I was given an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I love the fantasy world of the Havenfall series and it was great to be back! Holland presents a well thought out and balanced magical system, with a new twist (sorry, that's spoilers). With the returning health of Maddie's uncle, she steps down from being the Inkeeper of Havenfall, but that doesn't stop her adventures! The soul trade is alive and well, the Silver Prince has escaped to Byrn, and a new soul trader has been discovered in Fiordenkill. Can Maddie successfully pull off her infiltration mission? Will her relationships, especially her two crushes, survive the turmoil ahead?

One of my favorite aspects that I truly appreciate about this series is Maddie's bisexuality. It's not an in-your-face part of the book, and I don't think sexuality has to be. I love that the book is not about Maddie struggling with her sexuality and it's not about Maddie having an identity crisis. She lives her life and just happens to be bisexual. The book is not super romance heavy, but when she talks about her crushes one is a guy and one is a girl. It feels like a totally natural representation and it is so refreshing to finally see someone like me reflected in the characters I read.

I do wish that Maddie's character had more of an arc in Phoenix Flame. I still enjoyed Phoenix Flame, but she felt more complicated and had more depth in Havenfall that was not quite replicated here. I couldn't help but notice that Maddie appeared more passive in this one, though to be fair many of the situations she was in were totally out of her control. That being said I was still hoping for a bit more, especially from the climax itself. This is what took the book down one star for me. ( )

While the first book in the Havenfall series was adequate, I hoped Sara Holland’s sequel, Phoenix Flame, would focus more on what I liked and less on what I didn’t. Unfortunately, she doesn’t. Phoenix Flame is a rather boring sequel with nothing really new to learn.

In fact, there isn’t much of anything in Phoenix Flame. The characters undergo no major development. Maddie continues to make highly emotional and less rational decisions. The love story faces trouble, as any good love story in a trilogy does during the sequel. Even the time we get to spend in one of the other realms proves to be less than interesting.

Phoenix Flame includes one eye-rolling reveal after another. While Ms. Holland expects these reveals to be major shocks, I found them highly predictable and not at all the game-changers they should be. If anything, they prove how formulaic the entire story is.

I went into Phoenix Flame hoping for more maturity and more mystery. I definitely did not get more maturity. It is as if Maddie learned nothing from her previous experiences. I also did not get more mystery. While we do get to spend time in one of the other realms, what happens there could occur just as easily on Earth. The story shifts from a power struggle between the realms to a search-and-rescue with no discernible ending. After two books, I don’t know where the finale will go, and I have no desire to find out. ( )