This was a deeply immersive, dark-ish fantasy story. I really loved the world and the characters, the story was fast paced and had plenty of action and romance so I was hooked the whole time. I really loved the main character and I can't wait for book 2!

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me. There's Fae, there are mortals, a cunniving queen, a self-centered prince, a realm at war with itself. It had potential.

the Good:
- The writing style is fluid and the editing of the book precluded most annoying repetitions.

the Bad:
- If we look past the fact that I'm kind of over the Fae, the book was boring. Almost 500 pages (Fairyloot edition) of boring.
- The mortal realms chapters kep me from getting engaged with the Fae realm stories.
- The constant reminder that the main character is a "weapon" got old, past page 200.
-Rogan is very annoying.
- Bruising kisses everywhere... such a strange concept.

I love faerie stories, and I was so excited to read about a changeling raised in the human world. I enjoyed following Fia, she's feeling torn between the human and fae parts of herself. She's been raised to hate the fae and the magic she possesses, but as she ventures into their realm and discovers the truth abouth them, she questions all she's ever learnt. Her growth was one of my favourite aspects of the story!

The setting of Tír na nÓg was also a highlight. Learning the history and the magic along with Fia as she encountered different people was fun and this combined with the swan princess story surrounding Eala made the book for me!

The romance on the other hand let it down slightly. I'm not a huge fan of love triangles and in this case, I didn't feel myself rooting for a specific interest. I did enjoy scenes with both of them but ultimately, I didn't feel strongly about who she should be with, although it does become quite obvious who it will be. Hopefully I'll become more invested in the romance with the future books!

This book tried to do a lot of things but the execution was only okay. I think too many Celtic myths were happening at once, and being very familiar with them I found the combination at times clumsy. I did have fun reading this book but it’s not one I will return to or read the sequel

I was provided with an advanced reader copy of this book in ebook format in hopes that I would read the book and post an honest review.

For fans of Holly blacks Cruel Prince or Stolen Heir this book will take your breath away.

The Queen and her Mortal armies waged war until The Gentry, the Fae retreated into Tír na nÓg and sealed the gates behind them . The Queen and her people were thrilled with their victory, but then they discovered that when the fae left they took magic as well as The Princess, The Queens only child away with them. And in her place they left a changeling child.

The changeling was given the name Fia and treated as favoured pet. Taught the arts of battle and the ways of the assassin and spy the child grew into a deadly young woman.

Now Fia finds herself on a mission to enter Tír na nÓg free her sister and return magic. Oh and to accompany her the boy she cared for as a child but who is promised to her sister the missing Princess.

Fia never imagined the dangers she would find in the enchanted realm of the Gentry. She also never imagined that she would find herself. Now torn between the mortal world and her duty and the world that she herself partly comes from which will she choose?

This is an epic tale of enchantment and wonder and will keep you up long past your bedtime wondering what happens next. I throughly loved this read every moment of it.

I really enjoyed this, the writing was really fun and easy. A really enjoyable romantasy with great characters and fun dialogue. Some of these scenes really made me feel giggly

Unfortunately a DNF. Even from the first 20%, the book feels too tropey to me, almost as if catered purely to market to a tiktok audience. Although I enjoyed the writing style, the descriptions seemed to drag on and due to the length of the book, I felt I couldn’t continue. Didn’t develop enough attachment to the story or characters to push through.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for gifting me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

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

This book was a dream. Lyra Selene’s A Feather so Black made me realize how much I have missed traditional faerie and was the first time I have felt re-immersed in its magic since The Cruel Prince. The Celtic folklore was enchanting and gave it a unique twist in comparison to a typical fae romantasy.

I usually hate love triangles, but this is the first time I didn’t. It may have been because I didn’t feel as connected to Fia and Irian as I wanted to be, but the beautifully descriptive writing distracted me. Have I mentioned how much I liked the writing?

Besides the writing, the other main highlight was a character named Corra who describes themselves as ‘We are broken hearts and old sorrows. We are crumbling rocks and empty glasses and forgotten hallways and the tolling of the bell in the highest tower.” **goosebumps** Ominous/creepy side characters will always have my heart.

Recommending this book to fans of The Cruel Prince would typically make me roll my eyes, but it is so deserved. The sequel is going to be one of my highly anticipated books to read in 2025.

Favorite quotes

❀ “You and I … we were never more than an impossible story. A story we told ourselves so many times, we both started to believe it”

❀ “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”

❀ “The human part of me didn’t understand how something so beautiful could be so wicked. The other part of me- the part of me crafted from the darkest parts of the forest- understood perfectly”

VIBES: IMMACULATE. This book makes me want to run away into the forest, and let myself become one with the trees and moss. Yearning, magic, masked fetes under a canopy of trees, a dark and mysterious curse… I’m obsessed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A thrilling romantasy that hooked me from the first page!!

In A Feather So Black, Fia is a changeling that was left in place of the human princess by the Fair Folk. Princess Eala is cursed to stay in the fae realm and spend her days as a white swan, while Fia is raised as the queen’s daughter. Eventually Fia is tasked to return to the fae realm, retrieve the princess, and steal a powerful weapon that will give the human queen the ability to rule over both lands. To do so, she must confront Irian, the mysterious and alluring fae lord holding Eala captive.

This story had a lot of really unique components. I thought Fia and Irian were both very interesting, well-developed characters. I loved how they got to know and trust each other through exchanging stories in the style of fairytales. I also thought the love triangle between Fia, Irian, and Rogan was well done. Rogan’s arranged marriage to Eala added a fun twist.

Overall, a fun read, and I cannot wait for the next book in the series!

I feel like this book had a lot of potential, but unfortunately it wasn't my favorite.

I've really loved the messaging relating to trauma and toxic parental relationships and that was an extremely important point of the book for me. I appreciate how the theme was portrayed.

The plot itself was interesting, but it had a lot of plot holes and it was very drawn out and repetitive. The romance was also pretty repetitive and I got bored of it to be honest.

I feel like if the book was shorter, I'd enjoy it more. It could have been more polished and edited down in my opinion, as I've overall sometimes felt as if it was a chore to read it.

That being said, again, I appreciate the themes and the atmosphere. I'll check out the author's next release because of that, even if this book wasn't perfect for me.

Wonderful to see Irish mythology placed at the centre of such a truly beautiful yet action packed story.

The plot felt a bit underdeveloped with very strange pacing. The initial story turns into a romance and we had all the world building, with an obvious pick for the LT.

I would have enjoyed more substance to the story and for the initial quest to be a larger role within the storyline.

I liked the Irish language and folklore but I would have liked it better if the words had been called out as Irish instead of a fantasy language. The main character was very interesting and I liked her a lot. I found it a little difficult to keep focus with the timeline of things that were happening. Overall nice imagination and good main character, but the timeline of events took me out of the story a bit.

The vibes? Immaculate. The plot? Pretty good. The romance? Why do a love triangle if you're going to make it obvious who the main character is going to end up with? Leave some suspens to the reader and make both options possible and likable choices. That's why I took out a full star because that annoyed me but otherwise, it was really great, especially if you like Holly Black's faes.

When I read the synopsis of this book I was really excited as I adore Irish Mythology, and there aren’t many romantasy books centred around it , however while this book had great potential, unfortunately for me it missed the mark.

The 3 stars are mainly for the writing style - I loved the poetic style Lyra Selene used throughout for her descriptions , and describing the surrounding areas was a strength for this book.

However for me , I found it hard to connect with any of the characters, I don’t feel they were as fleshed out as they could have been given this was a slightly longer book.

The plot while interesting seemed underdeveloped as the book went in, the quest Fia was initially sent in seems to take a back seat for most of the book with the concentration being on the love interests. I was sad that the 12 “swans” weren’t a bigger part of the story (we hardly meet any of them on page) given the inspiration behind the book.

This pacing was also quite off for me, with much of the book ending up irrelevant to the overall plot, which in turn meant the initial high stakes mission gets forgotten by the time we are at 50% until the last 10% of the book.

Not sure I will continue in this series but as I say, the writing was really pretty so willing to give the author another try.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

A Feather So Black is a fairytale themed tale of a changeling and a prince sent to rescue a stolen Princess from the fairy realm.

The author's almost poetic writing style really brought the fairytale element to life. The world felt ethereal, magical and otherworldly. From house spirits to girls that are swans by day, princes to magical guardians, along with other fairy folk, there are a whole host of truly fairytale-esque characters.

Unfortunately the world building was the best part of the book for me. The actual story itself felt difficult to read because the pacing was all over the place. The gate to the fairy realm only opened for one night a month and this book takes place over at least 8 months. This meant that a lot of filler material between each opportunity to rescue the princess. The story felt like it dragged on until the ending which was incredibly abrupt!

The main character I did like, but the prince was incredibly frustrating and juvenile. The interactions between most of the characters felt a little flat and lacking in chemistry throughout the book and the love square was predictable and boring.

Overall, it had potential to be a truly exquisite fairytale but unfortunately, it just didn't hit the mark for me.

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with this book. From the first chapter, I was interested in the relationship between Fia and Eala. I wanted to see how they would react to meeting each other, mainly as Fia is characterised in opposition to the ideal image of Eala. This scene was brief for some reason, and the swan maidens don’t appear on the pages that much. The plot soon turns into a romance, a love triangle where Fia moves from a romantic scene with one love interest directly to a meeting with the other. I am not opposed to romance subplots in fantasy, but I hate when they take over the narrative. Also, I found it hard to care for any of the characters. This book just wasn’t for me.

Sucked me in and I didn't want be up to 1am reading but I was. Ready for book two for sure! For the most part, I didn't see that ending coming. I saw a couple aspects of it but was, overall, completely satisfied! I will definitely be watching for the next one!