Phoenix Descending – Dorothy Dreyer*

Phoenix Descending Synopsis

“Since the outbreak of the phoenix fever in Drothidia, Tori Kagari has already lost one family member to the fatal disease. Now, with the fever threatening to wipe out her entire family, she must go against everything she believes in order to save them—even if that means making a deal with the enemy.

When Tori agrees to join forces with the unscrupulous Khadulians, she must take on a false identity in order to infiltrate the queendom of Avarell and fulfill her part of the bargain, all while under the watchful eye of the unforgiving Queen’s Guard. But time is running out, and every lie, theft, and abduction she is forced to carry out may not be enough to free her family from death.”

Note: This review is spoiler-free!

Why did I pick it?

Having read the synopsis I put in a request for this. I was going through a bit of a YA fantasy slump at the time and I hoped this would break me out of it.

What I loved about it

It has flavours of other YA novels, a need to save the heroine’s family, an evil queen, a fierce skilled fighter for a heroine. For me, it had flavours of The Sin Eaters Daughter, The Jewel & most obviously The Throne of Glass series. Sometimes these similarities are an issue for me but the storyline was so fast paced and sufficiently different in places that it didn’t cause me to roll my eyes when yet another YA fantasy trope came up.

This being the first book I’ve read by the author I wasn’t sure what to expect. I certainly wasn’t expecting it to be so fast-paced and action-packed. Considering it’s a first book A LOT happens and it ends on such a cliffhanger that I almost suspect Dorothy Dreyer is being deliberately cruel to her readers!

The characters are well developed and although Tori is a mix of many YA heroines I’ve already grown to love, you certainly find yourself rooting for her. The initial relationship building with Bram was a great addition to the storyline and I can’t wait to see how it develops.

What I loathed about it

I never thought I would say this, as I tend to moan more when nothing happens, so I guess you can’t win. But because so much does happen, it means that the time spent on world building and fleshing out of the characters motivations isn’t as detailed as I would like. That being said, Phoenix Descending is book 1, so there is plenty of time for that!

Thoughts

A familiar storyline to fans of fantasy YA but with enough differences and pace to make it an enjoyable and exciting read. It certainly got me out of my slump!

When and where can you can get it

You can purchase Phoenix Descending on Amazon today

 

 

* Book provided FOC in exchange for an honest and fair review