By Mattie Lugar
While I’m a huge fan of fantasy, I’ve never really ventured into cozy fantasy before reading this book. “The Phoenix Keeper” by S.A. MacLean was a hit for me as soon as I finished it. The whole premise of the book is essentially following a girl trying to save endangered phoenixes in a magical zoo, and while reading the synopsis, I knew this book would be for me. I loved going to the zoo and aquarium when I was younger, so this book was right up my alley.
While I initially picked the book up because of its cover, I didn’t know that I was about to read what is arguably one of my top books. We follow Alia who is the head phoenix keeper at a zoo known for its magical creatures. She has always dreamed of saving the endangered species of phoenixes, but the only caveat is that her zoo’s breeding program has been virtually non-existent for over a decade. When a heist at a neighboring zoo brings tragedy, Alia must prove that her run-down facility can handle such an important task.
The romance in this book kind of takes a back seat until the last one hundred pages or so, but what we saw was really sweet. The romance follows a rivals-to-lovers plotline between Alia and a griffin keeper named Luciana. The two have been rivals since college, and Luciana gets under Alia’s skin without even trying. The two of them butt heads often because Luciana believes that Alia’s phoenixes would be better off performing instead of being a conservation project.
Even though most cozy fantasy books don’t really have a heavy conflict, the last third of this book is very action-packed. I won’t spoil it, but a heist attempt is planned and it’s up to Alia and Lucianna to stop this plan before anything terrible happens to the zoo.
If you enjoy expansive worldbuilding with a dash of action, magical creatures and a sweet and cozy romance, then I highly recommend you pick this up book. Since reading this book, a whole new subgenre has made itself known to me, and I know that I will definitely be picking up more cozy fantasies in the future.