Reviews - The Phoenix Keeper

2.5k reviews for:

The Phoenix Keeper

S.A. MacLean

3.95 AVERAGE

lavaporeon's review

5.0

adventurous emotional funny 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

feelee's review

2.0

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

tldr; a heart-warming, low-stakes romantasy that didn’t move my cold heart

Idk why but I wasn’t expecting it to be in an urban setting. Zoo yes, but I was thinking more Harry Potter concept with lots of adventure.

I love the love the fmc has for magical creatures and her job as a zookeeper. But I kept waiting for something more to happen–a plot twist, a jaw-dropping entanglement, a forbidden love. SOMETHING, ANYTHING. 40% in and I finally soft dnf-ed and had to take a break. Things were becoming predictable.

Overall, this book is well suited for fantasy readers who gravitate towards slow-paced, straightforward plots with little fluff.

blackrose124688's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

eminemma27's review

4.0

Very cute! Magical zoo keeper ✨️

madisonx's review against another edition

3.0

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

“Do you ever wish you could go back and tell your younger self to just keep going? That it will all get better in a few years?”

This was honestly a really cute read, a little slow to start but I absolutely devoured the last 100 or so pages.

I feel that in some aspects this book is exactly what I wanted it to be- a loveable main character, really sweet side characters, and a world that felt alive. I found myself really loving both the characters, and animals throughout the book.

Unfortunately, The Phoenix Keeper fell short in many instances- The writing was excessively descriptive at times when it really didn’t need to be. I predicted the ending by page 300, which didn’t help with how much the first ¾ of the book dragged. It felt unrealistic to me how Tanya forgave Aila almost immediately for pushing her volunteer programme aside- there were, maybe, two snarky comments made to hint that she was upset and then the conflict was resolved a few paragraphs later. It was unsatisfying, and didn’t feel like Aila had any real character growth in this instance. I also disliked that the relationship between Aila and Luciana was very rushed and not fleshed out, it was like one minute they hated each other, and the next they were madly in love.

Despite the few issues I had with this book, it was still a fun, light read that was overall enjoyable. It wasn’t an amazing book, but it definitely wasn’t bad either- I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys cosy, low-stake romantasy. I won’t be opposed to reading more of S.A. MacLean’s work in the future.