The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean

FantasyCozy

Sep 11

Synopsis

As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila's (POV Character) childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There's just one glaring caveat: her zoo's breeding program hasn't functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighboring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins.

But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons... Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. But mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo's most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.

Especially when that hotshot griffin keeper happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and insufferable know-it-all with the face of a goddess who's convinced that Aila's beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than as a passive conservation exhibit. With the world watching and the threat of poachers looming, Aila's success is no longer merely a matter of keeping her job...

She is the keeper of the phoenix, and the future of a species – and her love life – now rests on her shoulders.

*Blurb taken from Goodreads

Review

Characters: Aila's socially-anxious, animal-loving, romantic-disaster of a personality had me SO endeared to her. While there were times when her panic was ... a lot ... I still loved getting this story from her POV. And it's probably because I can relate to most of her personality traits so easily. She's written to be fallible, and this gives a wide variety of character growth, especially in concerns to her relationship with her best-friend, Tonya. It was wonderful being inside of Aila’s head because she is a walking encyclopedias of zoos and the animals within them, especially when it comes to her birds.

This was such a great cast, and they were all fleshed out to a point where I was thoroughly invested in our secondary characters as well. We do get a diversity rep in Tonya, since (it can be inferred) she is a trans-woman. I loved the relationship between Aila and Tonya, and enjoyed the growth Aila goes through in becoming a better friend. I will say, it took me quite a while to warm up to Luciana, and I still don't think her commentary to Aila in the beginning of the novel matches up with the woman we come to know. The Luciana of the first 25% of the novels feel completely different from the Luciana in the back 75%, and I don’t think the “hard exterior” concept can quite write off just how harsh she was regarding the potential of Aila losing Rubra.

Craft: Nothing to say here, other than it was solid and I was immersed right from the beginning! Special claps to MacLean for being able to compose her prose in a way that allowed for a ton of world-building, but that never felt overwhelming. Any time a novel reads smooth and engaging, I know that's solely due to the skill of the author, and that it's not an easy goal to achieve. Well done!

Plot: We get the perfect mix of character-driven and event-driven plot within this novel. While the main conflict focuses on Aila's Silimalo phoenix, Rubra, and restarting the San Tamculo Zoo's breeding program beneath the threat of poachers, Aila herself had a wonderful personal journey that made this novel just lovely. Due to the ways these circumstances entwined with one another and balanced out, this novel has great pacing throughout. Enough so that I inhaled this novel in a single day! It was easy to spot the antagonist working with the poachers, but that didn't even bother me because I understood completely why none of the characters would have picked up on this person, including Aila. (Plus, part of the cozy for me is not being blindsided by a villain.) Truly, a well-thought-out novel that had the perfect amount of action, friendship, romance, personal growth, and, of course, fantastical creatures!

World Build/Magic System: Fabulous. Bravo. It's clear that much of this world has been inspired by our own, but I adore how real this felt due to MacLean's reimagined vision of different settings. An alternate urban universe, the distinction between different areas of the world and how their climate directly affects the animals that live there was fascinating and detailed. The inclusion of other zoos and what made them special, as well as the way magical and non-magical animals existed in the everyday world beyond the zoos, was spectacular. I mean, I honestly cannot rave about this novel enough! I wanted to step right inside and visit these places, and it took me aback every time I realized that wasn't an actual option that I had.

It was also so cool to get some behind-the-scenes looks at how the zoo ran and what all needed to be considered to keep the animals happy and the donations coming in. There are heavy themes of conservation (love) and proactive responses to animal cruelty/poaching (double love). Even the charts that Aila keeps to check Rubra's health ties into the magic and the world-build, which made this whole setting feel 100% plausible. I'd love to reality jump to Movas and live there forever!

Audio: I listened to the audio of the novel, and thoroughly enjoyed Stephanie Bentley's narration. The emotional inflections were great, the ease of the worldly pronunciations made this tangible, and the distinction between different characters was spot-on. If you get the chance to grab the audio (especially since there are so many places and animal species), I'd say go for it! I'm so happy to have my physical copy from Illumicrate, but I do think listening to this was part of the magic.

Overall Thoughts: I recommend this novel to anyone and everyone who wants a story following a socially chaotic zoo keeper and the many animals she adores and will protect at all costs. This truly was a magical novel. If MacLean ever stumbles across this post, I'm BEGGING you to write companion novels! I would read a spin-off from one of the characters we met in this installment, or from other keepers at any zoo within your world. I'm obsessed! Honestly, a book that, after I finished, I wanted to pick it right back up so I could experience the bonds between the characters and their animals all over again. The perfect cozy read to make you smile.

P.S. I'm lucky enough to have received a beautiful edition of this book in my Illumicrate subscription, which means I got a bound-in author letter. It was wonderful to read MacLean's inspiration for this novel. Pretty sure I just found an author whose releases I will always pick up!