Review: The Phoenix Keeper

The Phoenix Keeper by SA Maclean

Published By: Gollancz
Publication Date: August 13, 2024
Date Read: January 17, 2026
Genre: Adult – Cosy Fantasy
Source: Bought
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 400

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As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila’s childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There’s just one glaring caveat: her zoo’s breeding program hasn’t functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighbouring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins.

But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons… Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. Inspiring zoo patrons? That’s another story. Mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo’s most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.

Especially when the hotshot griffin keeper in question just so happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and even more annoyingly insufferable know-it-all with the grace of a goblin and the face of a goddess who’s convinced that Aila’s beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than as a passive conservation exhibit.

With the world watching and the threat of poachers looming, Aila’s success is no longer merely a matter of keeping her job…

She is the keeper of the phoenix, and the future of a species now rests on her shoulders.

There’s just one thing she has to remember: she is also not alone.

Against an epic fantasy backdrop teeming with all your favourite mythical beasts from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and krakens, The Phoenix Keeper combines the visceral effervescence of cozy fantasy kings TJ Klune and Travis Baldree with the soul-restoring romance of queer icons Alice Oseman and Casey McQuiston.

The Phoenix Keeper is a book I honestly hadn’t heard of before it was selected as the January pick for my book club. I’m so glad it was selected as I probably never would have picked this one up otherwise, and I really enjoyed it. It’s a cute cosy fantasy with good time vibes all the way.

The Phoenix Keeper follows the story of Aila, a very anxious zookeeper who specialises in Phoenix’s. Ever since she was young, she’s been in love with the animals and never wanted to work with anything else. When an opportunity arises which means she is the face of a big Phoenix conservation project, Aila finds herself stepping out of her comfort zone.

I really enjoyed The Phoenix Keeper. In particular, I really enjoyed the conservation elements of the book. You can really tell that the author, being an environmental scientist was using a lot of real life conservation knowledge and applying it to magical species. I loved this element as it’s not something that I read a lot of and so it was very new and unique for me.

While I did really enjoy this one there were a few things that I griped at a little. The first being Aila… my god. This woman is the more irritating FMC I’ve read in a long time. At first, I was really enjoying the fact that the FMC was someone who suffered with anxiety. However, the more I read the more her very extreme anxiety seemed unrealistic. She can’t string two sentences together in front of her boss, because of her anxiety. All this made me think of it how did you get the job in the first place? In addition to this she was just so self-centred and selfish. She’s absolutely horrible to people and then when she goes to apologise all she thinks about is how hard it’s going to be for her to apologise. By the middle of the book, I was so done with her. Rolling my eyes at every turn. This does lead to some good character development but for me it was just too much. In addition, the romance was very confusing to me. Considering this is promoted as sapphic and queer, for the first 60% of the book I was wondering if that was incorrect. There is a sapphic romance but it doesn’t start until about 70%. While I love a slow burn I was just confused over the whole thing.

The Phoenix Keeper was a cute, fun cosy fantasy that I would definitely recommend. I’m glad that I read it and I really enjoyed my time with it. The audiobook in particular was great as I loved the narrator. Having said this, I wouldn’t rush to re-read this book, and as I did read this via audiobook it’s not one I’m desperate to get my hands on physically. I wouldn’t rule out reading more from the author in the future but for this one, it’s a read once and that’s enough. If you’re interested in conservation storylines, and magical creatures I think you will love this one and I would definitely recommend it to those kinds of readers.