Synopsis:
I had a sister, once…
In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.
I promised her the throne would not come between us.
Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.
But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.
Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.
Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Whoa. I did NOT expect to enjoy Crown of Feathers as much as I did. In fact, I never thought I'd read it at all.
As much as I love animals irl, I tend to find magical animal-based
stories a bit childish and boring. So while I love the cover for this
novel, the synopsis didn't intrigue me at all. But after finding the
OwlCrate edition of this in a used book store, I thought "what the heck,
why not?" and gave this a try. BOY AM I GLAD I DID.
I will admit, this started off rough. Between the constant info-dumping and not especially engaging writing, I really believed I wouldn't get more than 100 pages into this before dnfing. The beginning of this book is so clunky and lackluster, but once it hits its stride, Crown of Feathers ends up being a lot more deep and interesting than its beginning makes it out to be.
Despite the massive info-dumping at the novel's open, I thought this world would be nothing more than what I would expect from a standard YA fantasy - some dead queens, oppression of the magical folks, a past war - as usual lacking complexity and feeling generic and interchangeable with similar titles in the genre. But this book ended up being so politically driven?! Rather than being a backdrop, the repercussions of the dead queens and past war are still felt by every single character throughout the novel in complex and interesting ways. The world-building still didn't blow me out of the water, but it did feel unique.
But even as the characters become more and more entrenched in the politics and consequences of their world, I really appreciated how the characters still felt like teens. This didn't feel like young YA, which I personally don't enjoy, but nor did it feel like YA where the characters act like they should be in their mid-twenties. The three main characters - Veronyka, Tristan, and Sev - were dynamic and complicated, yet still had the uncertainties that come with being young. This was probably one of the most realistic portrayals of teens in fantasy I've seen yet.
Also, can I just shout out how wonderful the LGBT+ rep in this is? It's so organic - perhaps to the point of subtley, but as a queer person that always has eagle eyes on the page for my people, it was really refreshing to read about LGBT+ characters that weren't coded as such through stereotypes or explicit on the page romance. Of course, I expect those romantic elements will kick up a notch in the next book, but I just loved seeing queer people being queer without queerness defining who they are as a person. While those stories are obviously important in literature, sometimes a bi girl just wants to read about queer people without overwhelming romance elements.
Overall, this book took me by such surprise in the best way possible. I expected a younger side of YA story with a generic plot and world, but instead got realistic and complex teen characters, a politically charged world, and LGBT+ rep that really meant something to my little bi heart. I can't wait for the next book!
I will admit, this started off rough. Between the constant info-dumping and not especially engaging writing, I really believed I wouldn't get more than 100 pages into this before dnfing. The beginning of this book is so clunky and lackluster, but once it hits its stride, Crown of Feathers ends up being a lot more deep and interesting than its beginning makes it out to be.
Despite the massive info-dumping at the novel's open, I thought this world would be nothing more than what I would expect from a standard YA fantasy - some dead queens, oppression of the magical folks, a past war - as usual lacking complexity and feeling generic and interchangeable with similar titles in the genre. But this book ended up being so politically driven?! Rather than being a backdrop, the repercussions of the dead queens and past war are still felt by every single character throughout the novel in complex and interesting ways. The world-building still didn't blow me out of the water, but it did feel unique.
But even as the characters become more and more entrenched in the politics and consequences of their world, I really appreciated how the characters still felt like teens. This didn't feel like young YA, which I personally don't enjoy, but nor did it feel like YA where the characters act like they should be in their mid-twenties. The three main characters - Veronyka, Tristan, and Sev - were dynamic and complicated, yet still had the uncertainties that come with being young. This was probably one of the most realistic portrayals of teens in fantasy I've seen yet.
Also, can I just shout out how wonderful the LGBT+ rep in this is? It's so organic - perhaps to the point of subtley, but as a queer person that always has eagle eyes on the page for my people, it was really refreshing to read about LGBT+ characters that weren't coded as such through stereotypes or explicit on the page romance. Of course, I expect those romantic elements will kick up a notch in the next book, but I just loved seeing queer people being queer without queerness defining who they are as a person. While those stories are obviously important in literature, sometimes a bi girl just wants to read about queer people without overwhelming romance elements.
Overall, this book took me by such surprise in the best way possible. I expected a younger side of YA story with a generic plot and world, but instead got realistic and complex teen characters, a politically charged world, and LGBT+ rep that really meant something to my little bi heart. I can't wait for the next book!
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