First, thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARC!

This was a cozy fantasy set in a zoo filled with what we would call mythical creatures, but were completely normal in this world (griffons, phoenixes, kelpies, etc.). It follows phoenix keeper Aila, who I really didn't care for. I'm not sure if she was intended to be a somewhat unlikable MC or if she's supposed to be someone on the autism spectrum, but it was hard to read through her nonsense in the first half-ish of the book, and it really brought down a fun plot with some amazing creatures and supporting characters.

Pros:
- The magical creatures!
- The diverse cast! This wasn't just a sapphic romance, but had other LGBTQIA+ representation.
- Tanya, Aila's best friend and fellow keeper. Probably the most well-adjusted in the book.
- How the zoo was represented, and how it tried to showcase how important species conservation and protection is.

Cons:
- Aila. Such an immature and petty main character. On top of that, her introversion and anxiety were extremely overblown in my personal opinion.
- The romance was barely there, which is misleading when you read the blurb along with the tagline (Falling in love never burned so bright).
- Not much mystery as to who the villain ended up being.

Cutting out a lot of the nonsense from the beginning of the book would've helped a lot, and I feel like this should've been listed under YA romantasy. Overall still not a bad read, especially if you love mythical creatures!

The cutest, coziest little queer romantasy of the year! I loved the setting of this book -- a zoo of mythical animals -- and my imagination ran wild with the author's lush, vibrant descriptions of the flora and fauna. Our main character Aila is instantly loveable and refreshingly relatable -- not "fairytale ordinary" but actual, real-person ordinary. Any lover of fantasy who also dreamed of being a zookeeper as a kid will gobble this story up.

This book was very slow to get to the action part of the book and when it did it didn’t last that long. And sadly it was very predictable. I was hoping more from this book. There is very little to the romance part of this book.

Alia and Tanya work hard to prepare for a new phoenix to help save the breed but the dragon keeper tried to get with Alia just to find out information so he can make money.

The romance part hits a little on Luciana and Alia being enemies and then when Alia sees behind Lucian’s mask of toughness she starts to fall for her.

Stephanie Bentley was an incredible narrator. I loved her voice and the way she brought the story to life, and I would definitely listen to more books by this narrator. The Phoenix Keeper was an cute, cozy fantasy set in a zoo for magical creatures. Our FMC is a zookeeper there whose trying to save the firebirds from going extinct by setting up a breeding program. I really love a conservationist type plot, as I'm a huge animal lover, so this story was great for me. Our FMC was intentionally awkward, which was a bit much at times, but hey don't most of us readers have social anxiety? The mystery was also a bit predictable, but overall this was a fun read with a great narrator.

This was a cute cozy fantasy set in a zoo for magical creatures. Aila, the FMC, was annoying most of the time with her immaturity. The plot was predictable, but I still enjoyed it because it was different from what I usually read. I think the magical animals kept it interesting for me since they were more unpredictable. The audiobook narrator was great.

THE PHOENIX KEEPER is a cozy fantasy that takes place in a magical zoo. Aila is the head phoenix keeper who is intent on conserving the endangered firebirds by reinstating the zoo's breeding program. She's forced to enlist help from her college arch-rival, Luciana, who tends to be an insufferable know-it-all. THE PHOENIX keeper is a cute story with romance and lots of magical creatures, conservation themes, and character growth. Stephanie Bently did a great job narrating!

The Phoenix Keeper was a cute little magical romp. The main character is an anxious and awkward zookeeper who cares for magical creatures. I wanted to love this book but I found myself annoyed by the immaturity and cluelessness of the main character and I was bummed that the foreshadowing was so heavy handed. Even so, I stayed engaged by the awkward yet funny interactions and interesting magical creatures. The audiobook narrator was great but ultimately this wasn’t for me.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this audiobook for review purposes.

I LOVED this cozy fantasy!

Perfect for fans of all cozy fantasy, zoos, and sapphic enemies to lovers romance.

This book was a joy to read. I loved the zoo atmosphere and all the magical creatures. Aila was a bit frustrating at times, but I understand the reasons why she was written that way. The romance was a fun side plot. While the 'bad' characters were easy to guess, and I saw the twist coming a mile away, I do not think that was the point of the story so I can let it go.

If you enjoy a day at the zoo, this is the perfect book for you!

In a Nutshell: Officially, a cosy fantasy with shades of queer romance. Practically, a YA fantasy with a whiny, immature main character and minimal appearance of the promised lesbian-love track. I would have gone easier on this book were it actually a YA novel to compensate for my lack of affinity for the genre. However, it is promoted as an adult fantasy and hence I cannot suppress my disappointment. The magical creatures and Tanya saved the book from a lower rating. This is an outlier opinion.

Plot Preview:
Aila has been fascinated by phoenix birds since her childhood visit to the zoo. At present, she is living her dream job as the head phoenix keeper at a zoo focussed on saving endangered magical creatures and creating awareness. The only problem is that there hasn’t been a successful phoenix breeding programme in her zoo in almost a decade.
When there is a heist at a nearby zoo with the phoenix mother and hatchlings stolen, Aila knows that her run-down zoo must step up to the challenge if the beautiful creatures are to be saved. As she hated most people with all her heart, she knows she can count on fellow keeper Tanya for help. But can just the two of them manage such a gargantuan responsibility? She must, especially when her college rival and current colleague Luciana is always ready to laugh at her incompetence.
The story comes to us in Aila’s third-person perspective.

Had the story been exactly as I have written above, it would have crossed the four-star mark. However, the main character, the straightforward plot, and the pseudo-YA writing style ensured that my rating didn’t come near 3 stars even once throughout.

Bookish Yays:
🦄 All the magical creatures! Phoenix, dragon, griffin, kelpie, unicorn… So many amazing animals! Every scene with them was a treat!
🦄 Tanya, a trans woman and Aila’s best friend and fellow keeper: Possibly the only sensible main character in the book. I also liked Aila’s parents, Tanya’s boyfriend, and Maria in their limited roles.
🦄 Though I have mixed feelings about zoos in general (love to watch animals, hate to see animals encaged or forced to perform), I appreciate how the book highlighted the positive role zoos can play, especially in spreading awareness and implementing conservation strategies for endangered species. There is also a depiction of the entitled behaviour displayed by zoo visitors – annoyingly accurate.
🦄 The fantasy world with magical creatures existing in the same universe as DVDs, emails and corporate bureaucracy. It’s a quirky but enjoyable mix of two such distinct settings.
🦄 Love the way inclusivity is handled in this book. Tanya is a transwoman and Aila is bisexual. But both these points aren’t hammered in our head with in-your-face explanations or overly detailed backstories. Their respective gender identity and sexual preference is woven into the writing casually as part of a scene. This is the best kind of inclusive writing - making it natural for a fictional character to be trans/bi, no justifications or history required.

Bookish Nays:
🦎 Aila is in her mid-to-late twenties, but she is whinier than any teen I know. She is also annoying, judgemental, self-absorbed, and rude. In short, she is a typical YA FMC. The problem is that this book isn’t a YA Fantasy. I absolutely don’t mind having unlikeable leads as these allow a story to have more depth. But it is always better to see such characters eat humble pie and improve steadily over the course of the book. Aila stays the same almost throughout. The writing seems to be aiming at making her sound cute but it fails. The problem is exacerbated because of the writing coming to us from her perspective. The only positive thing I have to say about Aila is that her passion for animals is sincere.
🦎 Aila is shown to be an introvert in the extreme sense, with a strong hatred for people and public interactions. However, her social and professional anxiety is depicted negatively, so it is tough to feel for Aila’s struggle as it comes off more as disdain than apprehension.
🦎 Aila’s third-person narration has plenty of rambling, and to make matters worse, the rambling is always about the same topics. Exasperating and boring! One thing I especially hated was how she always referred to Luciana as ‘the witch’ – how immature!
🦎 The writing in general is also repetitive. The first 20% or so is entirely focussed on showing us various magical creatures (no complaints about this!), Aila's aversion to humans, her stage fright, and her love for animals. But even ahead, when the plot has moved on, we still get regular servings of these same points. Oh, and I cannot forget the overdose of ‘mango’ mentions we get whenever Luciana is around.
🦎 I should have seen that tiny tagline on the cover: "Falling in love never burned so bright." Though the plot is about saving the phoenix, the focus is equally on Aila’s romance. As I didn’t care about Aila, I also didn’t care a hoot about her love life, all the more as it was based on the most frivolous reason.
🦎 The blurb promises us a soul-restoring queer romance. So it is unexpected to see Aila carrying a torch for a white straight man for more than half of the book. The actual queer relationship is barely there. Moreover, even when Aila is pining for the male character, we already know that we shouldn’t root for them, thanks to the blurb’s advance notice about a queer relationship. Way to go, blurb-writer!
🦎 It is so easy to guess the identity of the antagonist! There is no subtlety in the plot development in this respect. The problem is that the characters in the book don’t figure out the villain until much later, so it is a long, long wait till common sense pops up.
🦎 I could have still said that this book might work better for YA readers as they would be able to relate better to Aila. But the overabundance of cuss words puts a stop to this thought. There was absolutely no need for such language in this book, especially as it is supposed to be a cosy read. No situation merited the regular f-bombs.


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 14 hrs 10 min, is narrated by Stephanie Bentley. Her narration is enthusiastic, probably a bit too peppy for my taste especially when the protagonist was the opposite of peppy. She gets some of the emotions right, especially her depiction of Aila’s whiny rambling. But some of the trickier pitches such as yelling or whispering seemed a bit hit-or-miss. It is quite possible that my dislike of Aila spilled over into my dislike of the narration, so don’t pay heed to my grumbling. If you still want to try the book, the audio version is definitely a good option to go ahead with.

All in all, the intent was great but the execution needed more finetuning. I loved the creatures but disliked most of the humans.

Had this been marketed as a YA Fantasy, I might have turned a blind eye to some of the flaws, as flat characters, rambling and guessable plots are a hallmark of most YA works. But as this is promoted as a cosy fantasy, I cannot ignore the shortcomings. It is disappointing that most of the characters aren’t sensible adults. The repetitiveness and the predictability added to the downturn.

This is a debut work, so I hate that it went so poorly for me, but sometimes, it can’t be helped. On the positive side, the book does get the creatures, the passion (for animals, not fellow humans), the importance of conservation, and the worldbuilding right. That’s a good start.
Recommended to older YA and NA readers, I guess. They are used to such characters anyway. And mine is anyway an outlier opinion so please do read the other positive reviews and take a better call on this work.

2 stars.

My thanks to Hachette Audio for providing the ALC of “The Phoenix Keeper” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook. Sorry this didn’t work out better.

It took me a long time to finish this book because my baby celebrated his first bday recently and I’ve been very busy with hardly a minute to spend on reading. But I finally got to binge it and turns out, it’s such a sweet and heartwarming tale and I can totally see why every one of my blogger friends has adored it.

While the world building as a whole isn’t much of a concern here, the setting of the magical zoo is delightfully presented, introducing us to each of the amazing fantastical creatures and their lovely caretakers, the ecosystem of the world concerning these animals and the beautiful camaraderie between everyone working in the zoo. The ever anxious introvert Aila, supportive bff Tanya, maybe comes off as bitchy but is secretly softhearted Luciana, the gorgeous but mysterious Connor - and ofcourse the phoenixes and griffins and kelpies and more - all make for a great team to follow along on their daily adventures involving budgeting to feeding to answering stupid questions and even fighting off smugglers.

It’s a delightfully cozy story of the bond between humans and animals and sweet tale of the beauty of friendship. I also really enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Stephanie Bentley. Definitely recommend.

"The Phoenix Keeper" by S. A. MacLean is a novel of magical realism with a bit of romance and a bit of thriller.

The main character is Aila, the phoenix keeper at a zoo of magical animals like peacock griffins, dragons, and a kelpie.

Aila has social anxiety so extreme it made me wonder if she is on the autism spectrum. Some of her behaviors seemed more akin to a middle school child than the 28 year old woman she is.

All the parts about the magical creatures were interesting and exciting to me. The romance storyline seemed very juvenile. I do not know why the author felt the need to add this storyline. I wasn't a fan. The ending one was better but still unnecessary. Just becoming friends would have been enough.

The descriptions are excellent! The creatures and details about phoenixes were well thought out and well written. The plot was predictable.

Characters - 4/5
Writing - 4/5
Plot - 3/5
Pacing - 4/5
Unputdownability - 5/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
Narration - 5/5 by Stephanie Bentley
Cover - 5/5
Overall - 34/8 = 4 2/8 rounded to 4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Hachette Audio, and S. A. MacLean for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Hatchette Audio, and Orbit for this ALC!

- As someone who has worked with animals in a museum setting and wanted to be a marine biologist, I lovedddd the day to day aspects of a magical zoo!! So many fantasy books are about “the chosen one”, but I loved how this one was about a normal person doing a normal job that happens to involve magical animals! This is something I’ve seen some reviewers struggle with, but it really worked well for me!
- The audio is fantastic, and I would highly recommend it for this book. The pacing is a bit slow, and I think some of the middle could have been edited down. However, the audio really helped me get through those parts without losing interest.
- The villain was a bit more obvious than I would have liked, but I was a bit surprised by how the ending turned out!
- I loved how well developed the larger world and the information about all the animals was! It reminded me some of Emily Wilde in how much I apparently love fantasy through a more academic lens.
- I loved the romance, but it felt secondary to Aila’s own character arc. The romance is great, but you may be frustrated if that’s the main reason you decide to read this book.

I enjoyed this read. The MC could be a bit much even with her anxiety, as it could only be used to excuse certain things and not others. I loved her dedication to her animals and the conservation efforts of her workplace. Her friendship with Tanya was great to read, although at tines with how much Tanya did for Aila, it could feel a bit one-sided. The development of the romance between Aila and Luciana did not work for me.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

The Phoenix Keeper is the first cozy fantasy I've seen be pitch as for fans of Legends & Lattes and actually manage to live of up to that comparison (Maybe The House in the Cerulean Sea comparison is helping but I've yet to read that so...). Aila is a well developed main character with many faults she must over come through out the story. On top of that the cast of side characters also feel like real people and not a cardboard cut out. Through out the read, you can sense that stakes but their not to high to take away that cozy vibe. Plus it's an easier read with it being more of fantasy world set in a world like our own instead of an epic fantasy world. Would definitely recommend.

In a world with magical creatures, Aila has always dreamed of being a phoenix keeper. We start our story with her having already met her childhood goal of being a phoenix keeper at the local and famous zoo where she loves her female phoenix but loathes having to speak to the patrons. When a female phoenix and her eggs are stolen from another zoo, Alia has to overcome her aversion to people and work on restarting the phoenix breeding program at her zoo with some help from her best friend and coworker Tanya, her crush and dragon keeper, Connor, and her arch nemesis from school and griffin keeper, Luciana.

This was such a cute and cozy story that I loved listening to. While Alia had some poor social skills and could too focused on her own personal goals, she was a fierce and loyal friend that you couldn't help but root for. The storyline was predictable, but it still kept my attention. I wouldn't classify this a romance per say and feel that it shines more as a tale of friendship between Alia and Tanya and Alia and her phoenix. My favorite relationships in this book ended up being Alia and Tanya's boyfriend and Tanya with her boyfriend. The narrator of the audiobook was enjoyable to listen to.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

There's nothing quite as perfect as book that feels like a warm hug. The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean is a cozy fantasy novel that will leave you feeling happy and loved. This is definitely my favorite cozy fantasy of the year so far. I adored this fantastical world and all of the magical beasts in it. The beautiful sapphic romance was a slow burn that felt so deep and realistic. This was a very character driven story with a slow plot that never actually felt slow. So many great friendships were made and I just loved getting to know these characters so much. The audiobook brought even more life and emotions into the story and made the characters feel so much more real.

Thank you to the Hachette Audio and Netgalley for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book is cozy and cute. It was a really enjoyable listen. I loved the narrator and the book. Both were excellent.
I found myself identifying with the main character a lot, which really helped draw me into the book. I will definitely be recommending thing one!

Oh this was such a lovely surprise! A cozy, queer fantasy mystery that hit all of the right notes. Following the day-to-day life of Aila, phoenix keeper at the San Tamculo Zoo, finds herself tasked with conserving the endangered birds she loves. In doing so, she has to work side by side with college enemy Luciana to ensure the next generation of phoenixes.

The almost-enemies to lovers was so much fun to follow, and it was genuinely just NICE to follow Aila's daily life at a zoo for magical creatures. Dragons, griffins, carbuncles, it felt like being in the zoo to listen to her descriptions of this amazing animals. The mystery itself was predictable, but it was such a reassuring story overall that I don't even mind.

(And special credit to Stephanie Bentley as narrator, whose story-telling drew me in and kept me enchanted with Aila's tale!)

Aila's been dreaming about working with magical creatures her whole life. Now she's living the dream as a head phoenix keeper at the San Tamculo Zoo. Aila's days are filled with silly little magical creatures, her best friend and coworker Tanya, bickering with her arch nemesis Luciana (the head griffin keeper) and drooling over Connor (the head dragon keeper).
But when the phoenix eggs are stolen in the nearby zoo, Aila's life is changed and new opportunities open up for her that she's been only able to dream of so far!

First things first - look at the cover and the edges of this book! It's stunning! Secondly, the whole book feels like a warm hug. There aren't that many high stakes in the book (except maybe the ending), and it's just a silly little book about a 28-year-old girl trying to save the animals she loves the most in this world. With a little slow-burn romance on the side. I just wished the book would never end!

I do love this book, and I was sure this book would be another 5-star read. So why did I only give it 4 stars? ...it's the ending. It felt a bit too rushed for me and I think it should've been written out a bit more. But otherwise, the book was such a fun read! I recommend it to anyone looking for a good cozy fantasy book that feels like a warm hug.

I do have to note that I got the Netgalley audiobook version of the book just a few weeks before I got the Illumicrate box, so I was surprised to see the same book in the box that I was planning on listening to soon(ish). So, I took turns reading and listening to the book. And let me tell you that the audiobook is also amazing! If you're an audiobook lover definitely recommend giving the audiobook a try.

The Phoenix Keeper was… nice (with one exception). Very pleasant. “Wholesome”, no bad feelings or ugly arguments or messy morals.

The plotting is tidy and by the book, straightforward and quite readable. Aila's always got some small victory to celebrate and always some hurdle or potential complication looming ahead to propel readers forward. Aila herself is very sweet tempered and dedicated, but suffers from some REAL rough social anxiety (also potentially autism?) and occasionally is a bit self-involved or lets some prejudice or other–like her college experience Luciana–cloud her judgement. Luciana–the rival in the rivals-to-lovers romance–initially comes across as a bit prissy, but is partially just responding to Aila's prejudice and is actually a level-headed hard worker.

Maclean's prose is lovely. Very solid, very readable, there are lovely and varied descriptions of the zoo grounds and different animals, including Aila's pet carbuncle (I'm picturing the carbuncles specifically from FFXIV btw).

The Phoenix Keeper is a “clean” romance, so no intimate scenes, and one kiss. In fact, it's so absurdly clean I don't think I even encountered a real curse word. Like, you can leave this book out around your grandparents without worry.

The Phoenix Keeper takes place in a fantasy version of our world. I presume MacLean did this to sidestep any possible political messiness or fallout, and avoid any bad vibes detracting from the feelgood romance and character interactions. It's not overwhelming to keep in mind as you read, and there's frequent references in the story.

Something that bugged me is that this is an f/f romance, but Aila spends the first half of the book flirting with and dating Connor, a guy. This wasn't advertised anywhere in the blurb and I didn't come here for it! Worse, it means I spent half the book annoyed and anxious. I've been screwed, I've read books pitched as f/f books that were actually m/f books. Almost every sapphic woman has had a similar experience. All I'm saying is: label your goddamn tins. I would've still read the book, but I wouldn't have spent half of it with bad feelings.