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froggieboy_ 's review for:

The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean
3.0
adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

this book was a little predictable to me and was very millennial at times but overall i enjoyed it. i’m not a fantasy reader (or fiction reader at all for that matter), so i found it easy to follow along and didn’t involve too much keeping track of the world. aila was a bit annoying and self absorbed to me, but i did think she grew over the course of the book. 

i do wonder what ethnicity many of the characters are intended to be, it was hard for me to decipher the diversity aspect (or possibly lack there of). [side note on that: was maria rivera REALLY the only Latiné name the author could think of?? it’s giving jk r*wling’s “cho chang” and other stereotypical names associated with race].

i really did not like the narrator of this audiobook and it was difficult to not let that sway my opinion. ESPECIALLY when she was doing lower toned voices jfc. if i wanted a robotic sounding voice, i’d ask AI to read it (not actually cause AI is terrible). 

i really did not like the constant use of the phrases “horns & fangs and skies & seas.” i think it fit into the premise and world, but  the overuse made me feel annoyed while reading.