Unique and wonderful entry into the fantasy realm of YA..everyone loves dragons but enter into magical Phoenixes :) prepare to be amazed and enjoy the ride.

No one is more disappointed than me. I tried to get into this one over many months and just couldn't do it. I guess it's not for me!

Everything I love in a book is in Crown of Feathers. Multiple POV’s, a complex history, lush description and moments that make your jaw drop!

This book was thick but a surprisingly quick read. I was completely sucked in to Veronyka's story, her journey to find the Raiders. I haven't read many books that include Phoenixes, at least in more than them being in the background, and I really liked seeing the way they were used. I also really enjoyed the relationship between the sisters, though not a warm and fuzzy relationship, it was one that added to the plot and helped move the story along.
The plot is a little slow moving but with the way it's more character driven, it's something I liked. The world building is amazing, it's so easy to tell the author took their time and much care in creating it. I cannot wait for the sequel!

A fun read. Pacing felt a little slow at times, and the plot a little predictable, but the world-building was vivid and I appreciated the nuanced characters.

I’m not exaggerating when I said this is one of the worst books I’ve ever read. A co-worker of mine described it as “Info-Dump: The Book”. About 90% of the novel reads like a history book and only the remainder contains actual plot. You will be hard-pressed to find a conversation between two characters that doesn’t immediately devolve into endless pages of expository stories. It’s almost impressive that I still learned almost nothing about the world – your eyes just start to glaze over. It is difficult to explain how painful it is to read this type of writing; every single thing is overexplained as if the audience was a toddler. The author had no faith that her audience would be able to interpret anything that wasn’t blatantly explained to them. There is not an ounce of subtlety to be had anywhere.

For example, when our protagonist Veronyka first arrives at the camp of Phoenix Riders she has a bad encounter with a boy named Tristan. A chapter or two later we get this internal monologue:

“Veronyka nodded, understanding him at last. He wasn’t being manipulative; he was simply expressing himself – without ulterior motive. The day he’d found her, he’d been angry and frustrated, and his scowling face and argumentative words had told the story. Yesterday he had been humiliated, and so that was how he’d behaved, lashing out at her. Now he wanted to start over, so he apologized and was inviting her help. He might be one of the most honest people she’d ever met.”

Don’t you love it when the author recaps events that literally just happened and then point blankly explains the motives and personalities of all the characters? It’s so much fun being treated like a 5 year-old. And it gets even more fun when the author proceeds to repeat this exact same speech! No joke Veronyka has at least two more internal monologues where she tells us how on the day she met Tristan he was only acting out of anger and humiliation. The author must think we have the attention span of a toddler.

This book also includes something that is quickly becoming a personal pet peeve: melodramatic quotes at the start of each chapter. This is cropping up in so many recent YA novels and it is usually not being used well. In Crown of Feathers it just serves as more melodramatic, needless exposition.

I haven’t talked much about the plot because this book is proof that having a good idea is so incredibly far from being enough to make a good book. Clearly the author had a lot of ideas – hence the endless exposition – and at its core the premise of this book is better than some YA novels to which I’ve given higher ratings. In theory I liked the plot surrounding the two sisters which included a decent twist near the end, but I literally couldn’t have cared less about anything that happened because the physical act of reading this book was so tedious.

I know I didn’t pull any punches when writing this review. I don’t expect anyone’s first book to be perfect and I genuinely hope that Nicki Pau-Preto continues to improve her writing and puts out much better books in the future. But at the end of the day this isn’t a first draft or a free beta reading, this is a published product that costs money. Someone much earlier in the writing process should have told her the hard truth that her writing style is not working at all. This novel is so many revisions away from being publication ready that its existence baffles me. I think that authors need to aim for better, publishers need to demand better, and as readers we deserve better.

This had a slow start, but the world-building and phoenix lore were so interesting that I was quickly immersed in the story. One of the POVs really didn't work for me, but having a very morally grey character present in other POVs helped to counterbalance that. I can't wait for the next book!

Oh, wow, I loved reading this book! I had a rocky start, I read the first few chapters, had to put it down, and then just could never find the time to pick it up. I think the size intimidated me, because I'd think that I had to read it early in the week, and if it was near the end, there wasn't any point. But I picked it up again and just devoured it!

I loved this world with Phoenix Riders and the empire and the sisters! It was really fantastic, and we saw only a small portion of this world, there's a lot to see, and a lot of rich history, and with Val going to the fallen capital of the country, well, I hope to learn and explore there!

We had 3 perspectives in this book. Veronyka, hoping to train as a Rider. Tristan, son of the leader of the current group of Riders. And Sev, animage in hiding as well as as an empire solider. I loved watching their stories, and how they all intertwined together in the end!

There was the story of the final Rider queen, Avalkyra Ashfire, and her sister, little snippets of though that confused me at first, at the top of each chapter. They're between every paragraph in the synopsis above. I mean, they were important because her actions shaped the world they're living in now, but that ending, yeah, that just made them all the more important!

This book was really fantastic, I enjoyed it so much, and I can't wait for Heart of Flames!

I was given a free ARC of this book by Netgaĺley, and the review following is my honest review of said book. I had a really hard time with this book. the first third of it was very slow, and I didn't find.myself engaging with any of the characters. The flow was difficult for me to follow, and i DNF'd it on the first go. On being encouraged that it picks up and ends up enjoyable, I tried again. they were right!! I got interested in the story and characters, the pace picked up, and things started to click. yay!! overall, i did enjoy this book and am excited for the next, but it took some doing

This books was probably one of the most unique YA fantasies I've read this year. The fantasy genre is oversaturated, so it takes a lot for a book within that genre, especially one that's also categorized as a YA to really grab my attention. There was solid world building. The book also delves into the complicatedness of sisterhood and that's what I liked the most about it. Family-based conflicts/themes in a fantasy world where the characters are complex and are forced to make hard decisions are one my favourite things.

Such a beautiful book. Great imagery and lovable characters. I never wanted to put it down! I’m a big fan of fantasy and I hope that this one become a series.

On my list of incredibly—like, extremely incredibly—overdue things, it’s this... But as I, a chronic procrastinator, will always say: better late than never.

And perhaps, this is all the more appropriate in the case of Crown of Feathers. This is not the first YA fantasy I’ve read this year that takes the “slow burn” concept and runs with it for well, the whole book. But I say this lovingly, as the story unfolds across the pages like a fire. It’s gradual and it takes it’s time. There are small sparks throughout the start, enough to keep you aware so you don’t get burned when they occur. It’s a fire built and overseen with care and dedication, to ensure it continues burning big and bright, long after the initial igniting.

This said, it is not a fast-paced book, and if that’s what you’re looking for at the moment, this is not the book you want to pick up. However, if you’re in the mood for an epic YA fantasy that bleeds luscious world-building: this is it. The world that Nicki Pau Preto has crafted here is tremendous in it’s scope—and more importantly, the scope of it’s history. The way the narrative weaves together past and present from start to finish is incredible. Yes, you will have to sit through a fair share of info-dumping. But, if you’re willing to embrace it, to relinquish yourself to it, there is so much wonderful history to open yourself up to.

(If you find yourself struggling, though, I particularly recommend the audiobook.)

But what would such a fabulously crafted world be without it’s inhabitants? Again, the characters of past and present find themselves overlapping, entwining, and it makes for such a rewarding experience by the time you reach the end. I particularly loved the relationship between Veronyka and Val, because complicated sibling dynamics in books are some of my favourite things. There is no better way to tackle how love and hate can possibly co-exist between two people than through siblings. In general though, there are so many complex family dynamics at play throughout Crown of Feathers, both families by blood and families by choice, and I am here for ALL of them.

Another fair warning: don’t come into this book looking for romance unless you’re prepared for the slowest of slow burns. And by that I mean that by the end of the book, you get nothing except sparks. Really, really tiny sparks. Sparks that might not even be there. Honestly, you may have just imagined them.

So, still on the fence? Still trying to decide whether or not you want to read this? Well, look no further than this: phoenixes. That’s it. That’s the reason. Crown of Feathers is packed with fierce, fiery, blazing PHOENIXES. And I love them all, so much. Forget horses (though there are horses here, too). Forget dragons. We’re flying into battle on PHOENIXES.

Also, as always, this cover. I screamed about this cover when I first saw it, and I continue to scream about it now, months and months after the fact. This is one of my favourite YA fantasy covers ever. Look at those colours! The composition! The power! Even if I hadn’t loved the book, I would have bought it, because this is a cover every bookcase and bookshelf deserves to be blessed with.

DNF @ 36%
I know it’s a cool concept, the cover is beautiful and (eek!) cute phoenixes. Unfortunately that’s about where the excitement ends in this one. I found the plot to be typical, the character undeveloped and overall the tone of the writing to lack excitement.

Characters
There is really nothing more important than characters having strong personalities when they are the POV. We have the POV of three major characters (lead female and two male). Each of these POVs are unique and eventually intersect with one another in some way. However in all three instances I felt like the characters were archetypes and not really 'real' people. They lacked authenticity and were very two dimensional. Whether it was their anger, grief or frustration that drove their actions I felt too much like I had to be told what a character felt and not enough like I really 'felt' what they were feeling.

Plot
So sub in phoenix for dragon or magic and you pretty much have the standard teen plot for a fantasy novel. Crown of Feathers is a girl who wishes to learn to fly (and obtain) a phoenix and become one of the historic (but banned from the current empire) Phoenix Riders. So of course there is training, love interests along the way, struggle with lost or dead family members, etc. All very standard themes for the average fantasy lead. Especially the dead parents. What is the obsession with orphans in teen literature? Do we just not want to have the complication of adults telling our characters what to do?

Overall
I really wanted there to be some magic to this book. The use of a phoenix (over a dragon) hasn't been overdone and I felt like there was a cool opportunity here to talk about reincarnation/resurrection, properties of fire, and personalities of a phoenix. And while Nicki Pau Preto does touch on these three items it's just wasn't enough to keep me reading. I honestly felt like I was falling into a slump every time I picked this one up. Twice I even found myself avoiding reading because I didn't really want to pick this one up, which is terrifying! Looking at other reviewers comments on Crown of Feathers I decided there was unlikely to be anything worth continuing on for. So I am content to let this one go and not even find out which of our two men (as I assume it becomes a love triangle, ugh) the heroine ends up with.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Although slow to start I quickly grew to love the characters and really enjoyed the different diversity representations within this book!
Phoenixes just happen to be my favourite mythical creatures and I truly loved reading about them in this context!
The writing is beautiful in this as well, I quickly fell in love with the way Pau Preto writes.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing the e-version of this book in exchange for an honest review..

LOVED this one!! A great fantasy book with a strong female character leader, and other great characters!

A strong debut novel for this author. I loved the magic and the animals in the series. I can't wait for the next book.

I really, really wanted to love this one. Like, seriously, so much. It has a gorgeous cover! It's a fantasy debut.

All of which magnified the disappointment I felt when it just... wasn't what I wanted it to be. I've had it on my currently reading shelf for literal months because I didn't want to accept that this one really, really didn't work for me. I started it months before the release and now it is over a month after and I feel super guilty about not reviewing it earlier but I really, really wanted to like it and couldn't accept that didn't.

The name "Veronyka" kind of put me off a bit because the spelling bothered me... I did try to get past my weird name thing, and I really think that I wouldn't have had a hard time getting past it, had I enjoyed the rest of the story but I just... didn't. I think this was a combination of the writing style, which was heavy on the telling rather than showing and lacking in cohesive worldbuilding.

The characters feel like sketches, especially when I got to the point of introducing more characters. They felt like they were there in order to be features of a plot, in order to move it along in a direction that... really didn't feel intuitive for the plot to go. It kind of took me out o the moment as a reader.

The other thing that didn't work for me was that it fell back on a couple of tropes that I personally just don't care for, and didn't apply them in a way that refreshed the ideas. Mainly, I'm super tired of sisters being constantly at odds... I've seen it so many times in fantasy that I've just gotten a bit bored of it. Also, I think I've very picky about crossdressing as a trope as well, and the introduction of it in this book just didn't feel like it... contributed much of anything. It was just... there? The worldbuilding just wasn't there enough to make a lot of the elements of the plot feel like a logical progression of the world it's taking place in.

In the end, this wasn't for me. I think there's potential there, and imagination but the ideas didn't wind up being carried by the writing for me.

I have only one thing to say: the book does start slow, and soon you’ll drown in historical details and characters. It’s really hard to keep up in the beginning, it’s not an easy read. I compared it to Game of Thrones and I stick to this comparison. I kept reading because I did too with the Game of Thrones series and ended up loving it, so I gave Crown of Feathers a chance... And I’m so happy I did, so much was happening, I wasn’t able to stop reading it! With all the action, the info didn’t seem to bother me as much as in the beginning of the book. And now I can’t wait for book 2!!!

Many thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for my e-copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The first 30% of the book is a bit of a slog. I can see why people DNF’d it. There is a story in here somewhere but it’s almost entirely buried by massive information dumps.
Thankfully the story does pick up a bit. The story is told by multiple viewpoints: Veronyka, Sev, and Tristan. Veronyka has her phoenix, Xephyra, to make her interesting, otherwise she comes off as too stupid to live for most of the book. Sev is boring, dry as stale toast; I’m still not sure he added much to the story. Tristan doesn’t show up until about 15% into the book but I like him. I almost wish the story had been told entirely from his point of view.
The premises sounded amazing: fierce females, phoenixes, riding phoenixes. I just wish it had been edited better.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, and now I have to wait a year(?) for the next part! Crown of Feathers follows several characters in their individual journeys that are (of course) intertwined and they start to come together in the latter parts of this book. There is an “end” so to speak for this first book, so I wouldn’t say it’s a complete cliffhanger, although the story has left a lot of questions for us to ponder while we wait for the sequel. There was quite of bit of history dumped into the first part of the book, which made the start a little slow for me. But I liked the concept, and the characters were fairly well developed. The world building was well done. I liked the magical elements, and really want to know more about the phoenixes and their riders. I’m interested in knowing what happens next and plan on checking out the sequel whenever it comes out! I voluntarily reviewed and ARC from Netgalley. #netgalley