A well-written political fantasy with some interesting world-building elements. I do think there are some narrative choices that don't work well - in particular, two of the main characters' narratives hide information from the reader, which leads to the world-building feeling under-explained. Despite being inside his head we aren't given explanations of how Kilasha's magic works, and information about his and Arkaen's past, goals, etc. is given very very slowly if at all. In that sense Niamsha's narration is the easiest to follow, but she's also the most frustrating protagonist because she repeatedly makes the worst decisions. I'll keep an eye out for the sequel and to see what comes next from this author.

I went into this book blindly and honestly, it’s not gripping me as much as I was hoping it would. I tried to truck through this book because I wanted love the politics and the intrigue between a queer romance in a high fantasy setting. But this just wasn’t for me. I was hoping for more world building, and character development but it doesn’t seem like I getting much after about 30% in. I needed more descriptions, more explanation and just something more unique. Currently I have this on pause, with the chance of DNF-ing it. If I do continue and my opinions do change, I’ll change my rating accordingly.

From the description of the book I was excited to get an advanced copy. But honestly, it quickly fell flat for me. For all the individual elements, this book did not come together in a cohesive way to the point that I am not sure I can describe the plot.

To the best of my knowledge this book centers on Arkaen as he tries to navigate creating stability under his rule following a brutal imperial rule while also planning for some big change in world? As the larger politics forms, Niamsha, an unwilling member of a rogues guild, is pressed into playing role in the attempted usurping of Arkaen and his allies while trying to keep her brother safe.

I saw little character change over the course of the book for any of the lead characters and little challenge to their world views. I generally don't mind when books only present you with a limited amount of information about the world at large. But I felt like I was missing all of the context for the entire book. The magic of foresight and the complications there of seemed interesting but so little explanation was given to it or its wielder except that it's important that I lost interest even in that detail. Above all though the two points the bothered me the most were as follows. There was an attempt at creating separate speech patterns to indicate class but this indication only applied to those characters associated with crime. Secondly, despite having a queer relationship, it was always presented as something the characters had and as a tool of mockery from others. That the rumor of queernees could ruin Arkaen was a somewhat consistent theme in the beginning of the book. And while I think there is a place for all kinds of queer storylines in fantasy I was not interested in this particular take on it at this point in my reading.

"Wake of the Pheonix" was absolutely magnificent. Complex and political, original and at times difficult to follow, but with a whole cast of characters that was memorable and fantastic.
It's main characters, Arkean and Lasha, Niamsha and Saylina, are wonderfully complex and have unique relationships with one another. I especially loved Arkean and Lasha. Their relationship, the complex way they work together, the love and pain they hold for one another: it was to gut-wrenching to witness but also, it gave me that high-stakes, til-death-do-us-part kind of vibe that I rarely see in high fantasy (especially with same sex couples).
The writing is fantastic, the world-building original and magical, the atmosphere highly charged and political, with scheming and plots and life-changing prophecies and decisions, under the ever-present threat of war.
I loved it. A lot. Highly recommended

A queer political fantasy with some great characters and world building.

Although this was fun to read, it wasn't something that blew my mind ?

I would recommend it to people but not something I would continue myself if there's to be a sequel.

When I start turning to a book as an insomnia cure, I know it's time to call it quits.

Take everything I'm about to say with a pinch of salt, since I didn't finish this book; I'm calling a DNF at 35%. It's possible everything improves after that point, but I doubt it.

This was pitched to me as 'Baru Cormorant, but M/M', which is incredibly misleading. What I think that individual meant was that there are political shenanigans afoot, but as someone who regularly enjoys high fantasy I wasn't impressed. The high lord (functionally a king) seems politically inept, so it was a good thing we had chapters from his POV to demonstrate that he's at least well-intentioned. The jockeying for power amongst the various nobles was baffling and counter-intuitive to me; I didn't see anyone behaving in a way that made sense, only a lot of people being petty and nasty. (I do understand that politics can be Like That. But my point is that this doesn't read like a book of political intrigue.)

The setting is quasi-Western European, with a very traditional set-up; I didn't find anything unique in the main culture. There's hints of some interesting worldbuilding with Kìlashà's backstory and people, but to be honest, after slogging through 35% of the book and getting almost no details there, it didn't feel worth it to keep going. Kìlashà, the bodyguard and secret lover of the high lord, is described as 'near-omniscient' in the blurb, and that's kind of the problem; his ability to see the future is confusing, the limitations not clearly conveyed, so he seems all-powerful except when he isn't Because Plot. I was really disappointed, because Kìlashà is without question the most interesting character, but he and Arkaen a) seem to be incredibly impulsive, doing things apparently at random, and b) I just wasn't getting enough of their relationship. I don't mean that I wanted sex scenes, but they fell in love long before the start of the book, and it felt like we were mostly being TOLD how much they love each other, rather than seeing/experiencing it for ourselves.

I'll admit, I was hoping/expecting for a queernorm setting - one without homophobia - but no. I don't think that makes it a bad book, but on a personal level I am extremely tired of reading about fantasy worlds that still hate queer people. There was no reason this couldn't have been a queer-friendly world - there would still be stress and angst around the high lord getting an heir if he was openly with another man. It just feels like lazy writing - and worldbuilding - to make it homophobic instead.

The writing isn't bad, it just isn't that special either. There was nothing encouraging me to keep reading. There's infinitely better queer fantasy out there, so I'm not wasting my time forcing myself to read the rest of this.

Wake of the Phoenix is a queer political fantasy that follows three characters: Arkaen, Kilasha, and Niamsha. Arkaen and Kilasha are the queer main couple, but their relationship remains a secret because it's forbidden. Niamsha is a thief who is trying to make a better life for her and her brother.

While I did like the political schemes in the novel, the plot was slow and hard to get through at several points. I had to force my way through it at times. Character backgrounds were also dragged out a little bit and I found that hard to follow at times too. Some of the characterization seemed so out of place, especially for Niamsha. I didn't care for her to be honest but I did like Kilasha! He is a pretty great character with an awesome set of powers!

Speaking of Kilasha though, I was initially interested in this book because it's labeled as a queer read, but it's not an open relationship and cheating is a component of it. The relationship was a secret that I suppose is meant to add to the suspense of the plot and political aspects. But I was expecting something different since Arkaen is a high lord; I thought he'd had more power to be in a relationship with whomever he wanted before I started the book, but that is not the case. Also, the ending was messed up. I was highly upset, but that's the point I guess. If you're looking for shockers, this will deliver. The political intrigue is there if you like that! I definitely wouldn't recommend this for the faint of heart though as it's pretty gory at times and don't get attached! Overall I would give it 3.5 stars and I will pick up the sequel to see how the characters respond to the cliffhanger scene at the end of this book!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hmgmfjrmgjgm???

VERY not sure how I feel about this, honestly.

I came for the politics, and stayed mostly for the "visions of the future" shenanigans. Something big, magical and world-altering is going on, but I still have pretty much no idea what it is. As for the things I do know:

• Arkaen seemed like he spent most of his time being uselessly violent and useless in general. I like him in theory but WHAT did he accomplish? I have no confidence that he can bring the province together successfully under his rule.

• Lasha is inherently the coolest. Seems like he's probably got a very interesting backstory and magical powers, but again. Don't really know what those are. No idea what he's doing or why.

• Niamsha? Annoying. If there's anything I hate, it's "lower class speech patterns" written out for pages and pages and pages. It's an excruciating gimmick. Aside from that, I didn't mind Niamsha's character that much, actually -- until we came to the end of the story.

We were waiting for her to finally choose a side, and when she did it was just stupid. Run into a room, draw a conclusion in 0.3 seconds, and then run back out straight into the arms of a man you already KNOW is evil? Make it make sense.

• On a similar note... the ending. It was almost a cliffhanger in its abruptness, but honestly the cliffs I am hanging off are not particularly compelling ones. Clearly this is an intricately-imagined world and there are big things in store for the future, but reading this felt like a lot of work for not that much payoff. I don't care enough to chase down the rest of the series.

Stealing a review format from Grace to help me organise my thoughts:

The good: - Absolutely gripped me and kept me reading like a book hasn't done in ages.
- LOVED Kaen and Kilasha. Found it a little difficult to like Niamsha given her weirdly naive behavior? isn't SHE supposed to be the street-wise one?
- sorry to be like this (AKA extremely me always) but MAN there's nothing like someone covered in blood and guts and being like i WILL kill literally everyone for the person i love. like truly. what an incandescent trope. really truly hope there's so much more of it in the next book. which brings me to:

The bad: - THAT'S THE ENDING?"?!? INFURIATING. where is my DENOUEMENT. where is my HEAVY H/C SCENE. my RESOLUTION. (i realise its setting up for a sequel! i don't care!)
- really afraid the entire next? middle? book is just going to be flashbacks, which i do not love. leave a little mystery, ms harper! i'll respect you more i promise!

The ugly: - repeated threat of sexual assault and referenced sexual assault (offscreen).
- man repeatedly cheating on his partner (despite the partner knowing???? still weird and bad imo)
- quite a lot of descriptions of torture scenes/battles with the torture referenced being pretty gory.


Overall! If you like complex fantasy and a lot of political shenanigans, you will probably like this book!

3.5 stars

Wake of the Phoenix follows the tale of Arkaen, a hero of the rebellion, now a disenfranchised high lord who must now rule a city of corrupt nobles and hidden enemies at every turn. By his side he has Lasha, his secret lover and protector who has the gift of foresight but whom everyone view as a demon and his sister, who is very cunning and trying to help Arkaen navigate the hostile politics. His storyline crosses paths with Niamsha, an orphan who is in debt to the mysterious leader of a notorious thieves guild, Nijel. She is desparately trying to keep herself and her brother alive and out of a life of crime and so agrees to spy on the nobles and work with the rogue baron. Arkaens enemy. Arkaen must try and persuade Niamsha to work with him to try and help stave off a coming civil war, but Niamsha has a lot of torn loyalities and is unsure who she can trust.

I really liked all the poltical scheming and plotting in the novel, I thought the mix of new intrigue and old conflict left over from the rebellion worked really well to create a compelling story, although at times I did feel like the story was a sequel and I had missed a book given how much the backstory played into the main story. The book was well paced and had enough mystery and substance to keep you wanted to read more - although it didn't feel like anything super special or unique (but did feel like a very familiar and comforting fantasy read!),

Whilst I liked the characters I didn't feel paticularly attached to anyone, which is probably why I didn't give the book a higher rating. I did really enjoy the relationship bewteen Arkaen and Lasha, I actually really like reading about already established relationships (especially in fantasy) and thought the mix of forbidden love and angst with the care and tenderness they had for each other worked really well. I also enjoyed seeing Niamsha choose between standing up for herself and her wants versus feeling obligated to her masters and trying to keep her brother out of trouble.

I will definitely keep an eye out for the sequel, I thought this was an enjoyable read that had some great world-building, fascinating politics and scheming and moments that kept you on the edge of your seat. It also had a lot of potential and set a foundation for a really solid series with characters that I know I could grow to love (although at the moment its only like!).

The names of the characters are very unique, and so I have absolutely no idea if I was reading the names correctly. The storyline is well done. And holy hell the ending, I recommend to anyone who enjoyed A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer and Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

The political intrigue in this book is top notch. The characters are very compelling. I loved the ambience and the setting and how unique the world felt. It took a bit to pull me in, but I ended up really liking it!

Before I review this book, I feel like I must first describe the characters.

This book follows three main characters: Arkaen, Kilasha, and Niamsha.

Arkaen is the High Lord of this city and thus tasked with dealing with the politics in this book. As said in the description, he is mostly focusing on rebellion and civil war throughout the entirety of this book.

Kilasha is his (secret) lover and honestly one of the most interesting characters in this book. He was gifted (or cursed, in some eyes) with powers by his gods that allow him to see what may happen in the future and act accordingly. This also gives him a strange appearance (his hair moves by itself, his eyes are black, there are black veins crossing his body), so most characters in this book fear him.

Niamsha is a thief living secretly in a storage closet and trying to get money to pay for her brother’s education. She reluctantly works for a band of thieves she’d really rather stay away from, but her situation calls for her to be indebted to them.

Now that we have the characters down…

One of my first thoughts on this book was actually about the relationship between Arkaen and Lasha. It was honestly really upsetting to find out that they had to keep their relationship a secret in a world where being gay is not okay. With a fantasy setting such as this, the author could easily make same-sex relationships commonplace and legal, and I’m not quite sure what the point is of having their relationship be forbidden in such a way.

Arkaen and Lasha’s relationship is already established before the events of this book, as well as many of the details of Lasha’s character and their shared backstory. I honestly think this backstory is more interesting than the actual events of this book, and I would love to see a prequel to this series.

Much of the characters’ details and the plot to this story are learned slowly as readers get through the book, making for a bit of a confusing time as readers try to piece together what this book is trying to say. It’s easy to look back and tell that this book is very self-contained, with how the conflict is due to the events that transpire in the beginning, but it’s not simple to pick up as readers are reading. As someone who likes to write notes on what happens in books in order to summarize the important bits to touch on during my reviews, there weren’t many details I wrote down about the plot itself, as I didn’t know what was important and what was not as I was reading, and many of the details of the plot instantly deleted themselves from my mind as soon as I finished the final page.

The ending kind of hurts, especially if you’re someone who cares for these characters even a little bit. It sets up a conflict for a sequel, however I don’t have enough interest in where it is going to continue on with any future installments.

Chock-full of charmingly prickly characters and complex, convoluted politics, Wake of the Phoenix is a pins-and-needles plural-perspective crusade dense with difficult choices and dire circumstances, clandestine dealings and covert courtships. Harper has created a wonderfully detailed and daedal world of power-play chicaneries and diplomatic ploys with this charged dawning chapter that puts the pieces in play for a cracklingly promising continuation.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for kindly passing on this ARC! 💫

I thoroughly enjoyed this read!
Wake of the Phoenix is a slow burn, but the action and characters make the wait worthwhile!
I found myself looking forward to seeing where the characters were going and seeing how choices would impact the next twists and turns!
It featured great representation, and for being a political story, which I wasn’t sure I would enjoy as much as others, I found myself completely drawn in!

This book is about a War Hero named Arkean and he is getting betrayed by his lower lords to form a rebellion. Kìlashà is his lover who has a gift of foresight and saw the potential ally in Niamsha, The Thiefmaster's apprentice who also has lots of debts from his late father and will do anything to protect her brother. Niamsha is the only key to Arkean's success to prevent a civil war from happening.

This book is a slow burn kind of book and gave me time to fall in love with the characters especially Arkean and Niamsha. This is a very interesting read and I almost broke my phone screaming. My heart broke at some scenes and OH MY GOD the ending!

The world building is phenomenal and I really want to go to their world! I loved how this was written because I am not familiar with it at first and then it grew on me. Everyone who loves fantasy should read this!

Chelsea Harper is a great writer and I am looking forward to read the 2nd book and more of her books! I recommend everyone to read this when it comes out on 09.28.21!! I will definitely share this to every person I know when it comes out!

Wow! This was brilliant! A story with beautifully complex characters that was as intriguing, dazzling and thrilling as its cover.

I mean just this: "War Hero. Thiefmaster's apprentice. Traitors. Every title comes with a price." is a wonderful summary of the thrill to ensue within this masterful book.

We follow here main character Arkaen who's described as a 'gods-damned saint' a regretful but strangely tender a soul who 'sacrificed his childhood innocence fighting for the beleaguered rebellion in a civil war and relinquished a comfortable life with the man he loves to reclaim his place as high lord from corrupt nobles'. Ummmm can I just say the romance was nicely built up with enough tension to stir something in me. There's also my favourite character in the book, Niamsha, described as a 'reluctant thief trying to pay for her brother’s education'. With enemy forces of both Niamsha and Arkaen joining forces, she is torn between protecting her family and following her conscience, with trust and loyalty becoming a defining factor of the story and Interaction between the characters in order to save their lives from destruction and destitution.

While it was a slow build up and took a while for everything to set into place (hence 4.5 star rating), once things got going I couldn't get enough! Something I will be highly recommending at the library and outside.

The cover was the first reason i wanted to read this book, than the description was so good looking that i went right to it!

It was a 3,5 stars read for me (put four).
I fell in love Arkaen, i really loved him and understood his decision, he was really « real » to me and human.i just adored his relation with Kilasha and my heart broke with him to what arkaen has to do.
Wasn’t a fan of niamsha but mostly because i was in love and focused on arkaen and kilasha !
The plot was good and logical!
The end though is too fast for me , i would have loved a little end scene with arkaen and kilasha to end the book on the immediate concern( kilasha’s powers, niamsha’s case and arkaen and kilasha’s relation’s stade) and maybe have more sweet moment between them.
Kilasha’s character is really complex and i adored his chapter, i could really feel that he was lost in his power, would have loved to hear more about his feelings for arkaen, i can easily feel arkaen’s love towards kilasha since the beginning where it took more time for kilasha!
Overall i enjoyed the book!total fan of kilasha and arkaen, i loved deyvan and jarod as well!

It was really goooood. It was interesting political fantasy. 4,5/5⭐

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

Woah, this is excellent. Read now/indie is always dubious, but I requested this one because it was queer. I feel like ive been rewarded for doing something right.

I love how smart this book is. it's a genuine political drama wrapped up in a beautiful character piece. The queer characters were read like real people, and while the relationship could have been explored a little more, I genuinely cared about what happened to them. m so appreciative to see this type of rep in high fantasy without it being the primary focus.

I loved the other characters as well, and each POV was fantastic. The plot moves slowly but no time is really wasted per chapter- I got something out of even the smallest scenes.

This book reads like a trade pub. It should get a ton of attention because it deserves it. I'm so impressed and happy. I can't WAIT to start sharing this with my friends.