This has all the hallmarks of a great fantasy novel and hit all the marks. Romance, magic, royalty, deception, uncertainty. I had no idea where this was going to go and the twists and turns had me. I didn’t expect half of the things to happen that did and I thought I had this book pegged.

I thought it would be predictable, running in a similar format as many a fantasy book with a chosen one prophecy but it surprised!

I loved the concept of this, with the winged houses, house of prey, house of paradise etc… and the world building was great. The addition of the courtship trials was great too and I was invested all throughout. I liked all of the characters (minus one I won’t mention to avoid spoilers!) and I’m intrigued how the series will develop. Especially after the ending?! Ah. What the hell.

This book was a frustrating one for me as I’m in the forever ‘ever hopeful everything will turn out good at the end’ camp and I hate deception and things that aren’t right. I always tear through the pages until they reach their satisfactory ending where all is sorted and everyone is happy again. So until I get to that point I will always be antsy! I guess that will be me going straight on into the next instalment to satisfy my further curiosity.

The audiobook was fab too and found myself thoroughly immersed and always awaiting the next chapter. Gathering Frost was also a book by this author I enjoyed so I look forward to seeing what else she creates.

<I>’love is giving a piece of yourself to someone else and trusting them not to break it’ </I>

A brilliant fantasy will magic, star crossed lovers and avian races: Yes!!
A Tristan and Isolde retelling: oohhhhh no 🙈

I ADORE retellings, but I do struggle with Tristan and Isolde/Romeo and Juliette retellings; the pain, the dread, that waiting for the disaster and the other shoe to drop, the betrayal and heart ache honestly just tears me open and makes me want to scream and cry and rage.
So why do I put myself through it? Honestly at this point I think I’m just a glutton for punishment 😭

I think that an absolutely brilliant world has been created here! It took me a little bit to get my head round it all, but it’s a beautiful world full of floating islands, well thought out people and lands and histories. All the characters had their strengths and flaws, things that made me route for them then want to give them a good shake, frustrated with how they’ve managed to trap themselves in their circumstances. This story followed more characters then I thought it would, but each character’s perspective brought so much to the story.

I’m not sure I have the strength to carry on with this series yet, as I’m still so…. Crushed by how this book ended.

4.5 🌟

The idea of this story was fresh and new. Not typically the type of story I read but the cover really drew me in. Plot was well thought out and loved the characters. Although I can not pick a favorite character they all had a good umph about them. As I got further into the story I fell more in love with the way the characters interacted with each other. A new favorite that I am sure to reread once I have a physical copy!

What a great YA fantasy that can be enjoyed by adults as well.

This story created a magical world you can let yourself get lost in. The way the setting and scenery is described really builds a magical angelic atmosphere which leads right into the the story and characters.
I thought the idea of people with bird influences was so unique and interesting. (I love birds and have my house decorated with lots of colorful bird paintings so this was right up my alley) Anyway there are humans with wings that belong to different groups like owl, raven, hummingbird. The writing creates a stunning picture in your mind…
Also, dragons…… 🐲🐉 what? I loved it.
This retelling of Tristan and Isolde by Kaitlyn Davis is captivating. She weaves a beautiful story and world in which you won’t want to leave.
Narration by Sarah Sampino is excellent. She’s great at emoting emotion and “telling” a story, not “reading” the story. She brought this book to life.
Overall: 5⭐️
Story: 4⭐️
Performance: 5⭐️
World Building: 5⭐️

Special thanks to the author and NetGalley for the advanced reading copy in exchange only for my honest thoughts and review!