"Crown of Feathers" by Nicki Pau Preto


I had a sister once... I promised her the throne would not come between us. But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled. Sometimes the title of Queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.

Nicki Pau Preto's debut novel "Crown of Feathers" is told from the perspective of three characters:

Veronyka - An orphan who struggles to find her way in the world against Val, her over-controlling sister, and disguises herself as a boy in order to become a phoenix rider.

Tristan - A phoenix rider who tries to please his demanding father despite his fear of the very thing he must work with: fire.

Sev -  A soldier who has the magic to control animals is determined to only look out for himself but finds he is tied up in a traitor's plot.

Their lives intertwine in a struggle to return their war-torn homeland and the almost extinct phoenixes to their former glory.


(Note: The book I purchased has an Owlcrate exclusive cover)


My most recent reading escapade landed me in the gorgeous purple pages of "Crown of Feathers". I was very excited to read a new fantasy about phoenix's riders and an inevitable struggle for the crown.


But I have to be honest that's not what I got and I was really disappointed.

*ducks to avoid book being chucked at my head*

There were some good things about it!
The plot twists were fantastically twisty.
The world building was unbelievable with phoenixes in a war-torn Inca setting.
The story had a lot of potential.

BUT

The world was so heavily over-done and the narrative saturated with unnecessary and unrelated history that it was difficult to read. I forced myself to keep reading the book and even with the plot twists, it just wasn't worth the payoff.

I felt as if the characters always took the easy way out. Instead of facing their fears, they simply put "mind over matter" and continued the plot without any character development.

Both Tristan and Sev, although main characters, were unnecessary  in the plot and the strongest character, Val, was scarcely found between the pages!

The quotes about sisters and queens interspersed throughout the book were confusing and didn't connect to any of the three perspectives "Crown of Feathers" offered until much, much later. (And by that time it was too late.)

There was no over-arching theme, it was a jumbled mess. 
It could have been about feminism and equality. 
Or was it environmentalism? 
Or was it family?
Or maybe it was secrets? 
With no theme to tie everything together, I was left feeling confused about what Veronyka and the gang were fighting for and why I was even reading this book.

Although the world building was immense and the story's premise had potential, "Crown of Feathers" is a dark, confusing tangled web which offers no hope and no reason to fight the battles they choose to fight.

I give "Crown of Feathers" 2 fiery feathers out of 5.

Have you read any fantasy books that you didn't like? Tell me in the comments! 


~ K.J. Haakenson 

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