About

Phoenix Down is the first book in the The Naturalist series written by Brooke Hatchett.

Phoenix Down book cover

Blurb

Everything has a price. Even legends…

No one can keep a secret like young Remy Farthington. To the people of Frelpston, he's just the shopkeeper's boy—quiet, kind, and scarred. That’s why he’s the perfect caretaker for the three black-market phoenixes caged in the shop’s basement. Soon, one of the phoenixes will be reborn and Remy can collect the down–a prize worth a king’s ransom–just like his adoptive father wants.

That was the plan. Until one of the birds speaks to him.

When a phoenix is reborn and taken to be sold, Remy sets out to save her. Aided by an array of magical beasts, he’ll cross the continent to right his wrongs.

And face who he really is.

Review

The story started with Remy, a 14 year old boy, working at a supply shop (with secret items for special customers). Things take an interesting turn when a noble girl arrives at this remote Northern town where it is too cold to talk. Incidents lead Remy to discover that he can communicate with magical creatures and then events kept escalating, peeling layers from the past and laying the foundation for sequels.

The writing was easy to follow and I feel the author did a good job of making the readers wonder about certain things, and then go "oh, that's why" later. I'd say the characters and world building were well done. I especially enjoyed the moments when Remy communicated with the magical creatures.

I'd have preferred a more exploratory type of book instead of the usual epic fantasy kinda stuff that happened at the end. And Remy is too young to be taking on the tasks that he did. It was like chosen one tropes without being explicit about it.

Still, I had fun reading and I'd recommend the book to those looking for a (mostly) light hearted fantasy adventure. This book had only Remy as the POV character, but I hope the sequels would have more.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟☆

What others are saying

From larenlit's review on goodreads:

At first I was surprised by the quick pacing of this book, but I found that by the end I really enjoyed how well the plot unfolded over 250ish pages. There is just enough detail to give the reader and idea of everything, but still leaves enough to learned in a future installment to the series.

From Ron Clayton's review on goodreads:

Very inventive and creative take on the attributes of classical magical creatures, as well as a few new or at least not so common creatures.

Bingo

/r/Fantasy/ 2022 bingo categories:

  • Published in 2022
  • Self-Published OR Indie Publisher (HM)
  • No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
  • Family Matters