super cute modern fantasy book. i’d love to imagine that magical creatures are real and i can visit them. loved aila, and her character development throughout the book (i fear we have a lot in common/j), and while the romance was a slow burn it was still enjoyable. the book gave, very much, slice of life vibes so if you want a book that’s laid back and deals with some romance and caring for magical creatures this may be for you.

such a cosy book. character-focused novel with a slow plot, but it never feels boring. It has delightful characters and a sweet queer romance.

The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean was an enjoyable, bright read. I loved the zoo setting and the magical creatures, and the food descriptions were great as well. There was also a thoughtful inclusion of the idea of zoos for entertainment versus zoos for preservation, which is worth consideration. The villain in the book was a little obvious, but it was an altogether fun and fluffy plot, and I think that the book could carry over well into an animation. Overall, I would say that it was a four star read, and one that I would recommend to friends looking for something light. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC for review purposes.

The Phoenix Keeper Is the exact kind of cozy fantasy I eat up, and there were so many parts of it that just brought me so much joy. Aila our bisexual disaster of a main character. She spends most of the book trying to balance her social anxiety with her life's goal of restarting the Phoenix breeding program, and maybe managing to find love too.
I am going to preface my review with the fact that I Studied Zoology in college, work in environmental education currently, and dreamed of being a zookeeper as a child. I also love the low stakes of cozy books. This book is very much MY jam. (And if this is also you, read this book RIGHT NOW.)
One of my favorite parts about reading this book was you can tell the author LOVES animals. When reading Fantasy books I always notice when the author puts little thought about the creatures in the world and HOW they interact with the world and how they should act. I hate fantasy creatures that don't act like real animals. S.A. MacLean's main focus when world-building was the animals. Which is exactly how I would write a fantasy book. The thought put into the animals is beautiful and each and every one we meet feels like a REAL animal.
My favorite bit was when Aila interacted with the unicorn keeper. I LOVED Patricia the unicorn keeper, mostly because that is me. But the real highlight was Aila's beef with unicorns. Why did I love that so much? Because that is EXACTLY how I talk about kolas (those bastards evolved to eat weird food, spit in the face of evolution and everyone loves them for it).
Are there some issues with this book? sure, but look to another review for that I'm here to wax love about the fact that no matter how annoying the main character might be (and there were moments I wanted to hold an intervention for Aila, girl NEEDED to get her shit together a while ago) her love for her birds kept me reading. To me, the magic of the animals and the world was the most important part and the part that should be highlighted.
For me, this was a 4.75. I LOVED this book, but the beginning was a little rough.

This book felt like a warm hug!

I really appreciated and loved the anxiety rep, and the main character nerding out about her phoenixes was so endearing! I wish there was alittle more romance, but I still enjoyed reading this book and I highly recommend it!

I loved so many things about The Phoenix keeper. The worldbuilding is beautifully done. The romance was absolutely lovely. One of my top books this year and I can’t wait to see more from this author.

The Phoenix Keeper is a book I should have liked more than I did. The idea of a zookeeper tirelessly working to save an endangered species is a great place to start the plot. And while it was enjoyable to see the process unfold, the story just didn’t click with me for several reasons.

First, I think this would have worked better as a YA novel. If Aila was in high school, or even in college, navigating her anxiety, fears of not being good enough, and not feeling “normal” would have made more sense. But, as an accomplished zookeeper who doggedly pursues her goals, her childish behavior comes off wrong. Imposter syndrome, social anxiety, and feeling like you don’t fit in are absolutely real experiences for adults. But the way Aila acts doesn’t seem like an almost 30-year-old navigating those fears, but an 18 or 20-year-old. Because of that, she’s not very likeable for the first half of the book. The growth she has at the end is great but rushed. If she’d started at roughly where it was halfway through the book, it would have made more sense and then the growth could be shown more than it was. Also, the mortal “enemy” plot also felt childish. Again, it would make sense for an 18-20-year-old. But at almost 30, it would have made more sense if the misunderstanding had been sorted before the story started but there was remaining resentment because of the misunderstanding impacting their relationship.

Second, it just doesn’t work as a fantasy. Not all fantasies need to be high fantasy and there are many fantasy books that are set in roughly a similar world as our own with some fantasy/magical elements thrown in, but this is not one of them. The book could have easily been set in a fake zoo and focused on any of the hundreds of birds critically endangered birds in our own world. Phoenixes are cool, but if a point of the story is to get people to care about endangered animals, I think it would have worked better to highlight actual animals.

Last, the plot was predictable, and some elements were unnecessary. I figured out who the “villain” was and how the book was going to end about 30% through the book. Sometimes it’s still fun to see how it all plays out, but not in this case. Along with Aila being in sufferable for a lot of the plot, the original love interest was such a walking red flag it was frustrating. He would have been an interesting foil to the second love interest, but instead was over the top bad. And, frankly, the romance element between the two of them wasn’t necessary. The plot would have worked just as well if they tried to be friends instead. The story starts as a fairly cozy fantasy, but then turns into a heist thriller in the last four chapters of the book. Plotwise, it made sense, but tonally the shift was odd.

In sum, there were a lot of good elements to this book, but they just didn’t gel very well for me.

I'm still trying to figure out why I continued to read the entire book. I think it may be the "perfect for fans of House in the Cerulean Sea & Legends & Lattes". ...which this book was neither. Alia was annoying and naive to the point that I kept thinking she was a teen instead of a supposed adult. Everything tied up very neatly at the end and was very happily ever after. Bleh.

𝑭𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒐 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 🐦‍🔥

Set in a magical zoo teeming with mythical beasts from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and krakens, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙭 𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙧 is a cozy fantasy novel with a touching story of hope and resilience at its heart.

MacLean’s debut is a charming, fully immersive experience. I loved the modern low fantasy setting. With a character-driven storyline, the plot is slower enabling readers to fully bask in the whimsy and joy of the magical zoo.

If you enjoyed stories like Legends & Lattes and The Spellshop, definitely check this one out.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁:
🐦‍🔥 cozy fantasy
🐦‍🔥 magical realism
🐦‍🔥 character-driven storytelling
🐦‍🔥 mental health representation
🐦‍🔥 sapphic romance
🐦‍🔥 mythical creatures

This was such a warm hug of a read! I'm really enjoying this wave of cozy fantasy, of low stakes, and this one in a world with magical creatures, and the zoos and conservation efforts, yeah, I would love to spend more time in this world!

Aila is anxiety walking, and I could relate so easily to her! She worries about every single thing, basically, from talking to the guy that she's attracted to, to talking to the public about the creatures under her care. That what if, what if something goes wrong, that little voice in the back of your head, I related so much!

This world of creatures that are mythological in our world, being zoo creatures, some of which are near extinction, was so interesting to read, and all the methods that they have to deal with these creatures, it's basically our technology level and society, but in this fantasy world, which was so interesting to read!

Oh, but her relationships in this book were so great! Tanya, the steadfast friend, Luciana, someone who humiliated Aila in college, and now is a rising star at work, with the enemies to lovers? They were all so great to read about, I loved all their dynamics, and the growth in all these relationships!

I did guess who the bad guy was right at the one point, because the way that he was rubbing her wrong, and that one factoid being brought up, yeah, that made me suspicious. So it was a delight to be proven right, though awful, too, because he was such an awful person!

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more by S.A. MacLean!

The Phoenix Keeper was a big disappoint for me. I really struggled to get on board with the story.

Though I recognize the intent with Alia's character I found the way her anxiety was depicted incredibly frustrating. Her anxiety was just used to justify her being incredibly judgmental, self-absorbed, and bad at her job. I really lost any sympathy for her when she judged a child for being nervous to ask a question. Any potential for growth with her character was reduced to a simplistic message about other people also having struggles. Her only redeeming quality was her genuine care for her birds.

The romance was a huge selling point for this cozy fantasy and it was incredibly underwhelming. Alia's attitude towards the love interest in the beginning was unfair, immature, and littered with internalized misogyny. Unsurprisingly, the entire backstory for their "rivalry" was absurd. The romance is also absent for the entire first half.

The plot slips from cozy to slow and boring. Perhaps its because I really didn't like Alia, but I wasn't convinced at any point that her zoo should host the breeding program.

There is a lot cf potential with this story. But unfortunately nothing about the execution worked for me.

shy, anxious aila became a zookeeper to work with the critically endangered phoenixes she loves. her dream is to revive her zoo’s defunct phoenix breeding program, but in order to do so she must learn to deal with her social anxiety and cooperate with her college rival (now the zoo’s popular griffin keeper).

possibly my biggest disappointment of 2024?

the phoenix keeper shines when it focuses on the cozy fantasy elements of the story: the magical creatures and their keepers’ everyday chores and responsibilities. archie in particular was a delight! it’s a love letter to animal conservation told through a fantasy lens, and i really appreciated that aspect.

unfortunately nothing else really worked for me.

while i found the depiction of aila’s social anxiety to be painfully relatable on a handful of occasions, at other points it felt unbelievable and exaggerated considering her age and career. it didn’t help that she’s a frustrating character outside of that: selfish, self-centered, naive, passive, and more immature than most YA protagonists. and she’s such a bad friend to tanya! i don’t mind unlikable MCs, but aila just didn’t make sense as an established zookeeper in her late 20s. i think her character might have been more plausible as a high school/college student intern.

luciana might have been a compelling character if we got to know her better, but despite being aila’s love interest, she’s little more than a collection of YA love interest stereotypes. tanya was hands down the most interesting character, and i think i would have preferred her as the protagonist.

the romance was… lacking, for a book with “falling in love never burned so bright” on the cover. i wouldn’t have minded as much if not for the love triangle—aila spends so much of the book obsessing over the male love interest. what we did get to see of her and luciana towards the end was cute, i guess, but it would have been nice to see more of their relationship earlier in the story. regardless, this is not a romantasy and i wouldn’t recommend it if that’s what you’re looking for.

the “mystery” isn’t much of a mystery, either. the entire storyline is very predictable, not that our clueless MC picks up on any of the obvious foreshadowing.

cozy fantasies seem to be very hit or miss for me, so if you love them and you’re looking for a read where the magical creatures are the stars, the phoenix keeper might be a much more enjoyable read for you!

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for this ARC Copy! 3.5 Stars

A cozy fantasy that takes place in a zoo filled with magical animals, and its sapphic, what more is there to love. I was so excited for this book and it looked like it was going to be so fun but I had a really hard time liking the FMC, she was a lot, and not necessary in a good way. All in all I enjoyed the story I just wish the FMC had been less whiney and honestly nicer..

A solid 4 star novel. My biggest take aways are the setting, finding oneself, and realized love. The setting is a zoo keeper for magical animals. Though her animal is a Phoenix. How unique! The story is just as charming as it sounds, learning to love yourself enough to realize you cam be happy and have love.

I received the Illumicrate edition of this book and I’m so excited! It’s very nice and cozy and I loooove the fantastical zookeeper plot!

Painfully predictable, flat characters, caricature villains, minimal world building, no chemistry between the love interests. Just did not work for me at all.

A mythological zoo full of the care of phoenixes, romance but it’s not the focal point, great LGBT representation, wrapped up into a cozy fantasy? Yes please. I loved every minute of this book!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC! Cozy fantasy / romantasy isn't my favourite, but I had a lot of fun with this one. It was nice to see a main character allowed to be so flawed and make such genuine amends with the people she hurts. The romance was also very sweet, and the zoo setting was unlike anything I've read in fantasy before. Loved the species fun facts scattered throughout the book as well as the happy ending!

I don’t know what i expected from the book but it wasn’t this. I ended up enjoying it in the end but, for me, it felt so slow and i could barely get through it. overall, i liked the plot and the writing style and i wasn’t upset with it at all, just wasn’t what i was expecting.

I’m starting to realize that cozy romance books are not necessarily something I enjoy reading. There was nothing wrong with the book that I can remember, it just wasn’t what I wanted to read in that moment. I may end up picking this book back up at a later date.