ARC Review: Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto

ARC Review: Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto

Heart of Flames by Nicki Pau Preto is the second book in the Crown of Feathers series and I absolutely love this series so check out my thoughts below!

Many thanks to the publisher, Simon Teen, for the advance copy which in no way reflects my thoughts below. I also preordered this beauty as it is one of my favorites!

Heart of Flames (Crown of Feathers #2)

by Nicki Pau Preto
Published by: Simon Pulse
on February 11, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 640
IndieBound, Audiobook through LibroFM
Goodreads

Veronyka, Tristan, and Sev must stop the advancing empire from destroying the Phoenix Riders in this fiery sequel to Crown of Feathers, which #1 New York Times bestselling author Kendare Blake calls “absolutely unforgettable!”
You are a daughter of queens.
The world is balanced on the edge of a knife, and war is almost certain between the empire and the Phoenix Riders.
Like Nefyra before you, your life will be a trial by fire.
Veronyka finally got her wish to join the Riders, but while she’s supposed to be in training, all she really wants to do is fly out to defend the villages of Pyra from the advancing empire. Tristan has been promoted to Master Rider, but he has very different ideas about the best way to protect their people than his father, the commander. Sev has been sent to spy on the empire, but maintaining his cover may force him to fight on the wrong side of the war. And Veronyka’s sister, Val, is determined to regain the empire she lost—even if it means inciting the war herself.
Such is your inheritance. A name. A legacy. An empire in ruin.
As tensions reach a boiling point, the characters all find themselves drawn together into a fight that will shape the course of the empire—and determine the future of the Phoenix Riders. Each must decide how far they’re willing to go—and what they’re willing to lose in the process.
I pray you are able to pass through the flames.

Review

Right now this is one of my top series! The story continues right where we left off in Crown of Feathers and we continue on this epic adventure. I need to know the conclusion and if my ships are going to get a happily ever after or not. I do not know how I am going to wait for book 3!

I loved how in this sequel we got to have more points of view. However, continuing the trend from book one, the plot was not a, b, c set up for how the characters stories alternated, but more a rotation as needed to tell the whole story. I loved the well rounded point of view of the conflict that was going on from multiple different locations in the world.

Speaking of more POVs, I absolutely fell in love with Sev in this book. We got to know him a lot more as he told his story as a spy in Heart of Flames.

This story really reminded me of one I loved before called The Dragon Riders of Pern series by Anne McCaffery. I love the phoenix riding and bond that the characters have, causing the phoenixes to have a larger part of the story as characters and not just animated plot devices. Some characters really show that double bond of rider to rider and phoenix to rider bonds.

Make sure you are ready for a cliffhanger because Nicki Pau Preto makes you so invested in the story you don’t realize it’s going to end when it does and leaves you gripping the book needing to know what happens next.