3-3.5*

Fia is a changeling, left in the palace at 8 years old when the Fair Folk took princess Eala to Tír na nÓg. She is fostered and raised by the High Queen, aided by the druid Cathair. Growing up, she was best friends with Eala's bethroted, prince Rogan, and fell in love with him - they haven't seen or spoken to each other since he left as a teenager. When a new gate to Tír na nÓg is discovered more than 10 years later, Fia and Rogan are send there to find and bring back Eala from her captor Irian.

I don't think there's anything particularly wrong with this book, and 5-10 years ago I likely would have been completely obsessed with it. As it stands, though, it never really clicked for me. The writing is beautiful, and I really enjoyed the Celtic-inspired mythology. I really liked the dedication and I quite liked Fia, especially in the early stages of the story. The issue is just that far too many YA fae romantasy books have been written and published in recent years, and in terms of the main storyline, this one didn't really stand apart for me. I enjoyed myself while reading it, but I just felt no need to pick it back up whenever I put it down - it didn't feel like anything I hadn't read before.

This is definitely due to the fact I've read a ridiculous amount of books like it before though, so if you are fairly new to this type of book and/or the Celtic mythology sounds particularly interesting to you, you'll probably have a pretty good time with this one! It's a solid debut, and if the author writes anything that sounds up my alley in future, I'll happily pick it up.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the eARC.

Fia is a changeling in a mortal world... she was left in place of the High Queens Daughter Eala who was taken by the Fair Folk. The High Queen decided to bring Fia up as her own daughter... and also a weapon.
Fia is asked by the High Queen to find Eala and break the curse that holds Eala in a hidden world. Fia doesn't do this journey alone, but with the help of Prince Rogan Eala's betrothed (and Fia's childhood best friend/love interest).

I did find this story to be very drawn out and long, which did make me lose focus a few times. The storyline has great promise, and the characters and their journeys were well developed.

At the beginning of the book mostly I did also find it hard to keep up with the celtic/gaelic terms I believe they were? There is a glossary at the end - which reading an E-Book version I didn't find this out until the end.

I am sure if you love an in depth romantasy, you will most likely enjoy this.

Who doesn't love a fantasy mission with some enemies to lovers mixed in?

Fia was a character you could get invested with. Her relationships were realistic and you understand why she thought like she did. I enjoyed the romance, it didn't feel rushed 😍.

I was a bit confused by the ending, so I gave it 4*, but I'm looking forward to book 2 for more answers.

This book was amazing! The world building was intricate and captivating, the characters flawed but endearing, and the ending was intense and action packed, leaving me desperate to read the next book!

Let’s start of with positives, the world building was fantastic, I enjoyed the timeline progression and the writing was really good.

I got behind our FMC Fia and I enjoyed the idea of her partnership with MMC Irian, but, I wanted more time with them being together, experiencing some depth with each other to truly feel their connection.

A retelling of the Swan Princess and I loved the concept and plot twists, just not the delivery of said concept and plot twists.

The first half of the book was very slow paced, add onto that all the Celtic mythology inspired names it made it a difficult read as it anticipated that people already knew Celtic god/desses and whilst I know some, I did not know them all, the back and forth with similar names also made it difficult to follow in the first half. The book would have benefitted from a broader glossary of names and pronunciations, I used every single one that was provided but not everything was in there, including the 'holy days' which luckily I already knew.

I would have also preferred for less time to have been spent in the human realm as it did not feel necessary at all and barely added to the story, or character development.

As I said, it was a good concept but poorly executed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free ARC in exchange for a review.

This book is very, very slow, and very, very long. Narratively, I think it would have been way more compelling for them to be in Tir na nOg the entire time. Absolutely nothing of note happens in the human world, and it only serves to massively drag down the pacing. You could almost skip all the human world parts and not really lose anything by doing so.

The characters are.... there? Fia is a protagonist who presents herself as very smart and cunning, shaped to be a weapon, with sound judgement, and yet, is incredibly dense, brainwashed, and easy to decieve? If your protagonist is going to be lied to and make the wrong choices, you have to at least attempt to convince me there's an iota of possibility they're right. Especially in a first person narrative. Fia is so obviously being hoodwinked that it's just annoying and exhausting as a reader because it's clearly going to end in tears. At one point, she has an entire inner monologue about how shady and two-faced Eala is and that Fia can't trust her because of all the wacky things going on, and then Fia immediately believes everything Eala says and is like "she'd never lie to me!" Which is it???

Rogan is there. He's a prince. We don't know what he's doing for 80% of the book. But he's hot. And blonde. Irian has shadows. He is also hot. We don't know what he's doing for 90% of the book. I would believe their relationship more if they knew literally anything about each other.

I don't understand Fia's magic. Or the swan maidens. Or Irian's magic. Or what's going on in Tir na nOg. This book tried to do a million things and take the major fae romance tropes with it, but almost none of it was successful.

And then it's a series? After five hundred pages of absolutely nothing? i'm gonna leave this one on the shelf, and I recommend you do as well.

Two stars.

“I was born with the forest at my fingertips”

Lyra calls “A Feather so Black” the book of her heart, well, I think this may be the book of my heart as well, and greatly surpassing all my previous reads this year as my favorite book of 2024.

I have never been so heartbroken that a story was over, and the sequel is not able to be in my hands at this immediate moment.
This story was everything.
I have found myself tiring of stories of the fae, but I am so glad that I gave A Feather so Black by @lyraselene a chance, because this is possibly to be one of the best series I have ever read.
Lyra does an amazing job of making this story feel both familiar, and yet so unique.

This was a beautiful, mystical dark fairytale reimagining of Black Swan. I became thoroughly lost in this world and I did not want to come to the surface of reality from this story.

I am completely blown away by the phenomenal story telling, the complex characters, the intertwining of Celtic mythology, the unique botanical magic.

You follow the story of Fia, a bad ass changling who was left in the place of a stolen princess. Raised as a daughter of the queen, she is sent on a dangerous mission to rescue the true princess from the fae realm. In the fae realm, Fia meets my new favorite morally gray shadow man who helps her unravel her mysterious past and the source of her perplexing powers.

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene (Book 1 in The Fair Folk Trilogy) is a romantic fantasy set in a crumbling kingdom on the brink of war. The wicked Fair Folk have stolen the queen's beloved daughter. They keep her hidden behind locked gates to the Otherworld and have cursed her and twelve other human daughters to transform into beautiful swans.

I have to admit I found the pace of the first half of the book a bit of a struggle. While I was excited by the premise, I felt like the constant back and forth to Tír na nÓg made the flow of the book a little stilted. However, I stuck with it and I'm so glad I did.

This book has layers upon layers of deception and betrayal that left me deliciously frustrated and wanting more. I stayed up to 3 am eating up the last few chapters. Each character is captivatingly flawed and damaged. I didn't know who to believe as everyone seemed to possess their own twisted motives and are also highly skilled at manipulation. 

This was a gorgeous twisted fairytale with sizzling sexual chemistry. I would have loved if it included multiple perspectives and I hope Corra makes a reappearance in the sequel - which I will 100% be purchasing in the future!

I really liked Fia and Irian together (Although they didn't actually spend much time together). Fia grew a lot and Irian was great. I also enjoyed the magic and the different realms. I would have liked to spend less time in the human realm or for the time in Tír na nÓg to be less rushed.

The writing was good, I liked that the stories used were short and to the point. I did think the ending was a bit rushed, I would have liked to understand more about Fia, but hopefully this will be in the next book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I’m giving this first book a solid 3.5 stars. The story don’t really pick up until the last 150 pages or so i guess. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by how spicy it got, totally unexpected! The character growth was definitely a highlight, and despite the slow start, I’m intrigued enough to pick up the next installment.
p.s- i'm legit tired of all the ''shadow daddy'' characters i've read

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


#AFeatherSoBlack #NetGalley

p.s- i've already reviewed this book before

A Feather So Black is a gripping epic romantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The vibes of this felt like a mix of Uprooted/Deathless and The Cruel Prince. Without spoiling things, I'll say the use of the linear storytelling following a timeline was interesting and refreshing.

The romantic storylines were well developed and the love triangle, or rather an exploration of experiencing more than one love in life. I'm invested in Fia and Irian, who was such a compelling love interest. The fae folk lore was fantastic worldbuilding and gave a new perspective to what this gruesome world of the Folk can look like.

I was rooting for Fia and Irian and can't wait to see how their dynamic will play out. I just want more of them. Their banter was thrilling. The whole story played out in such a satisfying way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for the arc in exchange for an honest review.