Crown of Feathers (Crown of Feathers #1) by Nicki Pau Preto

Title: Crown of Feathers

Author: Nicki Pau Preto

Page Count: 486 pages

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I had a sister, once…

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders-legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire-until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.

I promised her the throne would not come between us.

Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders-even if that means disguising herself as aboy to join their ranks.

but its a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.

Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all Sometimes the title queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.

Goodreads blurb

World building:

The world building in this book was absolutely phenomenal, but there were a lot of info dumps right off the bat. By the time you reach page 20 you’ve already been given a basic history of the world and info about the war, which sets the background for the rest of the story. It definitely sets a clear path for the rest of the series.

Characters:

The book is divided into 3 main POVs: Veronyka, Tristan, and Sev. Virginia’s main arc involved breaking away from her sister Val, who she’s spent most of her life traveling and hiding with. Val and Veronyka are both animages and shadowmages, which are extremely rare, and both dream of being Phoenix Riders (very similar to dragon riders in Eragon). Val, being the older sister, always felt the need to take care of Veronyka. So when a Phoenix hatched for Veronyka but not for Val, she feels left out and kills Xephyra (Veronyka’s phoenix). Veronyka tries to reincarnate Xephyra but thinks she’s failed and so leaves to find another egg and to get away from Val, who she realizes is deeply disturbed. Eventually, Veronyka finds other Phoenix Riders, disguised herself as a boy (because they don’t accept female Phoenix Riders?), and starts to try and convince them to let her join their ranks. She is definitely being set up to be a cross between a warrior queen and a politician.

Tristan is the son of the commander who leads the last remaining Phoenix Riders. He quickly befriends ‘Nyk’ (Veronyka in disguise) and is shown to be a leader-in-training. Tristan’s main arc involves facing his fears and insecurities in order to become the leader he needs to be. Sev was probably my least favorite POV as his story felt very disconnected from the rest of the plot. He’s a soldier for the Empire, which is the main governing body that’s seeking to end the Phoenix Riders and be rid of animages.

Sev is an animage and is discovered by the other animages who serve as slaves to the empire. They blackmail/recruit him to their mission of sabotaging the camp as much as possible so that the soldiers won’t be able to attack the Phoenix Riders at full strength. His arc shows him overcoming his hatred of what he is, which steamed from a traumatic experience he had as a child. In the end, he’s able to accept himself as he is.

Conclusions:

 This was a good book to start the year off with and I cannot believe I waited so long to read it. I received this book in Owlcrate’s January 2019 box and sat on my shelf for almost a year before I picked it up.  Needless to say, I’ve now preordered Owlcrate’s exclusive edition of the sequel, Heart of Flames.