A beautifully genuine and fresh portal fantasy to sweep you off your feet
—Amanda Khong, Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews Snapshot
The Last Feather by Shameez Patel Papathanasiou
Cassia’s sister is dying, and she doesn’t know why. Soon after, Cassia wakes up in another realm, not only does she find her missing best friend, Lucas, but he knows how to save her sister.
✒️ Debut Author 🍃 Easy Reading ⏱️ Fast Paced 🌺 Friendship Goals
- Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy, Speculative Fiction
Book Review
Delightful, fresh, fun, emotional, exciting, adventurous, fast-paced
The Last Feather is packed with action and overflowing with characters that feel so undeniably real and honest. While reading, I found myself drawn in by the immense charm that accompanied every aspect of this story. The character relationships feel genuine, the maturity feels earned, and the world-building feels light but encompassing all at once. This is a delightful read for anyone who is looking to explore a whole new world but not jump into the depths of purposefully dense worldbuilding that sometimes feels like it comprises too much of the fantasy genre.
Cassia’s sister is dying and no one knows why. Doctors can’t seem to figure it out and her family is forced to sit and watch her slowly die. But Cassia will do anything to save her, so when Cassia wakes up in another realm, not only does she find her best friend, Lucas, but he knows how to save her sister.
The Last Feather is an immensely charming light fantasy debut. The characters are rich and human and their relationships with each other are unique and real. Most strikingly, they are delightfully mature in a refreshing way. Often maturity in fantasy novels feels as if the characters were meant to be older but were written to be young to fit into a demographic of readers. I have never seen such a perfect description of characters who are mature simply because they had to grow up too young. The Last Feather nails this balance right on the head and it is absolutely refreshing.
Papathanasiou also manages to perfectly capture the grief and anticipation of running out of time. And it is woven into so many aspects of this book it adds so much to the action while maintaining the soft fantasy energy. These countdowns serve not only for action but also for grief. Cassia’s position between two worlds, counting down to so many tragedies, knowing that there will not be time or space for everything pulls on our emotions in a subtle but profound way. The Last Feather cannot be missed.
The Last Feather is a delightful soft fantasy that pulled me in right from the start. The world that Papathanasiou builds is something that you can not miss. This fresh portal fantasy will leave you yearning for more.
