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12dejamoo 's review for:
adventurous
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
Here's what I loved about this book:
-The magical creatures! Obviously! I love stories where the author has clearly thought really hard about these sorts of things and the animals are believable. We also spend a lot of time considering the zoological aspects! My heart belongs to Maisie the kelpie
-I loved the supporting cast - Tanya, Luciana, Aila's parents, Director Rivera etc etc. All great
-Aila's parents and their restaurant and how sweet they are! I loved that so much. I love the festival scene especially
-The romance felt believeable (if a little underdeveloped) and I liked the two of them. I have beef with the tag line on the front cover focusing on the love story, because I do think that was secondary to the actual plot, but that also means I don't fault the romance for feeling a little sidelined at times. I was there for the phoenixes, and the romance was an added bonus
-The climax of the book was excellent! I couldn't tear myself away at the end.
Here's what I liked less:
-I pretty much guessed the entire plot of the book from the blurb. Or at least, the plot about the humans. Not that it's all bad when plots are predictable! The whole setting was good enough to keep me reading even when I knew what would happen
-I worry maybe I lack empathy, but Aila's crippling social anxiety was kind of tiring to read. I know there are real people that struggle like this, and I do feel I'd be more empathetic to a real person, but being inside Aila's head was sometimes a little wearisome.
-The aforementioned rushed relationship. Although it's forgiveable, I could have read like twenty more pages about them to make it slightly better?
-Aila's internal monologue about Connor. Spare me. If she'd spent one more second thinking about his personality and one fewer second thinking about the little curl of hair on his forehead, so much drama could be spared.
So overall, that's many more points in favour of the book and I did really like it! I wanted a book about a magical zoologist and this did nothing but deliver. Plus the drawings of animals were so cool and I am DESPERATE to enter this universe and visit this zoo.
-The magical creatures! Obviously! I love stories where the author has clearly thought really hard about these sorts of things and the animals are believable. We also spend a lot of time considering the zoological aspects! My heart belongs to Maisie the kelpie
-I loved the supporting cast - Tanya, Luciana, Aila's parents, Director Rivera etc etc. All great
-Aila's parents and their restaurant and how sweet they are! I loved that so much. I love the festival scene especially
-The romance felt believeable (if a little underdeveloped) and I liked the two of them. I have beef with the tag line on the front cover focusing on the love story, because I do think that was secondary to the actual plot, but that also means I don't fault the romance for feeling a little sidelined at times. I was there for the phoenixes, and the romance was an added bonus
-The climax of the book was excellent! I couldn't tear myself away at the end.
Here's what I liked less:
-I pretty much guessed the entire plot of the book from the blurb. Or at least, the plot about the humans. Not that it's all bad when plots are predictable! The whole setting was good enough to keep me reading even when I knew what would happen
-I worry maybe I lack empathy, but Aila's crippling social anxiety was kind of tiring to read. I know there are real people that struggle like this, and I do feel I'd be more empathetic to a real person, but being inside Aila's head was sometimes a little wearisome.
-The aforementioned rushed relationship. Although it's forgiveable, I could have read like twenty more pages about them to make it slightly better?
-Aila's internal monologue about Connor. Spare me. If she'd spent one more second thinking about his personality and one fewer second thinking about the little curl of hair on his forehead, so much drama could be spared.
So overall, that's many more points in favour of the book and I did really like it! I wanted a book about a magical zoologist and this did nothing but deliver. Plus the drawings of animals were so cool and I am DESPERATE to enter this universe and visit this zoo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Gun violence, Dysphoria