PHOENIX FLAME By Sara Holland

Dani Young 

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

PHOENIX FLAME By Sara HollandPhoenix Flame by Sara Holland
Series: Havenfall #2
Published by Bloomsbury YA on 3/2/21
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Young Adult
Pages: 270
Format: Ebook
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Maddie Morrow thought her problems were over. She saved the Inn at Havenfall--a sanctuary between magical worlds hidden deep in the mountains of Colorado--from the evil Silver Prince. Her uncle the Innkeeper is slowly recovering from a mysterious spell that has left him not quite human. And there are still a few weeks of summer left to spend with her handsome, more-than-just-a-friend Brekken, even though she can't stop thinking about Taya.

But Maddie soon realizes there's more work to be done to protect the place her family has run for centuries. She must embark on a dangerous mission to put an end to the black-market trading of magical objects and open the Inn's doors to Solaria, the once feared land of shapeshifters.

As she tries to accomplish both seemingly impossible tasks, Maddie uncovers family secrets that could change everything. What if saving everyone means destroying the only home she's known?

Short and Sweet Review

Phoenix Flame picks up where Havenfall left off. Maddie saved the inn and her uncle so everything should be smooth sailing but it’s not. Maddie has to stop the trading of black market items and open the door to shapeshifters before everything is on a track to being okay.

Honestly something was off about this book and I’m going to say it was the pacing. Everything was happening so fast and this book is short, so it felt like everything was shoved into 270 pages. I wanted to like this book but it just felt so disjointed. Maddie recently saved the inn and now she’s dealing with the fact that her brother is alive and not dead and some new antagonist has kidnapped her mom. When Maddie goes through one of the doors to another world I thought we would see more of the world and why each place was so special but that didn’t happen, it was like she was there for two very short chapters. I feel like I can’t say a lot about this book mainly because it was so short and there was too much going on. Maddie isn’t the best at decision making and she put herself in danger most of the time. A lot of questions weren’t answered and when things were resolved it was just a let down.

Overall, this sequel can be described as a let down. I was really excited to read this book but I feel like things were rushed through and it just wasn’t good.

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