Scan barcode
karentje's review
3.0
Enjoyable, fast-paced fantasy romance! Fascinating and original worldbuilding with the mythology about the phoenix, the knight and the different parties that have some kind of vested interest in their existence. I only wish some details had been explained in even more depth. In the beginning, Penn seems a bit reckless and naive, but luckily Jude comes to his rescue in quite a spectacular way. I really liked Jude; he’s hands-down my favorite. He’s so protective and sincere. There’s an insouciance to some of Penn’s earlier decisions that made it challenging for me to understand him. Penn does grow a great deal throughout the story, though, grows into himself and his destiny. The danger the MCs face could also have been more scary or dark at times to really drive home the seriousness of what they’re going through. There’s a suspenseful vibe throughout that keeps the reader on their toes, but I’d have liked for it to get a bit more intense still, in keeping with the importance of the age-old mystery surrounding the phoenix. The ultimate foe that Penn and Jude have to face off with is quite the evil psycho, powerful and more than a little repulsive, yet he remains a bit of an enigma. He’s also a lecherous creep, though his reasons for being so eluded me. Some extra insight there would have helped make him feel more dangerous still, and some of the final scenes more relevant. There are several interesting secondary characters, and the author does a good job playing with readers’ expectations in terms of plot twists and obfuscating who the bad guys are.
More...