One-Sentence Summary:
Following her sister’s betrayal, animage Veronyka pretends to be a boy to join the legendary Phoenix Riders.
My Review:
I originally read Crown of Feathers in December last year (I think?) so I think it’s important that I share my opinions from now and my first impressions (all of which are good because I love this book).
Crown of Feathers deserves so much more attention. The plot centers around three point-of-view characters: Veronyka, Tristan, and Sev. Veronyka’s story is described in the one-sentence summary, so I’ll talk about the others! Tristan is the Phoenix Rider commander’s son, but he’s only an apprentice. One reason for this is that his training has been hindered by his fear of fire. He has to complete his training and become a Master Rider to prove himself to his judgemental father, but first he must face his fears. The last one is Sev, an animage soldier. Most animages are slaves, but no one knows about his powers until two of the animage slaves traveling with him get wind of his abilities and blackmail him for his help and insider information.
When I initially read Crown of Feathers, I actually didn’t love Sev. I didn’t pay too much attention to Sev’s POVs, so I thought he was boring. After rereading it, I can say that Sev is actually very interesting, in part because of Kade, one of the other animages and also one of my favorite characters ever because 😍😍😍. Essentially, hating on Sev is not allowed.
I’ve always loved Veronyka’s journey in Crown of Feathers, but I think my reread made me love the secondary characters in her story more than I did before. Veronyka is such a strong character, but I love that Nicki also shows us her weaknesses, like impulsiveness and previously her blind trust of her sister. I definitely like Veronyka best in Crown of Feathers compared to Heart of Flames. I really like Tristan this time around too.
During my reread, I developed an appreciate for Sparrow and Val, specifically Val. Val, Veronyka’s sister, is actually such a badass, but everyone overlooks that because of what she does on-page. More people need to appreciate Val, I’m saying it. I’m a Val stan now, even though I wasn’t when I first read it.
Crown of Feathers is amazing for people who like high fantasy. Basically the entire cast of primary and secondary characters has power over animals, and two characters and one side character have telepathy with humans too. You should also really read Crown of Feathers and the others in the series because of how insanely underrated they are! Nicki Pau Preto is an angel and the books are amazing, so support them!!!!
I probably would’ve given the book four stars last year, but after my reread…
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5.
The Fiction Feature 