I have read four Kate Quinn novels and loved them all (The Rose Code, The Huntress, The Diamond Eye, The Alice Network) but I had never read anything by Janie Chang. I listened to The Phoenix Crown on Audible and enjoyed it, but it didn’t live up to the four books listed above. Here is my book review The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang.

San Fransisco 1906

There are four strong women in this story, all very unique. Three of them are fictional but modeled after real women of the era. The fourth is a historic figure named Alice Eastwood, an important botanist at the California Academy of Sciences. A women who led the way for other women scientists during an era where women were not successful or even allowed in scientific fields.

The other three women are an aspiring opera singer, an American born Chinese women and an artist who has disappeared. These three unlikely friends are pursuing passions, dreams, and destinies in the days leading up to the big San Francisco earthquake and subsequent devastating fire.

Gemma, who leaves New York under questionable circumstances, arrives in San Francisco hoping to find work in the chorus at the opera house. She quickly meets Henry Thornton, one of San Fransisco many millionaires and he becomes both her patron opening doors at the opera and her lover. But Gemma is flummoxed that her friend Nellie is not in San Fransisco to greet her as they had previously arranged.

Suling, works in her uncles laundry and helps her aunt in her brothel following the tragic death of her parents. Suling is engaged to wed a man she does not love, and is scheming to find her missing true love Reggie who has disappeared without a trace.

Not What it Seems

Soon Gemma and Suling will begin to suspect Henry Thornton is behind many nefarious antics. When the women realize that Nellie (Gemma’s best friend) and Reggie (Suling’s lover) are the same person, they band together to find her.

Thornton is the suspect in the disappearance of Nellie/Reggie, but just as the women, with the help of their friend Alice Eastwood are getting close to solving the mystery, the great San Francisco earthquake rocks everything and everyone. Suling risks her life to save Nellie/Reggie while Gemma and Alice are risking life and limb to save Alice’s life long work at the California Institute of Science. Fire is raging towards all of them, and in the rubble and smoke of the aftermath the women clearly see Henry Thornton for what he is – a liar and a murderer.

Book Review The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

How will this wild adventure end? Who will survive to love again? Though not as well written or intriguing as most of Quinn’s work, the story kept me interested although the character development was a bit flat. I still enjoyed this book on audible and think most people would love it. I learned a lot about this era of San Francisco.

****Four stars for the Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang

Thanks for reading my book review The Phoenix Crown by Kate Quinn and Janie Chang. See last week’s book review 12 Trips in 12 Months by Jen Ruiz.

DON’T MISS NEXT WEEK – It’s our annual Reading Round Up…the best books of the year. Top twenty of the 77 books I read from July 23-July 24.

We love it when you pin, share and comment on our book reviews. Thank you.