A Feather So Black

Fair Folk #1

by Lyra Selene

The Cruel Prince meets For the Wolf in a sizzling fantasy romance inspired by Celtic mythology, spinning a magical tale of a changeling princess, her cursed sister, and the dangerous fae lord she must defeat to save her family.

In a realm without magic, Fia is a rare changeling, swapped for the Princess Eala by the wicked Fair Folk. Eala's mother, the High Queen, has taken Fia in as an adoptive daughter and trained her as a warrior spy. Princess Eala, meanwhile, is the prisoner of a shadowy Folk lord, cursed to be a swan twenty-eight days of the month.

When a forgotten gate to the Folk realm is discovered, Fia is tasked by the High Queen to break Eala's curse and retrieve her, and to capture a powerful magical weapon that will help humankind destroy the evil in Otherworld. Accompanying Fia on this mission is handsome prince Rogan, the betrothed of Princess Eala, and the very man who Fia secretly loves.

As the two journey through the gate, Fia is conflicted by her feelings for the prince. And as each moon cycle waxes and wanes, she soon finds herself fighting a heated attraction to the dark-hearted Gentry lord holding Eala captive as well.

With time running out to break Princess Eala's curse and claim the powerful weapon, Fia begins to question everything-the truth of her origins, the reality of her mission, and the "love" of her mother and High Queen. Ultimately, the key to unraveling truth from half-truth and saving the balance between the realms might just be. . . herself.

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Fae, Fantasy Romance, Adult, Retellings

484 pages, Hardcover

First published March 12, 2024

About the author

Lyra Selene was born under a full moon and has never quite managed to wipe the moonlight out of her eyes. She grew up on a steady diet of mythology, folklore, and fantasy, and now writes tall tales of twisted magic, forbidden romance, and brooding landscapes.

Lyra lives in New England with her husband and daughter, in an antique farmhouse that probably isn’t haunted. She is the author of the young adult duology AMBER & DUSK. A FEATHER SO BLACK is her adult debut.

Twitter: @LyraSelene
Instagram: @lyraselene

Reviews

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

"For anyone who has ever doubted if they were the main character in their own story. You are."

★ 3.5 stars

Firstly, before I get into it, how cute is the dedication? I hope all you beautiful people find your voice and prioritise yourself as the main character in your story 💖

🍃🦢✨The Plot 🍃🦢✨

This is the first instalment in a projected trilogy described as Cruel Prince meets For the Wolf and is inspired by Celtic mythology.

This steamy romantasy focuses on Fia, a rare changeling, who is part human and part Folk. She was raised by the human High Queen whose human daughter was stolen and Fia was left in her place. Princess Eala, the Queen's daughter by blood, is being held captive in the folk region of Tír na nÓg. As a part of her captivity, Princess Ella was cursed to be a swan twenty-eight days of the month.

Fia and her childhood friend Rogan are tasked with missions from the High Queen to rescue Eala and steal a powerful weapon that will assist the human realm gain power over the Folk. They are able to enter Tír na nÓg once a month, when a forgotten gate to the Folk realm is discovered, however, must return before sunrise or risk being trapped.

As each month passes, Fia grows closer to the dark-hearted Gentry lord holding Eala captive.

╰⪼ Thoughts 💭

The writing was captivating and poetic and easily immersed you into the magical world of Tír na nÓg. I loved the romance between Fia and the "shadow daddy" which will come as no surprise as I prefer enemies to lovers over friends to lovers 🤭 Irian was sexy, dark and morally grey and had a lot of likeable qualities. I loved how they exchanged pieces of themselves to each other through exchanging stories.

"When you give me your heart, colleen, I want all of it. I want all of you. If you are sharp with broken thorns, let them cut me. If you churn with dark shadows, let them engulf me. And if your love only destroys, let it destroy me. I am already a doomed man."

Rogan is a handsome prince betrothed to Princess Eala for a political alliance, however he shares a complicated history with Fia. I struggled to connect with him as he was entitled due to his upbringing as a human prince. He was a fairly weak character and inadvertently contributed to Fia's self loathing.

"But if love demands alteration to exist, is it even love at all?"

Fia is naive due to her abandonment issues and seeks validation in the form of love. This is to her detriment as it made her vulnerable to people who tried to hone her into a weapon for their own political advantage. She is a likeable character overall and her journey to self love and acceptance was empowering.

"I was made of earth and sky and endless waters. I was made to be loved fully, or not at all."

The love triangle was handled well. It wasn't dragged out as there wasn't much overlap between the two or internal conflict. Once a decision was made, there was no deliberation or back and forth afterwards which was appreciated. I think the right decision was made in the end that benefited everyone.

This was captivating and interesting take on fae concepts. Unfortunately if you're a seasoned fantasy reader you may find that these concepts aren't entirely new so the themes and direction of the plot is predictable. I don't think this is a reflection on the author as it's hard for new romantasy worlds to stand on their own feet when fae romance has already been done so many times over.

My main issue was the pacing. The fact that they could only be in Tír na nÓg for one night a month meant not much was happening for a lot of the book. Both Fia and Rogan were terrible at their missions and there was no sense of urgency despite only being there for a limited time so the story was spanned over nearly 12 months.

This book was largely dedicated to the history of Tír na nÓg and I’ll definitely continue this series as I'm curious about the direction of the book following the ending. If you're after a spicy, low-stakes romantasy this one will be for you!

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group UK (Orbit) and Netgalley for sending me an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

⎯⎯ ୨ Pre-review: ୧ ⎯⎯

I'm so excited for this one after seeing how much my girl Divinity loved it 😍 She had me at shadow daddy 😮‍💨

[DIVINITY🌙 · Rating 5 out of 5]

✨4.5✨

”I was made of earth and sky and endless waters. I was made to be loved fully, or not at all."

A Feather so Black is a mystical, beautiful dark fairytale reimagining. The writing is lyrical and poetic--just stunning! I found myself getting lost in the words and not wanting the story to end. I saw swan lake retelling and was instantly fascinated.

Summary: Fia is a rare changeling who was left behind by the wicked Fae when they stole the Queen’s daughter. Despite many people hating her heritage the Queen raises her as a daughter and trains her to be a spy and to fight. One day the queen tasks her and Rogan(childhood friend and other princess betrothed) to go to the Fae realm to bring back her daughter and break her swan curse. The Queen also tasks her with a separate mission to seduce the Fae prince in order to retrieve a desired object that wields magic.

Tropes
🌿enemies to lovers
🌿friends to lovers
🌿dare i say star crossed lovers?

Here is what you can expect
✔️ morally gray shadow daddy 🩶🥵
✔️complex characters
✔️love triangle
✔️touch her and die vibes 🔪
✔️Celtic mythology
✔️unique magic-heroine has botanical magic 🌿
✔️story telling/riddles
✔️HFN

Fia grows up wanting to only be loved and has to constantly prove her worth to others due to her fae heritage. She is trained to be an assassin and goes through much abuse by the queen’s right hand. I found her to be an extremely likable and relatable heroine. She’s learning who she is as a woman and discovering herself. While also having to discover the truth because everyone is spinning a different tale. She’s strong, fierce, funny, but also vulnerable and wants to feel true love.

Rogan is her childhood best friend and the prince who is betrothed to the princess. He always showed her kindness and as they grew older they fell in love with each other. But due to political reasons he did not choose her and this broke Fia. Do I dislike Rogan? Yes and no. He’s a product of his environment and has been fed lies distorting his beliefs. During their mission feelings com back and confuses the lines of their friendship. I believe he does love Fia in his own way but not all parts of her.

Irian aka shadow daddy 🤪 is mysterious, dangerous, powerful and full of secrets. Something about a man that tries to kill you upon meeting is kind of hot ..talk about a meet-cute 🤭 I will fall hard for any morally gray character it’s a natural given..I’m hoping in the next book we get more information about him he’s an intriguing character. I loved their moments together he loves Fia fiercely and allows her to be herself.

Spice Level
2.5/5 🌶️
It was much spicier than I thought and I’m in no way complaining.

Overall, I highly recommend if you are a romantasy girlie. The writing will leave you entranced and longing for more. The ending I did not see coming whatsoever I’m still gathering my emotions because it was intense. I loved this so much and desperately need the second book. I will also be buying this in hardcover so I can highlight and annotate.

Thank you to Netgallery and Orbit Books for this Arc!!


Favoriote Quotes\Interactions
“For anyone who has ever doubted if they were the main character in their own story.You are.”
Omg I loved this so much!!! This is the dedication♥️

You are a weapon, little witch. You were made to hurt. And men only know how to use weapons-they do not know how to love them.”

“I was made of dusk and leaves and hidden places. I was not made to be loved by men.”

He was beauty and bane, magnificence and malice,delight and dread.

"The first time I saw your face, I thought you were a hallucination conjured up by the magic I have misused. A creature born of balance, sent to destroy me at last. A punishment for my arrogance. My selfishness. The violence I have caused. And for a moment, I thought—" He paused. His thumb skated along my jawline, and the look in his eyes verged on wonder. "I thought I might not mind oblivion, if you were the one to deliver it."

But if love demands alteration to exist, is it even love at all?"

"And know that you are lovely, colleen. Bewitchingly so. Try not to blame me for wanting to keep that beauty all to myself."

"When you give me your heart, colleen, I want all of it. I want all of you. If you are sharp with broken thorns, let them cut me. If you churn with dark shadows, let them engulf me. And if your love only destroys, let it destroy me. I am already a doomed man."

“I wanted to live. I wanted to love. But more than anything, I wanted to be where I was always meant to be. I wanted to go home.”

[saffiyah✧ఌ · Rating 2 out of 5]

booktok is going to love this one...


➳ 2 stars ✩
⤿ a spoiler free arc review


comparing a book to the cruel prince is only setting said book up for failure. lucky for this book, my standards were not THAT high.

*a few moments later*

i lied. my standards were high. and were those standards met? absolutely not.


౨ৎ • 𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓽: fia is a changeling brought up by a mortal high queen, left behind whilst her real daughter, eala, was taken from her and bound to tír na nÓg (the fae realm). fia and her childhood friend rogan - eala's betrothed - are tasked by the queen to return her to the human realms. there she meets irian, eala's captive. but is he really the monster she thinks he is?

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩

౨ৎ • 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮: the love triangle is between irian and rogan. from the beginning (or rather the blurb) it is insanely obvious who she will end up with. the square/triangle doesn't add much to the story in terms of drama but you do get to read 'velvet length' three times to describe the dicks of both love interests, so there is that. speaking of, it was a lot spicier than i thought it would be, especially since it was compared to the cruel prince (a ya). is fae smut just trending right now or am i on the wrong side of booktok???
i didn't feel any tension between either of the love interests, nor was i rooting for either of them. i honestly just felt like the third wheel. at one point, one of the guys (or both of them, who's to say?) talks about his and fia's 'banter' and i'm one hundred percent certain that no one even knows what banter means anymore because whatever i read, it was not banter.

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩

‎ ‎౨ৎ • 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼: i have very mixed feelings towards fia. on the one hand, she didn't have much depth towards her until the very end, but on the other, she wasn't a complete doorknob. my standards for a fmc are below the ground.
irian was one of the love interests. he wasn't that morally grey, he just had shadows around him. he was just there.
rogan just annoyed me. he was also just there. it felt very icky to me that he was eala's betrothed the entire time and i know this is supposed to be a nod to the cruel prince but it didn't work.
nothing was properly fleshed out. the swan maidens felt like a huge part of the story but we barely got to even know their names and i wish we got more about corra, who is most definitely my favourite character

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩

‎౨ৎ • 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰: the writing, despite being very beautiful at times, was very heavy with celtic/gaelic terms and mythology which was incredibly hard to follow along with. it's also very long at over 500 pages. i still don't really understand fia's powers. the realms were also not thoroughly explored and it just left me feeling very underwhelmed. i feel like there was a lot of somethings missing. however, i do realise that this was an arc and the first installment in a series so i hope that it picks up by then.
there is nothing beyond the premise. that's it. that's what happened the entire book. fia and rogan arrive at the gate and have sex. then when they do enter tír na nÓg, fia goes and makes out and has sex with irian.
it feels like the romance was constructed as the primary plot, and the fantasy was just built up around it. it left a lot of gaps and i feel like fia's character and her friendship with the swan princesses/maidens(?) should have been included. this would have been especially important towards the end.

˚✩ ⋆｡˚ ✩

‎ ‎౨ৎ • 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼: i think this book tried to do a lot of things, but the execution wasn't delivered well. however, it could still be enjoyed if you're not expecting too much and you enjoy the romantasy genre and all the tropes that come along with it. i think the cover is really pretty but i probably won't be continuing this series.


it also looks like i'm reading 'for the wolf' next!


thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc in exchange for my honest thoughts!


_


☾.°✧౨ৎ ‧ tbr-review:

I GOT THE ARC!!!!!



"the cruel prince meets for the wolf" ---- saying i'm excited is the understatement of the century AHHHH (i've only ever read tcp)

[✨Julie✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

✩ 5 stars ��

What to Expect:
➼ Love Triangle
➼ Childhood Crush
➼ Friends-to-Lovers
➼ Enemies-to-Lovers
➼ Swan Lake Retelling
➼ Celtic Mythology Inspired
➼ Fae & Magic
➼ Changelings
➼ Betrayal
➼ Learning to Love Yourself

The author won me over right out of the gate with the perfect book dedication. “For anyone who has ever doubted if they were the main character in their own story. You are.” 🤌🏻 Absolutely beautiful words that were perfectly paired to our main character’s story.

Fae books are my bread and butter and this one checked all the boxes for me. With the popularity of ACOTAR, it is no surprise that the book world is currently saturated with books with similar themes. This may be a loose retelling of the swan princess, but apart from that, this never felt like a copycat or any other book I’ve read.

I think the love interest and the romance aspects could have been written a bit better, but other than that, I loved every second of this and cannot wait for book two. My biggest gripe is that there were many completely unpronounceable words or terms littered throughout the book and the appendix was at the end. I think they may be real Gaelic words, but really, who can say things like “banfhlaith,” “chiardhubh,” or my personal favorite “i gcothromaíocht” without help? 😅

This one was an easy 5 stars for me. If you love books on the fae, this one is a must read! 🙌🏻

Thank you to Net Galley, Orbit Books and the author for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼　 ҉ 　✼

Pre Read: She’s already won me over with the dedication. Fingers crossed for a 5 ☆ read! 🤞🏻

[✨⚡ Kelcey (felinebooktrovert) ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I was made of earth and sky and endless waters. I was made to be loved fully, or not at all."

This story really had a lot of potential, and I enjoyed a lot of the first half, but it's getting harder and harder to stand Tamlin (read: Tampon) characters. She didn't tell this guy to take a hike until about 60% into the book, which was waaaaay too long. The author is clearly getting you interested in the other male lead, so it made the scenes with Tampon 2.0 really frustrating.

Not to mention, all these characters that supposedly love her are clearly against her. I never trusted any of these side characters given the handful of interactions we were given, and it was just asinine that the FMC was basically blind to their individual machinations. But she was brought up to be a weapon, so you'd think she'd have some sense of self preservation and weariness of those around her.

But I really liked the endgame MMC, although he is modeled very much after Rhys (doesn't matter, I'll read reincarnations of him all day every day). But because she was being an idiot with Tampon, we didn't get nearly enough of him in this book.

But all that being said, it was a very intriguing storyline and despite all of the above issues, I found myself unable to stop reading until I finished it once I got past a certain spot. These issues aside, I think this book set up a potentially kickass sequel that I hope lives up to the buildup this first book has provided.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Courtney ✩ · Rating 4 out of 5]

★3.5 stars, rounded up
(The more I’ve thought about this book since I’ve read, the more I find myself wanting to lower my score)

✎𓂃 “Was it truly weakness to love something that could not love you back? Or might it actually be strength—to love something so selflessly that you did not care whether that love would ever be returned?”

☆Summary:
A Feather So Black is a Swan Lake retelling, full of Celtic mythology and all the intriguing magical mysteries. Fia, a half-magical changeling left in the human world, is sent by her mother the Queen to retrieve Princess Eala–the true heir to the kingdom and the child with whom she was switched. Eala was brought to the world of the Fair Folk, Tír na nÓg, where she and 12 other girls were cursed to live as swans by day, overseen by the tánaiste Irian.

Though raised to be a weapon, Fia is forced to make the journey with Prince Rogan, her childhood love and Eala’s betrothed. Rogan may have broken her heart, but will being this close to him cause those feelings to resurface? Even if he isn’t meant for her? And what about the dark, shadowy tánaiste? Is he as evil as she has been told?

☆My Thoughts:
Immediately, I would have strongly preferred the glossary/pronunciation guide to be located at the very beginning of the book. Google became my best friend throughout my reading journey, as:

1.) I couldn’t pronounce half of the words, and
2.) I didn’t know what the words meant even in context.

Though it’s very appreciated a guide was even included when words from another language and culture are used, seeing this information right away better prepares me as a reader.

That being said, I really enjoyed this story, especially the nature of the magical system and the Celtic mythology inspiration. Every second in Tír na nÓg was so enchanting: from each of the septs, to the 12 human girls and their abilities, to the monsters in the woods. Selene’s writing style is spellbindingly descriptive, and I felt transported to this world with every sentence. The descriptive nature unfortunately had the middle feeling slow 😴, but it absolutely picked up towards the end.

☆The Characters:
I LOVE me a good triangle but this was more of a love square ◼️ We all knew how things would end with Rogan, but I was literally shouting at Fia every time she’d contradict or repeat herself with him. GIRL. You know you won’t end up with him. You know he’s going to marry your “sister.” You know you likely shouldn’t fuck him…yet all logic goes right out the window 🤸‍♀️🪟 And then you feel guilty. And the cycle repeats.

✎𓂃 “But if love demands alteration to exist, is it even love at all?”

After the second mistake with Rogan, I basically started skimming to whenever Irian would make an appearance instead. BECAUSE SHADOW DADDY 😈 BUT while he was the shadowiest daddy, this may be just me, but Irian and Fia’s love arc didn’t quite feel right? Maybe it was too fast, or maybe it didn’t feel all that genuine, idk. The lust was 10000% there and the spice was spicing, but love? I’m not so sure.

All of these characters paled in comparison to Corra, the best part of this book hands-down.

☆Final Thoughts:
VERY interested to see what comes next for these characters, as the ending left me with a LOT of questions. I’ve read an obscene amount of romantasy, so I’m always looking to be wowed by a unique story in this genre. Bravo to Lyra Selene on her debut novel!!

Thank you to Orbit Books, Netgalley, and the author for sharing this advanced copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.



* ゜・。。・゜゜・。。・゜*
Pre-review:
Rushed to get this arc after my boo Divinity gave it 5 stars. Shadow daddy??? Say no more 🤭🖤

[Sarah (berriesandbooks) *semi hiatus* · Rating 1 out of 5]

I deserve a medal for finishing this.

Another author promising high-stakes fantasy and a strong female protagonist, only to deliver too many tropes, Shadow Daddy #334948, a horrendous love square, and enough awful prose that I'm going scratch my eyes out.

This book is the perfect example of how social media has ruined the quality of books. Since romantasy has gained traction as a genre, good fantasy novels with a romance plot-line are hard to find. This book is nothing more than smut and faerie porn disguised as a "quest." Our bad-a female MC would give seventeen-year-old emos a run for their money with all her brooding. As for the tropes? Our "tough as nails" protagonist gets A FINGER BOOBOO and is immediately whisked off to the brooding love interest's castle to get it bandaged. Good thing she isn't diabetic.

I'm not going into detail about how awful the writing is. Take a shot every time our MC describes herself as random things found in nature, and I'd be dead before getting halfway through this book. I like purple prose, but A Feather So Black mocked good writing.

Run away from this one. Worst 500 pages of my life.

Thank you, NetGalley and Orbit Books, for the advance copy. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

[RiRi💌 (back in March) · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝗗𝗻𝗳 𝗮𝘁 𝟱𝟵%

Reading is supposed to be fun and comforting for me, but if I keep forcing myself to read a book that I really have no interest in continuing, I will lose complete interest in reading. I've also noticed that I always have a reading slump after I read a book that was really boring or uninteresting to me. So I'm not going to do this to myself this time, and dnf this at 59%. I promise you, I really tried. Alone, the fact that it took me six days to read 250 pages proves that I really tried. I usually read 1-4 books in 6 days, so 250 is really something else for me!!😭✋🏼

The sad thing is, I don't even know why it was so difficult for me to continue this book. Was it the writing style? The characters?? The world building??? I HAVE NO IDEA!! I guess I just didn't feel like reading it... The whole time, I was waiting for the little wow, ohh, or yayyyy, but sadly, it never came…


I must admit I feel a little guilty for DNFing this, but I am also so proud of myself.🫣


𝚂𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚎: 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝙼𝚈 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚈𝙾𝚄𝚁 𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝.🫂


!!𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘆 & 𝗢𝗿𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 & 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝘆𝗿𝗮 𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄!!

જ⁀➴
ꜱᴏᴏᴏ ᴇxᴄɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴏɴᴇ!! ʏᴀʏ!!

[Maeghan 🦋 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5✨
« If love demands alteration to exist, is it even love at all? »

🧚🏼‍♀️ Slow burn
🧚🏼‍♀️ Forbidden romance
🧚🏼‍♀️ Second chance romance
🧚🏼‍♀️ Angst
🧚🏼‍♀️ Curses
🧚🏼‍♀️ Unique story
🧚🏼‍♀️ Shadow man

I have never read anything like this. I read it in one sitting and simply couldn’t put it down.

Fia is a changeling that was left behind after the princess’s abduction. The Queen has raised her as a weapon and manipulated her into believing she wasn’t lovable because of her changeling origins.

What surprised me the most about this was the fact that there’s 2 equally important romances with Fia. The romance with Rogan was chiefs kiss 🙂‍↕️. I don’t like love triangles but this one didn’t feel like it.

I was SO invested in this storyline. I grew fond of the characters. I was a tiny bit confused by the ending but I’m hoping it’ll get some clarification in the next book.

« I was made of earth and sky and endless waters. I was made to be loved fully, or not at all »

[Lyra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sometimes hear other authors talk about the “book of their heart.” I think maybe this is mine. Although it took me countless drafts and hundreds of thousands of words to figure out how to tell it, it is so quintessentially *me,* incorporating all the things I love both as a reader and a writer. Expect:

☘️ Celtic mythology
🧚‍♀️ Fairytale reimagining
🍃 Botanical magic
🖤 Morally gray love interest
🐉 Monsters
👩‍👧‍👧 Complicated family dynamics
👀 Love triangle
🔥 Spice

Content Warnings: Explicit violence; explicit sexual content; parental abuse, verbal; parental abuse, physical (off-page); self-harm; attempted sexual violence; slurs (fantasy); death of animals (off-page); alcohol abuse

Please note: there is a GLOSSARY for all the Irish Gaelic terms but it appears at the back of the book. This placement was decided by my publisher 💚

[Ashleigh (a frolic through fiction) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rated 4.5/5 stars!

[Lia Carstairs · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5⭐)

"If loving you is a cliff, then I have already fallen over it."

this was so unexpectedly amazing??? the amount of fun I had reading this and the characters were such a delight (mostly just fia and irian but anyways-) and I'm SO excited for book 2!! I have so many questions and just need more irian and fia sweet and tender moments, those two absolutely have my heart😩❤

I honestly wouldve finished this so much faster had it not been for uni because I was at 20% for 2 weeks but then once I had a moment of short freedom I jumped from 20% to devouring the whole book within 24 hours.. it was that addicting and just the hold these two have on me??? absolutely obsessed

the world is simply stunning, I love the magic system and really cant wait to explore more of Tir na nÓg!! my only small complaint is that the glossary really should've been at the beginning of the book rather than the end, but thankfully for the most part some of the terms were explained throughout the book so!

FIA AND IRIAN LOML I ADORE THOSE TWO. fia has my heart, she deserves so much happiness. so many have exploited her need to be loved (absolutely despise her "mother" and cathair) and seeing her self hatred broke my soul, but the character development was absolutely beautiful. and irian seeing all parts of her and loving it all... he's so sweet ugh. their flirting and bantering were so precious AND THE LINES??? ABSOLUTELY SWOONED I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS GUY okay but one burning question I have is SO WHO IS THAT MYSTERIOUS STRANGER THAT HAD HELPED FIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE BOOK IN TIR NA NÓG??? the one who called her "thorn girl" and said he would collect a kiss from her as his boon?? he just never appeared again and idk if theres more to it or it was just some random guy never to be heard from again hmmmmm

anyways I actually did not expect to enjoy this so much and it hurts that I'll have to wait over a year book 2💔 thankfully there really isn't that much of a cliffhanger and you could technically treat this as a standalone if you wanted to (although there are still many issues that need to be resolved)

also even though it may seem that there is a love triangle, it thankfully is not in your typical annoying love triangle and was actually resolved extremely well??? like it's the first time in a long time I didnt hate a love triangle and didnt feel like banging my head against a wall--you can clearly tell who is the better match and the MC isnt annoying about choosing between who. everything that happened was reasonable and I felt for her. I love fia so much <3

I will say it was a bit silly that they had to wait every month for the full moon to appear to enter Tir na big because?? those moments where they were waiting in the house just felt pretty pointless and filler?? idk😭 I really hated whenever she went back to the human realm and just wanted her to go back to Tir na nÓg but also maybe my obsessions with irian had something to do with that

and can I just talk about how much I loved how unexpected that ending was?? like nearing the end I genuinely did NOT know how everything would be resolved, and I actually adore how it was wrapped up??? It wasn't in a cliche way and the way I actually feared for someone's doom HAHA the author had me there for a second. And I still have SO many burning questions so you better believe that I'm reading book 2 for those answers as well (and I need more lovey dovey moments too xoxo)

AND THANK GOD THERE WAS A SNEAK PEEK TO BOOK 2 BECAUSE THAT EXTRA CHAPTER WAS EVERYTHING I NEEDED (and I'm even more hyped for more of these two ughhhh)

otherwise I highly recommend a feather so black and cannot wait for more irian and fia❤


Thank you so much Netgalley and Orbit Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Feather So Black is a new fae romantasy series from Lyra Selene.

A bloody war resulted in the Fair Folk stealing twelve young girls, including the queen’s daughter, cursed to be swans by day. In her place, they left a changeling named Fia, who shares an uncanny resemblance to the queen’s daughter.

Now, Fia is the queen’s spy, and she embarks on a quest to break the curse that imprisons the princess. Rogan, the princess’s betrothed and Fia’s childhood friend, will accompany her.

This fantasy romance is slowly paced and follows Fia’s POV. It’s a bit spicy, but there’s a nice balance between creating character dynamics first without rushing things.

I wasn’t expecting any humour in this novel, so it was a welcome surprise. Corra added some fun levity into the mix.

I’m giving this first book a 3.5-star rating. It would have been higher if not for the slow pacing. Not a lot happens until the last 150 pages or so. Still, I will likely pick up the next instalment.

Thank you to Orbit for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I might not mind oblivion, if you were the one to deliver it."

I think the right word to describe this book would be enchanting, which is exactly what a retelling should be. I was sucked into the story instantly, and DEVOURED most of it in one day. If I wasn't sick & with a fever I would've finished the whole thing in one go, trust me. It really is that addicting.

Even the "filler-y" chapters where Fia and Rogan weren't doing much until the next full moon were interesting to me. One of the main reasons why is Corra, who was my favourite character. They were so adorable and funny, I'm hoping we'll get to see more of them in the sequel.

As a fan of love triangles I was fed well, both love interests were likable, though clues were given as to why one of them wasn't right for her throughout the book and I wholeheartedly agree.

I even had a bit of an internal struggle where I wanted Fia to be with him for a bit, even though I preferred the other love interest, but at the same time was like "no no don't do that don't hurt the other one!!!".

Strangely enough, there was no typical jealousy. As in, the two love interests didn't interact, and they did occasionally make comments about one another, but when they were with Fia it was just about them in the moment (or, in the case of Rogan, about Eala who makes this into a love square).

Overall it was handled well, which surprised me.

Now, as much as I loved Irian, I wish we got a bit more time with him, getting to know him and seeing him and Fia fall for each other. Yes, he had the best lines in the book after Corra and I highlighted a bunch of them, but I wasn't completely sold on the love front.

This ties into something slightly illogical in the plot, basically they can only cross over during a full moon, but I didn't get why they didn't just stay for a few months. Rogan okay human, but Fia could've stayed during her "seduction" mission quite comfortably. That would've made the relationship more believable.

Because basically they saw each other a dozen times, not even full days, just nights...and they are in devastatingly crushing love with each other by the end of it. But, for minimum half of those times, Fia was still in love with Rogan and didn't fully open her heart up to Irian and it just didn't seem fair, you know.

I can maybe believe that he is in love with her, but not the other way around (yet).

As for the rest of the story/plot, I wouldn't call this unpredictable (except for the ending), you can tell where it's going to go most of the time, but it's still a very fun and enjoyable read. It also had something that made it feel fresh. Like, yes, definitely a romantasy, but not completely typical?

Which brings me to the comps, I can't really say if it's like The Cruel Prince since I haven't read it, but I can maybe see a little bit of For the Wolf in it, though if you ask me this is much better than that book. If anything this is most similar to These Hollow Vows, but even then it has its own uniqueness that no other comps come to mind.

You can tell the author did her research for the worldbuilding and did it well. There's a glossary at the back (maybe it'll be moved to the front for the published copy?), but I felt like the terms used were explained properly in the text so I didn't need to reference it.

WHICH REMINDS ME! Okay, so you know how in every book the love interest has a nickname for the main character? Mhm, here it's...colleen.

There's nothing wrong with colleen, and it's actually kind of cute that he came up with that based on what she said at their first meeting, but I am so sorry, every time Irian said it, I would picture Colleen Hoover in my brain and the moment wouldn't be as romantic as it was supposed to be.

Anyway, the ending was great, I couldn't have hoped for a better one. It wrapped the most important things up, and if you wanted to stop reading at this book you totally could. I'm absolutely reading the sequel though, and really excited for it.

*Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

[Zsu · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 55%

okay, I tried. Like really tried.

Remind me the next time I'm tempted to pick up an arc with the word 'fae' in it ... to just not. It seems that modern romantasy books just use anything related to the fae world as an excuse to produce chapters on chapters of smut. I had the same disappointing experience with ACOTAR, ToG, Throne of the Fallen ... and now this.

The most disappointing thing about this book? It had potential.

The writing was pretty and engaging. The author had an original and solid groundwork to build the story from, taking elements of celtic mythology / swan lake. So where did it all go wrong?

exhibit a: she just drops unknown words into the world building, and rarely bothers to explain them. "aquatic murúcha, solitary brùnaidhaen, malicious pùcaí." what are these creatures? what do they look like? I love weaving mythology into a book, especially mythology I don't know much about. It's very jarring when I have to google every other word in a paragraph. The amount of shoehorning here was disrespectful. This is how not to use mythology.

exhibit b: there's no plot. Fia and Rogan, her old love interest go into Fae realm. They find long lost sister. Then they take aaaaaaaaages to do anything. Fia gardens and lusts after Rogan for at least 100 pages. She occasionally lusts after Shadow Daddy when they go to the fae realm once every month. There is zero intrigue and tension.

exhibit c: Rogan is introduced in chapter 2 and from then on the focus of the novel is Fia's pining. He's a bit of a spineless love interest and I felt pity for him more than anything. Not a spoiler as I have no idea what happens after 55% but I can see a mile off that she will end up with the Fae Boy , whatever his name is. There's smut, it's not even built up to well.

In the end I just lost interest and I was going to skim to the end to find out about Fia's backstory but couldn't even muster the interest to do that. The only thing keeping this from a 1 star was that I do think the author's writing is lovely and she has a real talent with storytelling. I just wish the story she chose to tell was better.

I received the ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Lee ⚜ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comparing your book to The Cruel Prince right out the gate is a bold move.

A Feather So Black is just what I needed. An easy, fast paced story with a beautiful, well written world. Though, despite its pretty words and intriguing, Celtic inspired mythology, it’s far from a perfect book.

⚜ Fae Romance is Fae Romance.

Rogan is a human prince. The childhood best friend. He’s blonde. On the other hand there is Irian. He’s fae. He’s the ‘morally grey’ one. He has dark hair. Now, from that alone, which one do you think the romance book girly gets with?

Yeah okay, so, the love triangle feels a little… Hollow. A love triangle just isn’t that fun when you know, without a doubt, who the main character is going to end up with. The end-game relationship felt lacking and rushed because so much time was spent building up the relationship between the FMC and the other MMC.

While we’re talking about fae romance tropes- This book, of course, has smut. In which ‘velvety’ is used a little too many times for my liking but that’s just me. There’s really nothing special about these scenes. At this point, if you’ve read one hetero romantasy sex scene, you’ve read them all. There’s not much else to it.

⚜ The Love Interests

I found Rogan to be fairly likeable. I think the banter between him and the FMC was cute and their closeness seemed genuine. At first. As the book continued, Rogan seemed to be a little hot and cold which was frustrating. I suppose it made sense in context but I swear, every other scene was him sulking until they kissed and made up. It just made him feel so immature. Perhaps this was a purposeful character flaw but I feel like it was never really addressed in the story which was disappointing.

Rogan was also just kinda… Pushy. There was more than one scene that made my raise an eyebrow. There was never anything non-consensual but the consent certainly wasn’t enthusiastic. The internal narration would assure that Fia was okay with it but of course Rogan didn’t have that context. This plus his tendency to disappear to sulk really made me distrust him in a way I’m not entirely sure we were meant to.

Irian was fine. Another dark haired "morally grey" MMC. If you were hoping for enemies to lovers, you’ll be disappointed. I’m not sure what it is about ‘enemies to lovers’ writers and instalove but it’s like they're allergic to tension.

As soon as the tension started, he was basically confessing his love to her. The Cruel Prince would never.

⚜ The Writing, The Characters, and The Positives

I really enjoyed the FMC. I think her personal character arc was a lot more interesting than her romance plot. She isn’t a particularly unique character but the author’s style and the interesting magic system really helped make Fia feel more dynamic.

Her friendship with Corra was by far my favorite relationship in this book and felt the most natural in terms of pacing. The author’s style works so well when writing about Fia’s slightly terrifying magic and Corra’s whimsical, mischievous nature. I think the author did an amazing job at setting the tone in this book, too. Her writing paints a vivid and very pretty picture of the world without getting carried away and blatantly lore-dumping every few pages.

I don’t believe romance is this authors strong suit. I found most of the characters outside of Irian and Rogan to be far more interesting. I really wish we got to meet more of the swans because I would’ve loved to see how the author portrayed them. I would’ve loved more interactions with the mythological creatures too. Honestly, I just wish we got less of the MMCs. Or I wish the romance was good. Either/or.

⚜ Final Words

The main antagonist was predictable, the romance was underwhelming, the main storyline could've been more engaging. But the writing style and the world building made it hard to put down.

[Rhonda &#x1f312;&#x1f315;&#x1f318; &#x1f408;‍⬛ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 🌟 *rounded up because we need half points!!
4/5 ❤️‍🩹
3/5 🥰
4/5 🌶️
2/5 🔎
4/5 😰A
4/5 🎭T

⚠️⛔️TRIGGERS:⛔️⚠️

Emotional Abuse
Sexual Content
Adult Situations
Blood
Gore
Violence
Animal Death
Murder
Death
Abandonment
Gaslighting
Self Harm
Suicide
Injury
Injury Detail

🗯️💬BOOK BLURB:💬🗯️

Set in a world of perilous magic and moonlit forests, this seductive romantic fantasy tells the story of a defiant changeling, her cursed sister, and the dangerous fae lord she must defeat to save her family.

In a kingdom where magic has been lost, Fia is a rare changeling, left behind by the wicked Fair Folk when they stole the High Queen's daughter and retreated behind the locked gates of Tír na nÓg.

Most despise Fia's fae blood. But the queen raises her as a daughter and trains her to be a spy. Meanwhile, the real princess Eala is bound to Tír na nÓg, cursed to become a swan by day and only returning to her true form at night.

When a hidden gate to the realm is discovered, Fia is tasked by the queen to retrieve the princess and break her curse. But she doesn’t go alone: with her is prince Rogan, Fia's dearest childhood friend—and Eala’s betrothed.

As they journey through the forests of the Folk, where magic winds through the roots of the trees and beauty can be a deadly illusion, Fia’s mission is complicated by her feelings for the prince…and her unexpected attraction to the dark-hearted fae lord holding Eala captive. Irian might be more monster than man, but he seems to understand Fia in a way no one ever has.

Soon, Fia begins to question the truth of her mission. But time is running out to break her sister's curse. And unraveling the secrets of the past might destroy everything she has come to love.

🌎📖OVERALL REVIEWS📖🌎
Courtesy of Storygraph

COMMUNITY REVIEWS
SUMMARY OF 119 REVIEWS

Moods
adventurous 79%
dark 67%
mysterious 58%
emotional 56%
tense 28%
reflective 18%
challenging 15%
hopeful 15%
sad 15%
inspiring 9%
funny 3%
Pace
medium 70%
slow 29%
Plot- or character-driven?
A mix: 64% | Character: 17% | Plot: 15% | N/A: 1%
Strong character development?
Yes: 78% | It's complicated: 9% | No: 9% | N/A: 1%
Loveable characters?
Yes: 61% | It's complicated: 24% | No: 14%
Diverse cast of characters?
No: 58% | Yes: 19% | It's complicated: 15% | N/A: 6%
Flaws of characters a main focus?
Yes: 64% | It's complicated: 20% | No: 13% | N/A: 2%
Average rating
3.92

🤔🧐🤯MY THOUGHTS:🤯🧐🤔

I enjoyed reading this so much! Princess Eala and her predicament and Fia’s adventure in being a fae blooded spy for the Queen. Her best friend Prince Rogan but man oh man Prince Irian…whooo. I am looking forward to the next book 🥵🥵!! I think I may be liking dark mysterious romances!

This will be a book that gets read again!

Thank you to Goodreads for making this book available in a giveaway and for choosing me! Many thank yous to our author, Lyra Selene and of course the publisher, Orbit!

RATING KEY:

🌟 Stars - based on the overall plot and theme or idea of the book
❤️‍🩹 Emotions - based on how emotional I got while reading
🥰 Romance - based on how well I got invested in the love story aspect
🌶️ Spice - based on how the sex scenes were portrayed and written as well as the number of sex scenes
🔎 Mystery - based on how well it kept me guessing who, how and why
😰 Scared/Anxious - based on how scared or anxious the book made me while reading
🎭 Comedy/Tragedy based on if I laughed or if there was a tragic event and how it affected me. I will mark the Masks with either a C or T to indicate Comedy or Tragedy

[BookishByTammi]

DNF
I was so bored and it was putting me in a slump

[Mylynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

In an endless sea of romantasy (a romantasea?), this book felt so fresh to me and I loved every minute of it. I listened to this book in one day because I did not want to put it down and I was desperate to know what happened next. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I was never bored. This book had the perfect balance of romance and fantasy and is top tier romantasy to me.

I really enjoyed the writing, I found it romantic and descriptive, but not overly so. The worldbuilding was really good, and not info-dumpy. I loved learning about the different types of Fae and other creatures in this world, and if I have one critique about the book it would be that I wish we had gotten more lore. This book pulled at so many of my emotions, and there was great balance of angst/tension with lighthearted moments.

Our main character, Fia, has to be one of my new favorite main characters. I loved how strong and clever she was, and it was easy to root for someone learning how to love themselves. Her unusual upbringing as a changeling in the human world made for a great POV and I really enjoyed having her as our narrator.

Rogan, the prince who is betrothed to her "sister", was so funny and I really loved him and Fia's banter. I could definitely feel the familiarity that comes with knowing someone for years between him and Fia, it felt so natural.

Irian!!! I loved him also, he was so tragic but also witty and a few of his lines had me like "is he cheesy or is he hot" (definitely hot (right?)). I loved the trading of stories, and learning lore that way but again I WOULD LOVE MORE LORE. ALSO THE BANTER. Fia had great banter with everyone though, even Cora (Kora? I had the audiobook so I haven't a clue of spellings besides the ones in the synopsis).

The spice was spicing. I'm not someone who needs spice, but I thought it was well written but did have very familiar phrasings that come with all romantasy.

The narrator was amazing, and I really think that listening to this book really added to my enjoyment. The timing and tones that Heather O'Sullivan had were perfect. 10/10 no notes.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!

Thanks to Hachette Audio and Orbit for this ALC!!!

[Alya ( 20 comments restriction ) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughts
Another retelling treasure!! I've never been so mad at myself for not starting a read earlier.. This was just sososo good - yes yes I know fantasy books have really been a win for me this year, the genre is definitely growing on me! This read was said to be similar to The Cruel Prince which I have not read so I can't really confirm anything from that part but if you're a lover of Swan Lake like myself then there's one reason you might like this book - personally I DEVOURED it! The writing style was just captivating I was so immersed in the story, the world building.. all of it; and yes it was on the predictable side but it didn't take away from the enjoyment, on the topic of enjoyment, I do like a love triangle plot every once in a while and safe to say Lyre delivered! I enjoyed every second of this book, again it's a bit on the long side but worth it in my opinion. I do want to carry on with this series but I like to space out my fantasy reads...

What to expect
▪︎ Swan Princess retelling
▪︎ Celtic mythology
▪︎ Monsters
▪︎ Love triangle
▪︎ Complicated family dynamic
▪︎ Botanical magic

Plot Summary
Fia, a changeling raised as the High Queen’s daughter after the Fair Folk stole the real princess, is one of the few in a magic-starved kingdom with fae blood. The true heir, Eala, is trapped in Tír na nÓg under a curse that turns her into a swan by day. When a hidden gateway to the fae realm appears, Fia is sent to rescue Eala and break the spell, joined by Prince Rogan—her childhood friend and Eala’s betrothed. But once inside the treacherous fae woods, Fia’s resolve falters as she’s drawn not only to Rogan, but to Irian, the dark fae lord holding Eala captive and who seems to understand Fia like no one else.
As time slips away, Fia must uncover the truth about the past and choose where her heart—and loyalty—truly lies.

My Bookstagram

[Jena · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars
A solid fantasy romance, although I wanted a little bit more from it. The setting and worldbuilding are great - very classically whimsical. I liked the swan lake retelling aspect of this book. I liked how the fae are depicted, and I really loved the main character (I want more changeling main characters. They're cool). However, this book drags at times. I didn't love the pacing, and on that note, I wish we got a bit more time dedicated to romantic development with the main love interest. Speaking of love, I didn't like the love triangle. It felt unnecessary. That being said, I did enjoy this book and the sequel sounds like it has a ton of elements I love, so I'm excited to pick it up.

[astarion's bhaal babe (wingspan matters)]

main character's name is fia <3<3<3<3<3 if you're reading this, little bitch, i miss you!!

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly am having a hard time putting thoughts into words at the moment. It took me a bit to get into, but after about 30% (I know, I know. This is a long time, but I was still interested enough to push through) I was invested and then had a hard time putting it down. This was dark. This is what Fae and Folk creatures really are. There is a messyyyy love triangle, square(?) going on too. So beware!! But as with most love triangles, it’s obvious who the really love interest will be. Also, this was actually pretty spicy. Wasn’t expecting it at all. I liked the character growth. Will read the next installment. I’ll probably come back when words are my friend again.

[Jessica]

Swans are vicious assholes and I feel like it goes without saying that you should be wary of anyone who can turn into one.


*I am not rating any books eligible for the World Fantasy Award*

[Tilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars

I was so excited for this book as it sounded like my kind of story. Unfortunately for me, it failed in nearly every aspect and I was left bored and disconnected.

A Feather so Black is about a Fae/human changeling named Fia who was switched with a princess at a young age. She was brought up by the Queen to believe she is unlovable and only good as a weapon against others. Fia has powers that means she can control aspects of the natural world, mainly plants. Fia's best friend and past lover Rogan is the betrothed of her "sister", the princess taken to Fae lands. When the Queen finds access to these lands, she tells Fia and Rogan to go save her daughter who is cursed to be swan by day and human at night. The story then continues as they joirney into this new world and face their feelings for each other.

To start off, I wanted to DNF at about 10% but had seen reviews saying it got better so I stuck with it. A book that would usually take me 2 days to read took 8 days, which shows how much I disliked the story and felt disconnected from it. The first half was so slow and boring that I struggled on every page and really wish I had DNFed early on. The story becomes so repetitive to the point I had to start skim reading as it felt like I was reading the same story and internal monologues over and over again. The world building wasn't awful but too many Gaelic words were used without explanation which added more frustration. The plot was just so basic and vague!
The characters are also so dull, 2D and lacking in any real personality. They are meant to be in their early twenties but have the emotional maturity of fifteen year olds. This is meant to be an adult fantasy but the characters act more like YA characters, other than the odd explicit sex scene. There was nothing really in the story that made this book "Adult" as it was all pretty basic and without the (badly written) sex, it definitely would have been YA.

I need to feel connected to the lead character to be fully immersed in stories. Sadly, I really struggled with Fia as she was either constantly pining over Rogan or obsessing over the fact the Queen only thinks she is good as a weapon and that she is unlovable. I would expect this of at 16 year old but not a 20 year old. She had no real personality of her own. There was little humour or real depth and it made connecting with her impossible as she was just so irritating. Rogan was also so dull, I won't bother explaining about him.
The only character I did like was a Fae named Irian who actually had substance and a personality.

I am a HUGE romance lover but this story has a love...square?! It was all a bit too much and got old very quickly. It was the main focus of the story when the issue of saving the princess should have been. Although the romance did get better by the end, I still found it hard to care due to my lack of connection to Fia.

The writing was an odd mix of some beautiful lyrical scenes and other basic dialogue and boring prose. The pacing was also so badly done with nothing happening for 80% of the book and then tons thrown in at the end (a lot of which didn't make sense).

Overall, I wish I hadn't wasted so much time on this book and think even 2 Stars is being kind. The repetition, boring characters and lack of a cohesive story gave an exhausting read that I simply cannot recommend. Also, it is NOTHING like The Cruel Prince.

Please note that I was given this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

[destiny ♡ howling libraries · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ pg 300, 2.5 stars

A Feather So Black was one of my most anticipated releases of 2024, and I'm so sad to say that it was quite the disappointment. This book had so many ingredients I love: dark fantasy vibes, political intrigue, fae folklore, romance, a brooding Shadow Daddy... and yet, none of those things were capable of overcoming the fact that this book is far too long, packed with filler material and repetitive internal monologue, and the chemistry between any of these characters is non-existent.

I made it through 300 pages of this book and it was an absolute chore to get that far. Once I accepted the fact that nothing happening in the final 200 pages was going to make up for how bored I was, I decided to throw in the towel. This story would have worked much better as a shorter novel (maybe 300-350 pages), and minus the singular slightly explicit scene I read by the point I left off, it should have been marketed as a YA fantasy novel. The characters read very young and aside from that one brief scene, the "spice" I keep seeing mentioned in this book's marketing and reviews was mostly absent.

I would definitely try a future release from this author, but I don't have any interest in picking this book back up or continuing the series at this time.

Buddy read with Misty!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.

Standard DNF rating/review disclaimer: I only mark DNFed titles as "read" and/or give them star ratings if I read enough of the book to feel justified in doing so.

✨ Content warnings for: kidnapping, threats of murder, brief moments of violence and bloodshed, betrayal, infidelity, frequent usage of the word "wh*re"

———
bookstagram | booktok | blog | storygraph

[Clarice · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

At first this reminded me a lot of Meredith Ann Pierce’s and Juliet Marillier’s books and writing. However, it lacked the depth of those books and the rich prose. I think this book attempted magical surrealism, but really didn’t execute it well as things were just told to the reader rather than described.

I think what really annoyed me about this book was that Fia and Rogan could have been doing research or something other than playing irl Stardew Valley during the time they were waiting to go back to Tir na Nogh. I mean at one point we were told that Fia was doing some research, but again the anticipation and mystery would have been built better if we were shown it. And I feel like that’s a lot of what this book was, telling and not showing. Same thing with the magical creatures, they were just named for the most part, but not described 😅.

I did like Fia a lot and I think there was a lot of potential here to tell a great story, but I feel like the author gave us the highlights rather than a complete narrative with the emotional depth it needed.

The relationship between Fia and her mother and the evil wizard was more interesting than the actual plot.

The romance was very one note and happened too quickly for my liking.

I think the author has potential, but the execution was lacking here.

Also what’s up with the audiobook narrator changing for the second book even though it’s the same character pov???

[Erika George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just got approved for the ARC!!!
AHHHHHHH I am so excited!

Reasons I picked this book:
✨Swan Princess retelling
✨Celtic Mythology
✨THAT COVER by @vonbrooklyn 😍

Reasons you should pick up this book:
✨Lush atmospheric writing
✨It’s like a Grimm Fairytale retelling(adult tho)
✨Fae/folk curses, tales and rhymes

Prepare for me to never shut up about this book! It’s so so beautiful, I have highlighted so many heart wrenching passages, I cannot wait to get my hands on the physical book, which will come out March 12, 2024!

We have so many familiar fairytales combined but in a way that will keep you flipping the pages. We have:
✨Botanical magic
✨Cursed swan girls
✨A changeling forged into an assassin
✨12 Dancing Princesses
✨A love interest to devastate you
✨A golden prince
✨Ill fated love
✨The story of the black swan
✨Breathtaking descriptions

✨A curse to break, a princess to save, a tale to tell, and a kingdom to save.

Would I reread? So fast
Would I recommend? Yes! This fantasy romance balances high fantasy and sweeping romance in an absolutely stunning way! If you were ever fond of fairytales or retellings you will want to check this out!!

[Mel (Epic Reading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Drags on and on, until it doesn’t.
There is a moment, around 300 pages, in A Feather So Black, where the story finally gets interesting. Unfortunately you have to read the 300 pages prior to get to it.
I understand that there is an attempt here to make the trust and relationships grow over time (less insta-love than usual). I did like the consent representation and respect both men give our leading gal but is it enough?

The problem is I had so many questions throughout the first 300 pages, and I didn’t feel like we are really privy to our MC’s true feelings or thoughts. When we do finally get her inner issues I was frustrated we hadn’t been feeling our MCs thoughts sooner given the book is first person.

Other things that plagued me included:
- Why doesn’t she confront Mother?
- Why does she keep referring to her doppelgänger (well she is the doppelgänger technically) as her Sister?
- Why doesn’t she fret more over what to do?
- and most importantly, where is the urgency?!
There is a huge lack of urgency throughout given the deadlines in place. It actually had me convinced very early on that it was a faux deadline because there was so little tension. Which brings me to my biggest issue, tension! There should be tons of it, and yet it fell totally flat for me.

My second biggest issue, full moons are not monthly! I’m sorry but come on, you don’t get to rewrite planetary movement because it’s easier to refer to the full moons as being monthly. This irked me during all 12 visits to the Fae realm, AND every time someone referred to how many months were left before the big deadline. It was so glaringly obvious. Especially when we got down to 2 months to go… the difference between 60 days and 42 is enough that it really felt like a void of time being extended artificially. These are the kinds of details that really good books get right. They are important pieces that set up a reality that is believable inside fantasy elements.

All that said, it’s not a lost cause because I plan to read book two. This is a debut novel so I’m willing to give some lenience I might not to someone like Kemmerer or Maas who are later in their careers. But compared to Yarros debut this one is significantly lesser (but not every book can have awesome dragons I suppose, lol). Check out A Feather So Black if you love slow burns, a Fae world, Celtic words (there are a lot of them but a small, incomplete, glossary at the back), and, of course, gotta be okay with the leading lady torn between two men.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

[❀ maria ❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

this book is one of the few books I’ve read this year that managed to enthral me completely. every time I opened my Kindle, I felt transported into the story. I was at the edge of the forest with Fia, I was breaking and mending alongside her. I was giggling and crying, loving and despairing.

the story is complex, beautiful and magical. so incredibly unique, which is quite rare in fantasy book nowadays. and the writing! good, whimsical prose is such an important aspect for me, and this book delivered. the words are woven together so perfectly, the characters feel so real, and the love (in all its forms) shines so bright.

I cannot recommend this book enough, and I will be waiting patiently for the sequel so I can dive right back in this majestic, divine world.