Phoenix and the Frost Palace (Fireborn book 2)
Aisling Fowler, Illustrated by Sophie Medvedeva
Twelve has become a hunter and chosen a new name to reflect her elemental power: Phoenix. Phoenix is recognised by the witch clan of the north as a powerful elemental. Witches aren’t frequent visitors, but they have a long history in Ember, so when a witch visits from Icegaard asking for help from her to defeat a deadly sickness that is depleting their magic called the Shadowseam, Phoenix and her friends Five, Six and Seven have a mission to undertake. Phoenix questions her abilities. She’s never really had full control of her elemental magic, but everything is at stake. Can she help protect Ember, and will the Faceless Croke play a part in her demise?
Travelling north, Phoenix and her friends, Five, Six and Seven, must battle frightening new monsters and find a way to defeat the Shadowseam. However, as Phoenix learns to control her new power, the faceless Croke begins to haunt her dreams.
Phoenix will have to fight with everything she’s got to save Ember from mortal danger. But the price of survival may be more than she can pay.
Phoenix is still a great character but now surrounded by friends she’s very different to the one we first saw in Fireborn, and this book spends a large amount of time with Phoenix discovering her magical abilities and training with witches which didn’t excite me. As a result, I found I wasn’t that invested in the story and when coupled with the slow pace I just wasn’t always that eager to pick it back up. Dog is still the best character, and I loved his chapters. In fact, the mystery and tension of his story was miles better than the intended, ‘main’ plot.
I would give this book 4 stars because I didn’t like that Phoenix and Dog were separated for the majority of the book. However, I did love the development in the side characters, like five and six. I would recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy over 9.
Published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2023
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