Phoenix Team One: Selected

Mythical Alliance: Phoenix Team Book 1

Author: Claire Luana

My rating: 4 stars

Zariya just lost her father in a work related accident, and is convinced that his death was more than an accident. Using her naga heritage and pretty sharp fighting skills, Zariya searches for the truth. But digging in too deep reveals secrets that her friends and family have been keeping from her.

I’ve never read a story with a naga main character. (For the uninitiated, naga are Indian mythical creatures, part human & part cobra. Isn’t that a cool upgrade from the typical werewolf?) It was nice to learn more about naga, especially when Zariya used her innate skills to fight or solve mysteries. (Hello – venom, lithe movements, etc.) Instead of packing in a full length novel, this series is written in smaller, more novella sized pieces. But not too small. The kindle version has about 120 pages. The size was perfect – short enough to contain an entire episode, while giving a good introduction to the relevant characters, but without feeling too short or as if anything was cut off. It’s as good as a standalone book. It had a complete plot and didn’t end on a cliffhanger. I guess it just eliminated unnecessary fillers.

My first thought was, ‘another vampire romance?’ I tired of that cliche a thousand books ago. Still, I gave this book a shot, and haven’t regretted it yet. Yes, the vampire in question is several centuries older than the very young protagonist, and I hate imagining a coupling like that. A good looking centuries old man is still an old man when dating a young girl. Especially then. But they don’t fall in love in this first book yet, so I was able to enjoy the story so far. Hopefully, as with most good vamp books & shows, the rest of the book & characterization will be good enough to help the readers forget the significant & creepy age gap.

For comparison purposes, the plot reminded me a bit of Alex Rider, particularly the first book of that series. Obviously without the supernatural parts, but there are many plot similarities.

I like Zariya’s character so far. I didn’t have high expectations for this book, but so far I’m interested in reading the next. (That will be out by the end of this month. The author is pretty quick on releasing continuations.)

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.