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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I received an ARC copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit Books, for the opportunity.
Aila is the head phoenix keeper at a zoo dedicated to magical creatures. From a young age, she wanted to be part of conserving the population of the endangered phoenix. With the help of her best friend, Aila faces challenges to bring the breading program back to the zoo; obnoxious guests, debilitating anxiety, and her longtime rival/head griffin keeper, Luciana.
I almost DNF around 30%, but continued on, hoping it would get better (it did around 2/3rds of the way through). Written in 3rd person, this book reads way more like a textbook for the first 50% than a fantastical zoo, with less dialogue than needed. There is no real romance until the last third (not a make or break for me personally).
Aila is (I think) supposed to be written as a neurodivergent 28 year old. However, I could only see her as a 28 year old woman who never mentally grew up from college, who holds grudges for things that happened in college, and never once puts her friends’ feeling first. I know everyone processes things differently, but some of the things Aila says/does are so unlikable and downright mean and selfish that it made it a real struggle to continue on. Near the end, Aila does (somewhat) grow as an adult, but the way it is written feels forced.
Yes, yes, main character has flaws and learns and grows from it, but how… unlikable Aila was in the beginning, almost made this a DNF.
3 stars, only because the last quarter was really cute and made it worth the read.
Aila is the head phoenix keeper at a zoo dedicated to magical creatures. From a young age, she wanted to be part of conserving the population of the endangered phoenix. With the help of her best friend, Aila faces challenges to bring the breading program back to the zoo; obnoxious guests, debilitating anxiety, and her longtime rival/head griffin keeper, Luciana.
I almost DNF around 30%, but continued on, hoping it would get better (it did around 2/3rds of the way through). Written in 3rd person, this book reads way more like a textbook for the first 50% than a fantastical zoo, with less dialogue than needed. There is no real romance until the last third (not a make or break for me personally).
Aila is (I think) supposed to be written as a neurodivergent 28 year old. However, I could only see her as a 28 year old woman who never mentally grew up from college, who holds grudges for things that happened in college, and never once puts her friends’ feeling first. I know everyone processes things differently, but some of the things Aila says/does are so unlikable and downright mean and selfish that it made it a real struggle to continue on. Near the end, Aila does (somewhat) grow as an adult, but the way it is written feels forced.
Yes, yes, main character has flaws and learns and grows from it, but how… unlikable Aila was in the beginning, almost made this a DNF.
3 stars, only because the last quarter was really cute and made it worth the read.
funny
lighthearted
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was wonderful. The writing was great and I loved the characters. She was a little too self centered but she was able to adjust. The Connor thing felt a little too obvious but it was still fun. Overall a really fun series.
The MC's entire thing is "animals are better than humans" and how she has too much anxiety to interact with people and I get that we're setting up a character arc but ugh
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes