelings they were brave enough to share. The acknowledgements hit me in the feels too. As a supporter of equality for all people, I loved their bravery to encourage readers to explore history of indigenous peoples, and the true origin of the black lives matters movement. A lot of people wouldn’t dare mention anything of either topic. Adan is brave, and that bravery bleeds into the characters of their stories.

This wasn't my kind of book. It was too long and I wasn't investing in rhe plot or the characters, at all. But I haven't read the firat book, so I'm keeping my review as neutral as possible. I would give it 2 stars if it was a standalone, but, again, as I haven't read the firat book, here is 3 stars

I wanted to check this one out since I did enjoy most of book one. But sadly this one had the same issues as the first. It was far to long and by the time I got to the end, I lost interest in the story and the characters. I wished that this one had been cut and the pacing towards the end would have been so much better.

This book just wasn’t for me. It took awhile for the plot to become briefly engaging and then it fell flat.

The Boi of Feather and Steel picks up right after the first book. It shows how Eli is coping with her new magic and Kite’s plan to take control.
The book starts out with multiple POV’s, more than in the first book. At first this was a bit confusing for me. Especially since the changes happened within the chapters and not per chapter.
Everything the first book ended with this book continued. The first book ended on a confusing and weird note. I struggled to follow the story and this book wasn’t different in this aspect. When I’d read one third of the book, I still wouldn’t been able to tell somebody what was happening if I was asked. It was just confusing and even rereading chapters didn’t help.
Because it was so confusing, I became a bit irritated by the book. I didn’t want to reread chapters just so I could understand what I was reading. It felt like it took forever just to finish this book. The pacing also was really slow and the parts I did understand in the plot felt like everything went in circles. Their motives, background stories and everything I found missing in the first book weren’t told here. Their actions still didn’t make any sense and thus I still couldn’t believe in the characters.
I appreciated the found family bonds this book had, but I felt pretty indifferent the characters themselves. There was a lot of angst written in this book, and I just didn’t care for any of it. Whenever something bad happened, I was like; yeah okay, and just continued on without a thought.
Overall, the book just didn’t do it for me. I felt very indifferent and couldn’t enjoy it. The hopes I had for this book fell flat. I still love the idea of this series, but the executing didn’t do it justice.

This was a great sequel to The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass. You definitely need to read book one because this book picks up right when book one left off. here are multiple POV in this book and I really enjoyed that because it allowed me to see everyone's thoughts and feelings involved. There was some repetition at times which made the story seem a little dragged out which made it a little harder to get through than the second book but it was still enjoyable.

The story is magical and brilliant. The author was able to express the story in a lyrical way that would keep you engrossed in the events happening within the story. The setting and the characters were vivid and well-illustrated that you feel like you would want to be in their world and see it first hand. I love how the author represented each main character's strengths and weaknesses. Narrated in multiple POVs, the story was beautifully written but was slow-paced at some parts.

The story picks up to where The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass left off and was more focused on Tav, one of the main characters, trying to know who they are and how can they use magic to change the world. Eli, who carries the heart of the world within herself, is trying to find a way to return the heart to its true home and save her dying world.

I loved the revelations about some of the characters especially with Kite, a trueborn witch who loves books, and how she fought the enemies with them. I loved that another made-daughter was introduced in the story and fought with them at the end.

Overall, this was an excellent book full of magic, action-packed scenes, and delightful characters. A book that conveyed how the characters discover their true selves, this book will inspire and will surely resonate with those who feel different in a society full of prejudice, discrimination, and inequality.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review an e-ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Boi of Feather and Steel is a sequel to The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass and is the conclusion to a duology.

I was fascinated by the story overall but found it very difficult to get immersed in. The language very much reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, describing frankly absurd things the characters did. Kite and Clytemnestra are both magic born, born in the City of Eyes, so they don’t have as strong a human reference point, as Eli, Tav, and Cam do. So the things they do aren’t always rooted in human expectation or morals. Something about the writing style was just very hard for me to absorb and I really struggled to get through the novel.

I very much appreciated the queer inclusion. Tav is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns and Eli is definitely queer as well, having been in a relationship with Kite, who is female presenting, and with Tav. The descriptions were very well done and definitely set a vivid scene, even if I didn’t always understand what was happening. The story was at times repetitious and covered many of the same topics as the first book. Eli kept suffering the effects of the heart but it was understood from the beginning that she would survive. There was no closure from the events of the first book, from what happened with Eli’s mother/creator.

I would have liked more from Cam’s point of view. He seemed to be ignored for much of the book, only seen through the eyes of others and cast aside for the latter half until the very end. He seemed like a neat character.

It’s really hard for me to rate this because I just couldn’t get into it and give it the attention it deserved. I think it was the book itself, as I was able to successfully read two other books in the midst of this one. I can definitely appreciate the descriptions and the characters and how they were written, so perhaps it was the plot where I lost interest. The found family aspects are always appreciated, especially when the characters are queer. I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more of the author’s work because it was so interestingly written. As I mentioned, it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. It also gives me Seanan McGuire vibes, with her Wayward Children series. I feel the characters in both series would get along very well.

The Boi of Feather and Steel is the sequel to The Girl of Hawthrone and Glass. Like the first book, it has great characters and a fantastic atmosphere. Unfortunately also like the first book I found it confusing and wasn't sure where the story was headed. It is very well-written and I know it will find its audience.

“The rule of the Coven is ending. The children have risen, and we bring chaos, freedom, and anarchy. When the Witch Lord is ready to meet our demands, she can find me in the Labyrinth. We are not afraid,” she went on, “and we are no longer in hiding. Welcome to the end of the world — and the beginning of a new one.”
The Boi of Feather and Steel begins a short time after the events of The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass. Once more, we’re thrown the life of the witch made girl, Eli, who now carries the heart of a world within herself.

The narrative advances in three perspectives, Eli- the heart- who is changing both physically and mentally. Tav- the healer- a human witch hybrid who still doesn’t understand the true extent of their own power. A boi who wants to change the world they live in and make it a better place. Kite- the heir- constantly struggling between her own identity and what her mother- the Witch Lord wants her to be.

This book is a journey of self-discovery for all the characters- Tav and Kite most of all. Their struggles are different from the people around them and so are their motives. I loved to see the world through both of their perspectives, something that was missing in the first book.

This one is far less confusing and complicated than the first book, because we know the world better now. The motives come clear of a lot of characters (though I’m still confused about many). The characters and the conflict seem a little absurd at times but the plot was as interesting as the first one so that was a bargain I was ready to make. Again, like the first book, it had me hooked from the first to the last page.

The world building offers us new elements in the same city of eyes. As we know by the end of the first book, the children are raising a war against the coven and reading that part was my favourite thing about the book.

I wish we could see more of Clytemnestra and Cam. those are characters with so much potential and I felt it was not used to it’s full extent.

One thing that really had me wanting for more was the relationship between Kite and the library, it was SO wholesome and will resonate with so many of you out there.

Overall it was good to see all the stories come together in a comforting end and giving most characters their due. I would personally not mind getting more books in the world and knowing more about it!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to be honest here people.. I was really hesitant to dive into The Boi of Feather and Steel. Mostly because I gave the previous book, The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass, two stars. Once I found a buddy to read this with.. well, I figured it was high time to put on my big girl pants and dive into the book.

I'll admit, this started off on a pretty interesting note. It also had some things that made cringe and regret having snacks nearby. I'm not sure why everyone was so obsessed with eating one another.. when a burger sounds a lot more delicious. Do they even have burgers in this world? If not, well, they are missing out.

Besides that, not a lot happened for most of this book. So it's safe to assume that I was bored during this. At the same time, it was nice to see Kite, Cam, Eli and Tav going off on their adventures and planning their little revenge. I just feel like the pacing and the chapter lengths were really throwing me off and I think it would have been a lot better if it was more consistent.

In the end, I'm not even sure what to think about this book. I'll admit it was a bit better than the first one and I liked the action scenes that I got. I just didn't like the build up to such a short battle with the coven. I wanted more. Something bigger.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Oh boy, I really wanted to like this one, because I loved the first book in the series and the cover is stunning as always, but maaan this fail to exceed my expectations.

Adan Jerreat-Poole's writing is excellent as always, but I was so confused 80% of the time about where the story was going. This could have been so much shorter because the pace was so slow at times and there were so many repetitions.

I loved the characters and the atmosphere as I did in the first book. but this time I had a hard time connecting with them, mostly because I didn't understand where the plot was going.

I'm sure this book will find its favorite readers soon, but it fell flat to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.

I liked the descriptions. I liked the name Tav. There was a lot of action in beginning. What I thought was real was dream. I also like the nam Eli for a girl.