Review of “These Feathered Flames” by Alexandra Overy

Overy, Alexandra. These Feathered Flames. Toronto, Ontario: Inkyard Press, 2021.

ISBN-13: 978-1335147967 | $19.99 USD | 496 pages | YA Fantasy

Blurb

Three Dark CrownsmeetsWicked Saintsin this queer #ownvoices retelling of “The Firebird,” a Russian folktale, by debut author Alexandra Overy.

When twin heirs are born in Tourin, their fates are decided at a young age. While Izaveta remained at court to learn the skills she’d need as the future queen, Asya was taken away to train with her aunt, the mysterious Firebird, who ensured magic remained balanced in the realm.

But before Asya’s training is completed, the ancient power blooms inside her, which can mean only one thing: the queen is dead, and a new ruler must be crowned.

As the princesses come to understand everything their roles entail, they’ll discover who they can trust, who they can love—and who killed their mother.

Review

2 stars

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

These Feathered Flames sounded incredibly promising: a queer retelling of “The Firebird?” Granted, I don’t know the original tale very well, but I don’t think that was a factor in my lack of enjoyment, especially as I’ve enjoyed books influenced by Russian folklore in the past.

And I think a couple of the other early critical reviews have helped me to pin down why that is: this virtual tome of a book (clocking in at just under 500 pages) is too much on the character-driven side, without much emphasis on plot. Nothing happened. It just ended up being a bit of a slog through chapter after chapter of introspection, without much action. For the length it is, I would have expected more: more world building (where the heck are we? Not in actual Russia, but I can’t say more than that beyond “vague fantasy world inspired by Russsia”), more development of the magic and political systems, more keeping the story going.

And the characters were…ok. The author pitched the relationship between Izaveta and Asya as very similar to Sansa and Arya, and that does come through. Each has their own unique challenges in their respective roles, and in theory, if works. I just never fully felt connected to them on a deeper level, even though I was spending so much time in their heads. If there had been some balance between being told through their internal monologue and some action expressing similar things, I might have felt more for them.

This is a good example of a great concept, but poor execution. But it also depends on your reader preferences, as if you like a slower story with emphasis on character thought over action, it might work better for you.

Author Bio

Alexandra grew up in London and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her undergraduate degree in history at UCLA, followed by her MFA in screenwriting also at UCLA. She loves writing in all formats, from novels to screenplays to graphic novels, always centring on fierce women and morally grey characters, often with a bit of magic and murder. Her debut novel, These Feathered Flames, releases April 20 2021 from Inkyard Press.
When she’s not writing, she can be found baking, fangirling over her favourite books, or cuddling her cat.

Buy links

Bookshop (affiliate link)

The Ripped Bodice (signed copies)