Review: The Phoenix by Eric Van Allen

A tangled tale of second chances, risky deals, and the curious kindness of strangers, The Phoenix by Eric Van Allen is a fiendishly clever YA novel that crackles with Gothic energy.

A protective young guardian and provider for her siblings, Callie skeptically accepts an offer from an eccentric neighbor that seems nearly too good to be true. Working and living in a macabre funeral home will mean hanging out on death’s doorstep, but it beats getting harassed by predatory neighbors or having social services split up their already fractured family.

In this new home of corpses, forbidden doors, and secrets hidden in plain sight, Callie’s desire for stability is balanced every day against a creeping sense of dread. Eventually, when the true cost of her neighbor’s altruism is ultimately revealed, she is faced with an impossible choice that could reshape her family and future forever.

Callie’s fearless voice sets an immediate tone for the story, and the consistency of her narrative personality makes the reading experience entirely immersive. There is an unadulterated honesty in this teenager’s gritty depiction of a dangerous world, where desperation drives the caretakers of patriarchy to do terrible things. Her nonchalant musings on societal imbalances, gender dynamics, and the hard lessons learned from poverty ring with timely truth.

Delamorte, the unsettling savior, is also a well-crafted and enigmatic figure; as his character’s motives come into sinister focus, readers will have to reckon with the nebulous nature of his intentions. Lucy fills a similarly fluid role, offering moments of mothering comfort, but hints of her darker side occasionally shine through, creating a simmering tension that electrifies the prose. Thomas and Jess round out the supporting cast as foils to Callie’s big-sister instincts, though they are lighter on character development.

The supernatural elements of the story don’t detract from the very relatable themes being explored, but rather amplify the extreme measures some people will take to secure their power and legacy. More notably, the story depicts the spectrum of poverty and the titanic struggles of everyday people with a refreshing level of candor, empathy, and frustration. The stream of discussion about death also makes the novel a persistent meditation on mortality, one that is far more creative and open-minded than traditional stories of fire and brimstone. Blurring the lines of good and evil, obligation, and obsession, this tightly designed narrative hits surprisingly hard, considering the age of its intended audience, and it does so with attitude, youthful sensitivity, and bold swings in storytelling.

On the technical side, the storytelling style and dialogue clearly belong in the YA realm, making the book accessible and digestible for a broad range of readers, although some of the more nuanced messaging may only be picked up by older readers. The prose moves along at a quick clip, while the first-person perspective keeps readers in the emotional and action-packed driver’s seat. The AI nature of the cover may put some readers off, but the story inside is highly original and inventive.

Integrating fantasy-horror and coming-of-age challenges with a daring protagonist and the highest possible stakes, this young adult novel is a fast-paced and thought-provoking stew of suspense.