Crown of Feathers (book review)

Crown of Feathers

(This review contains no spoilers! Enjoy!)

            I'll start this review by saying that Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pao Preto is and always will be one of my favorite books. Between the stunning world-building and intense twists, I cannot get enough of this book. The story switches between three perspectives, Veronyka, a war orphan, Tristan, a phoenix rider, and Sev, a soldier. Sixteen years ago, a war between two sisters ripped an empire apart. Sixteen years ago, a phoenix queen named Avalkyra Ashfire led her army of animages and phoenix riders into battle. Sixteen years ago, the last phoenix queen crumbled into ashes, never to return. This left animages and phoenix riders shunned and murdered while the council grew all the more powerful. Veronyka now lives on the run with her sister, Val. As animages, Veronyka and Val are able to talk to animals but, this isn't their only secret. They are also shadowmages and can read other's thoughts. Veronyka has always dreamed of becoming a phoenix rider, and when her sister Val returns with two unhatched phoenix eggs Veronyka realizes her dream may come true after all. Tristan is a phoenix rider, well, a phoenix rider apprentice. Tristan's father is the general of a secret organization of phoenix riders. In the future, Tristan is supposed to take over this job. But there's one problem, he's afraid of heights. Sev is a soldier working for the empire. He constantly sees animages being kept as slaves and mistreated. This would be fine, if only he wasn't an animage himself. 

The characters are all interesting and complex. There is hardly any purely bad or purely good, it truly shows how sometimes war is a grey zone. One of my favorite characters is Sev. He goes through much inner turmoil and this makes his perspective interesting. While the other characters did have conflict, Sev was the only one who kept me at the edge of my seat. Veronyka's perspective was very interesting as well, mainly because the biggest plot twists happened from her point of view. I feel like her character development was great as well. It was amazing to see how much she evolved as a person by the end. Tristan's perspective was interesting in the way that he had a lot of responsibility. As the reader, you watch him try to better himself as a leader. He was quite a refreshing and even relatable character. I love how Nicki Pao Preto made background characters interesting as well. While they weren't main characters, many side characters were able to worm their way into my heart. One last thing I find amazing is that Nicki Pao Preto also made the phoenixes have distinct personalities as well. I found myself caring for them as I would a human being on many occasions. 

The world-building is stunning. Especially the battle scenes, I won't go into much detail as that may be a spoiler but the fights were intense and entertaining. The tone of the story was set perfectly, it showed the harshness of this world but also underneath the rough exterior, you could tell that there was a glimmer of hope and humor. The description of the scenery was perfect, I could imagine every nook and cranny. The places that are supposed to be lifeless and desolate felt lifeless and desolate, the places meant to feel exciting felt exciting. I have read many books that give a good description of the setting but Crown of Feathers was one of the most thrilling books I have had the pleasure of imagining. 

Altogether, this book is amazing, if I could I would give it a ten out of five stars. Everyone who enjoys fantasy or just books, in general, should give Crown of Feathers a chance. It has a gripping storyline and compelling characters. I would be happy to read this book one hundred times over, it's just that good. I usually don't actively recommend books but I have been compelled to do so for the sake of this story alone. Hopefully, by the end of this review, you have been impressed enough to read this gem of a story yourself.