I'm going to try really hard to come back to posting about books on here.
First up is the book I just finished listening to The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean. This is a fantasy book with a no-spice romantic storyline. It is more adult than YA (the characters are in their mid-twenties).
Read this book if you:
Like mythological creatures, autism-coded (awkward and socially stunted) characters, LGBTQ+ representation that isn't what the characters are all about (a trans main character who is only mentioned as being trans twice in the whole book and a bisexual woman that canonically dates both a man and a woman within the book), a light touch of drama that comes to a head in the final chapter, and a good epilogue (I am an epilogue girly, let me know where these people are a couple months or a year later!!).
I gave this 5 stars.
(P.S. I'm daniellecheri on StoryGraph if you want to be my friend.)
This was a cute fantasy novel that takes place at a zoo full of mythical creatures. I know some people found it boring, and I will say that parts of it were a bit repetitive, but for the most part I found it enjoyable (if a little predictable... of course the man is evil- what else is new). Aila figuring out what gender she likes was incredibly endearing and her love and dedication for the phoenixes was so real. As an outdoor child myself, I found the conservation aspects of this world to be fascinating. And now I want to catch myself a griffin keeper... go figure.
Summary-Aila has one goal in life. She wants to revive the Silimalo Phoenix breeding program at the zoo she works at. It’s been a decade since a clutch of eggs hatched and the male phoenix died some time ago leaving the lone female. Besides that obvious problem Aila also has crippling anxiety and no people skills. Her friend Tanya does what she can, but has her own work to do at the zoo. Aila is so caught up in her passion project she doesn’t date and doesn’t go home unless she has to. Infuriatingly at the zoo’s popular griffin show is Luciana who Aila has hated since college and refuses to work with. Connor at the dragon habitat on the other hand. But no there’s no time for dating especially after Aila catches the eye of the head of the phoenix breeding program who agrees to transfer a lone male phoenix from another zoo. This should excite Aila, but knowing why this male phoenix is alone disturbs her. At the other zoo was a clutch of newly hatched phoenixes that were stolen along with the female. And now on top of the male and female phoenix not getting along Aila has to work with Luciana who is helping with PR. Aila might think that Connor is a friend and Luciana is the enemy, but she’s never been more wrong. If she wants to protect her birds Aila needs to put her pride aside and work with her enemy.
Pros-Lots of work went into the different kinds of animals. Tanya and Luciana stole the show. Including sketches and basic info on some of the animals. Aila was very frustrating, but she did have some good character development towards the end.
Cons-Aila had me grinding my teeth through most of the story. I never bought into the Aila/Luciana romance.
Thank you Hachette Aus and Netgalley for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book had such a rocky start for me, I won’t lie. I nearly gave up on it, but the premise, the setting, and my beloved Tanya kept me reading and I am genuinely glad I did because I adored the second half of this book.
Tanya is an absolute ray of sunshine and I would read a book about her in a heartbeat. She’s so kind and so patient and so understanding and anyone would be lucky to have a Tanya in their life.
My main struggle was with the main character and the focus on her social awkwardness and stubbornness that was really genuinely just rudeness. She read as neurodivergent to me so I kept trying to give her the benefit of the doubt but when she was actively rude to people for no apparent reason within the prose/internal monologue, I started finding her really hard to empathise with. This combined with the overuse of similes had me struggling.
But the second half was genuinely beautiful. The reconciliation between Aila and Luc was really beautiful to watch and I loved seeing Aila FINALLY understand why the social side of her job that she hated was actually important. She opened her mind and her heart and it made her anxieties feel so much more relatable. Her relationship with Luciana was really beautifully crafted. I love a slow burn and this was done to perfection.
The climax was definitely predictable, but given how much this leans into the realm of cosy fantasy, I wasn’t too bothered by that.
All up, I really did love this book, so if you find you’re like me, struggling with the start, I do recommend sticking with it - it’s worth it.
