Synopsis (via Goodreads): 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.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes I use are from an unpublished copy and may not reflect the finished product.
I really, really wanted to like These Feathered Flames. There's a lot to love, right? A Slavic-inspired fantasy! Russian folklore and culture! Twin sisters! Unfortunately, the story was slow, somewhat repetitive, and the characters were uninteresting (and also somewhat repetitive). Asya and Izaveta were incredibly frustrating, and I hated how they kept making the same mistakes over and over again. Asya gets attacked in the middle of the night? Okay, so obviously she should take a stroll through the woods where no one will hear her if she screams. Izaveta tries to use her sister as a pawn and it backfires? Yes, she should totally do it again and again hoping for a different outcome. Learn from your mistakes and BE BETTER.
I really wanted them to work together and be smarter than their enemies, but they kept choosing to do things on their own without consulting the other or asking for help. Additionally, Asya's aunt is still around (she's the previous Firebird), so it didn't make sense for Asya to try and do everything solo. She had someone she could ask for help. She could have gone to her aunt and they could have sorted through her newly emerging powers and discussed what certain things meant. However, Asya thinks she can handle it - or she doesn't want to feel like a burden - which is ridiculous. She's supposed to be training and learning how to be the Firebird. It was dumb of her to think she could do it all on her own. Izaveta has a similar story, because she thinks she can't trust anyone - not even her sister - because her mother was a manipulative bitch that didn't deserve either of her children.
Izaveta was so caught up in playing mind games with everyone around her, that she doubted everyone's sincerity. She has MAJOR trust issues, and I wish she'd at least had one friend or confidant that she wasn't constantly analyzing or trying to control. I hated that she didn't even trust her sister (someone who kept reaching out despite receiving no response from Izaveta), and felt like Asya was just another piece in her games. Where's the sisterly love I was hoping for? It wasn't present in the first 60% of this book (which was roughly 8 hours of the audio). That's A LONG TIME for nothing to really happen.
The world-building was interesting, and I liked the history we get to see in glimpses, but it wasn't enough to hold my attention. In addition to feeling like the characters kept making the same choices and mistakes, I was bored. I started dreading pressing the play button on my phone, and that's never a good sign. (★★☆☆☆)
Technically, this book should be included in my next DNF&Y post, but I needed an active link for NetGalley and the publisher.
