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wanderingreadingsoul's review against another edition
2.0
I got this book gifted and finally got around to finishing it, simply cause I do not like to DNF a book.
I was hoping for answers and was sorely disappointed. There was no proper explanations about anything relating to the soul trade - it is exactly that a soul trade but I was not emotionally invested at all. The book had more importance given to the MC's confusion and residual feelings towards Taya and her relationship with Brekken.
And may I say, this girl at the start of the book says she is the Heir to the inn, yet haven't learnt anything relating to the different worlds. Sure her uncle did not give her that much responsibility and chance to learn things but still after spending every summer there she seems to know zilch.
My favourite character is missing for half the book and when she does come back, there is hardly any explanations given to what she went through in Solaria. Again she is shown through the MC's confused eyes and I feel it just demeans a character who carried the first book.
The new characters are just as drab and I honestly could not relate to or connect with any of them. Like I could not even hate the bad guys. Anything that needed any explanations were brushed aside with the characters giving knowing smiles or opting out of explaining.
Would definitely recommend not picking this series up, I feel there are better books to give your time to.
I was hoping for answers and was sorely disappointed. There was no proper explanations about anything relating to the soul trade - it is exactly that a soul trade but I was not emotionally invested at all. The book had more importance given to the MC's confusion and residual feelings towards Taya and her relationship with Brekken.
And may I say, this girl at the start of the book says she is the Heir to the inn, yet haven't learnt anything relating to the different worlds. Sure her uncle did not give her that much responsibility and chance to learn things but still after spending every summer there she seems to know zilch.
My favourite character is missing for half the book and when she does come back, there is hardly any explanations given to what she went through in Solaria. Again she is shown through the MC's confused eyes and I feel it just demeans a character who carried the first book.
The new characters are just as drab and I honestly could not relate to or connect with any of them. Like I could not even hate the bad guys. Anything that needed any explanations were brushed aside with the characters giving knowing smiles or opting out of explaining.
Would definitely recommend not picking this series up, I feel there are better books to give your time to.
helenace13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I liked the book, though I liked the prequel even better. The book had some really obvious typos (that should've been detected before print), which prevented me from really getting into the story. Some events in the book were just frustrating, and I feel like the ending doesn't do justice to the story
helenamt's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
whitreadslit's review against another edition
3.0
*I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*
I really liked Havenfall when it came out, and it ended on such a cliffhanger that it left me anxious for the sequel. As far as completing the story, Phoenix Flame delivered. However, I was actually a bit disappointed by the story.
Let’s talk about the things that I really liked first. I was excited to get to travel to one of the other worlds in this book. Fiordenkill is a world that is filled with ice and frost, and just so happens to be the home planet of Brekken, our main character’s crush. Getting to see one of the worlds that was so heavily referred to in the first novel was fun. We also got to learn more about the magic system, which got a bit more flushed out in this book.
The love triangle was done in an interesting way in this book. Maddie, the main character, likes two people – Brekken and Taya. As Taya was absent for a fairly long portion of the book, the love triangle was a bit lopsided. This was an intriguing way to handle it though, and made it different than your typical YA love triangle scenario.
As far as things that didn’t really do it for me, there are a few. To try to spare you spoilers, I will be a bit vague. There is someone from Maddie’s past that pops back up in the book, and it should make a big impact on the story and the reader. I didn’t really feel that impact. I was not a big fan of this character, and I didn’t really feel like they really should have caused all of the trouble that they did. (Again, I know this is vague, but I don’t want to give any big spoilers!!) I was also just a little underwhelmed by the storyline in general in this book. It seems like a lot happens, but it feels like it doesn’t at the same time. It was just a bit lackluster for me.
Overall, this was a decent fantasy. It definitely wraps up the storyline from the first book satisfactorily. I would recommend that anyone who read the first book and really wanted to know what happens next pick this one up.
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I gave Phoenix Flame 3 Stars!
I really liked Havenfall when it came out, and it ended on such a cliffhanger that it left me anxious for the sequel. As far as completing the story, Phoenix Flame delivered. However, I was actually a bit disappointed by the story.
Let’s talk about the things that I really liked first. I was excited to get to travel to one of the other worlds in this book. Fiordenkill is a world that is filled with ice and frost, and just so happens to be the home planet of Brekken, our main character’s crush. Getting to see one of the worlds that was so heavily referred to in the first novel was fun. We also got to learn more about the magic system, which got a bit more flushed out in this book.
The love triangle was done in an interesting way in this book. Maddie, the main character, likes two people – Brekken and Taya. As Taya was absent for a fairly long portion of the book, the love triangle was a bit lopsided. This was an intriguing way to handle it though, and made it different than your typical YA love triangle scenario.
As far as things that didn’t really do it for me, there are a few. To try to spare you spoilers, I will be a bit vague. There is someone from Maddie’s past that pops back up in the book, and it should make a big impact on the story and the reader. I didn’t really feel that impact. I was not a big fan of this character, and I didn’t really feel like they really should have caused all of the trouble that they did. (Again, I know this is vague, but I don’t want to give any big spoilers!!) I was also just a little underwhelmed by the storyline in general in this book. It seems like a lot happens, but it feels like it doesn’t at the same time. It was just a bit lackluster for me.
Overall, this was a decent fantasy. It definitely wraps up the storyline from the first book satisfactorily. I would recommend that anyone who read the first book and really wanted to know what happens next pick this one up.
My Rating:
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I gave Phoenix Flame 3 Stars!
books_o_sofie's review against another edition
2.0
Het verhaal wordt eigenlijk vrijwel meteen naar de gebeurtenissen in Havensfall opgepakt. Maddie gaat samen met haar vriend en crush, Brekken, de illegale zielenhandel oprollen, maar deze missie komt niet zonder gevaren. Daarnaast hoopt ze haar broer terug te vinden en zo haar moeder te kunnen redden van haar onterechte lot. Ondertussen blijft ze denken aan haar vriendin Taya… Zal het Maddie lukken om de mensen om wie ze geeft en de herberg die haar thuis is te redden?
Het verhaal vond ik wat langzaam op gang komen en de eerste helft is wat minder vlot dan de rest van het verhaal. Echter, wanneer het verhaal helemaal op gang komt zit het tempo er flink in. Het eerste boek werpt veel problemen op en dit tweede deel draait eigenlijk vooral om het oplossen daarvan.
Net als in het eerste deel, heeft Maddie in Feniksvlam meerdere ‘love interests’, maar de romantiek maakt eigenlijk een klein deel uit van het verhaal. Ook wordt deze verhaallijn niet echt afgerond en dat vond ik eigenlijk afdoen aan het verhaal. Soms heb ik het gevoel dat er in alle YA boeken een romantische verhaallijn toegevoegd wordt omdat men dit associeert met dit genre, maar in mijn mening is dit echt niet nodig. Het voelt soms wat geforceerd daardoor en dat is eigenlijk ook een beetje het geval in deze duologie.
Eigenlijk ook de rest van het verhaal viel me tegen, het leek wel een beetje afgeraffeld. De werelden in deze boeken zijn zo uitgebreid en de personages zijn heel leuk interessant. Dat is dan ook de reden dat ik verliefd werd op het eerste boek. Er zouden zoveel verschillende verhalen verteld kunnen worden in deze verhaalwereld, en daarom vond ik het plot van Feniksvlam wat tegen vallen. Het verhaal is niet zo zeer langzaam, maar voor m’n gevoel gebeurde er weinig én wat er gebeurde was niet zo verassend. Het eerste deel uit deze duologie vond ik een stuk spannender en mijn hoge verwachtingen voor Feniksvlam kwamen helaas niet uit.
Lees een uitgebreide recensie op mijn website .
Het verhaal vond ik wat langzaam op gang komen en de eerste helft is wat minder vlot dan de rest van het verhaal. Echter, wanneer het verhaal helemaal op gang komt zit het tempo er flink in. Het eerste boek werpt veel problemen op en dit tweede deel draait eigenlijk vooral om het oplossen daarvan.
Net als in het eerste deel, heeft Maddie in Feniksvlam meerdere ‘love interests’, maar de romantiek maakt eigenlijk een klein deel uit van het verhaal. Ook wordt deze verhaallijn niet echt afgerond en dat vond ik eigenlijk afdoen aan het verhaal. Soms heb ik het gevoel dat er in alle YA boeken een romantische verhaallijn toegevoegd wordt omdat men dit associeert met dit genre, maar in mijn mening is dit echt niet nodig. Het voelt soms wat geforceerd daardoor en dat is eigenlijk ook een beetje het geval in deze duologie.
Eigenlijk ook de rest van het verhaal viel me tegen, het leek wel een beetje afgeraffeld. De werelden in deze boeken zijn zo uitgebreid en de personages zijn heel leuk interessant. Dat is dan ook de reden dat ik verliefd werd op het eerste boek. Er zouden zoveel verschillende verhalen verteld kunnen worden in deze verhaalwereld, en daarom vond ik het plot van Feniksvlam wat tegen vallen. Het verhaal is niet zo zeer langzaam, maar voor m’n gevoel gebeurde er weinig én wat er gebeurde was niet zo verassend. Het eerste deel uit deze duologie vond ik een stuk spannender en mijn hoge verwachtingen voor Feniksvlam kwamen helaas niet uit.
Lees een uitgebreide recensie op mijn website .
dharshanirymond's review against another edition
3.0
Things were pretty much predictable from the start and no unique element to surprise or excite the reader.
cunningempress's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't as exciting as the first one, but I wasn't really expecting it to be anything but just good.
I'm just really in love with the premise of these book: magical diplomacy. Just that alone gets me very excited and I'm seriously considering buying these just so I could one day work in diplomacy and put these in my office.
I'm just really in love with the premise of these book: magical diplomacy. Just that alone gets me very excited and I'm seriously considering buying these just so I could one day work in diplomacy and put these in my office.
christinawegner's review against another edition
2.0
I mean... okay.
That book was dumb, I’m sorry.
The first book, and part of the first half of this second book, built up this whole storyline about solarian souls trapped in silver, which (spoiler?) will never ever be resolved. Because instead we decided to do this whole other plot that didn’t exist until halfway through this book.
So why did we spend so much time on that?
Did we just switch authors halfway through?
This makes no sense.
And Maddie is dumb and makes selfish and illogical choices.
But ... okay.
That book was dumb, I’m sorry.
The first book, and part of the first half of this second book, built up this whole storyline about solarian souls trapped in silver, which (spoiler?) will never ever be resolved. Because instead we decided to do this whole other plot that didn’t exist until halfway through this book.
So why did we spend so much time on that?
Did we just switch authors halfway through?
This makes no sense.
And Maddie is dumb and makes selfish and illogical choices.
But ... okay.