Michelle's Reviews > The Phoenix Crown

While Quinn is not one of my favorite authors, she usually writes a solid enough book that you can count on it being good book. This book falls way short of her normal bar.

There are so many issues with this book:

- The characters are not well developed. They are very flat and uninspired. Quinn is usually really good at writing interesting characters so this was a huge disappointment.

-This mystery lacks any real mystery There was no feeling of intrigue. The whole thing felt very anticlimactic leading up to the obvious reveal.

- Felt completely uninspired. This book felt like the authors were trying to write to fulfill specific requirements and following a tired writing formula. The story had the emotion and entertainment of a mundane college textbook. It was impossible to become engaged in this lackluster story.

- Moreover, for being historical fiction it didn't feel historical either. One of the reasons I kept going with this book was because of the impending SF earthquake. The entire book leads up to the earthquake, counting you down to it, so you expect the earthquake to be the focal point, the main drama. However, this major historical event that the story was leading us up to all along, is completely glossed over and overshadowed by the attention to the LGBTQ theme. Which is funny because the whole relationship felt like a token gay couple to check off a diversity box. It didn't feel genuine at all.

I hope this is only a hiccup in Quinn's writing career and not a sign of what's to come. I wasn't able to finish this book without skimming. With all my issues with the writing and the fact that I had to skim to finish the book gets 1*.