The Boi of Feather and Steel
Metamorphosis
Dundurn (June 22, 2021)
432
Tav struggles to come to grips with who they are ― and who they are becoming ― in this thrilling sequel to the queer witchy fantasy The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass.
After stealing the Heart of a magical world with the help of a supernatural assassin, Tav discovered that they can’t just see magic ― they know how to use it. Returning to the human City of Ghosts, Tav, Eli, and Cam race to heal the wounds in the veil between worlds before the Earth’s lifeforce is drained by the tyrannical Witch Lord … and Eli’s new Heart-infused body falls apart.
Meanwhile, in the City of Eyes, Kite has joined forces with the bloodthirsty childwitch Clytemnestra, and together they are raising an army to overthrow the world-eating Coven.
With blood and magic spilled on both sides, who will survive?
Tav struggles to come to grips with who they are ― and who they are becoming ― in this thrilling sequel to the queer witchy fantasy The Girl of Hawthorn and Glass.
After stealing the Heart of a magical world with the help of a supernatural assassin, Tav discovered that they can’t just see magic ― they know how to use it. Returning to the human City of Ghosts, Tav, Eli, and Cam race to heal the wounds in the veil between worlds before the Earth’s lifeforce is drained by the tyrannical Witch Lord … and Eli’s new Heart-infused body falls apart.
Meanwhile, in the City of Eyes, Kite has joined forces with the bloodthirsty childwitch Clytemnestra, and together they are raising an army to overthrow the world-eating Coven.
With blood and magic spilled on both sides, who will survive?
A magical story with a unique cast of characters.
I loved reading about each time that a witch was stripped from their physical form down to their true essence. Described as a ball of light, it reminded me of “Navi” from my Nintendo 64 days playing Zelda.
In The Boi of Feather and Steel, Adan Jerrat-Poole again takes readers into mystical scenes that are beyond imaginative. I was blown away by the scenes in The City of Eyes in the first book of this series, and was even more impressed in this book during the tale of Kite’s journey through the library in her realm. Books had feelings, and were like creatures. For instance, Kite “fed sacrifices of insects and fishbones to the living words”. I was entranced by Kite’s visits to the library.
Tav’s character is non-gender conforming and uses they/them pronouns. This isn’t difficult to read and follow in the first book, but this time around it did trip me up in the story because of several jagged transitions between perspectives. A few times we’re in Tav’s view and then suddenly in Eli’s who is referred to as she. The jumps between them weren’t clear at times and would pull me out of the story.
I appreciated the raw honesty that Adan wrote into their foreword of this book. They wrote this story during a rough year of a global pandemic. I can relate deeply to the feelings they were brave enough to share. The acknowledgements hit me in the feels too. As a supporter of equality for all people, I loved their bravery to encourage readers to explore history of indigenous peoples, and the true origin of the black lives matters movement. A lot of people wouldn’t dare mention anything of either topic. Adan is brave, and that bravery bleeds into the characters of their stories.
Kristin lives in the PNW with her husband, and three kids. She loves to read YA fiction, fantasy, and romance. She enjoys a few side-hustles, including creating bookreels/booktoks for authors. The only shows she watches are re-runs, and if she’s not reading a book, she’s listening to one.
