A FEATHER SO BLACK is a fae-focused romantasy with a dash of Swan Lake, and tells the story of Fia, a changeling left in the human world and raised as a foster daughter to the high queen. Fia, trained for years by the high queen and her consort to be an obedient weapon, has now been given the task of retrieving from the Fae lands the human daughter whose place she took, as well as restoring magic to the human lands. Accompanying her is the human prince engaged to the human princess - and with whom Fia had once been in love. Once they make their way to the Fae lands, Fia encounters her human sister's captor, a deadly Fae lord, for whom she begins to have feelings for, and begins to wonder if everything she's been told has been a lie.

I would recommend this for fans of the romantasy genre, hot fae men, and love triangles. However for me personally, I could not engage with the story or the characters. The story was predictable without any original twists to keep it entertaining, and I could not see why anyone was in love with anyone in this love triangle.

In terms of diversity representation - none that I could tell.
Animal content warnings: a baby fawn is killed offscreen by a fae creature; the body is found by the main character.

A girl fighting for self love in a harsh world bound to turn her into a weapon. The lyrical storytelling mixed with the elemental magic created such a cozy and heartwarming story full of love, sacrifice, and the journey of finding oneself in a harsh world of darkness.

I absolutely adored this read, even though some of the themes were repetitive and the use of harsh language was extreme at times, the underlying themes of self love and determination were great.

3 ★ A Feather So Black is a book of missed potential. As someone who enjoys books inspired by fairy tales and mythology, I wanted to love it. The book starts off strong, but unfortunately, it falls into the pattern of your typical adult romantic fantasy.  

I was initially enjoying this book a lot. The Celtic-inspired world was captivating and felt fresh out of a fairytale. I was loving the mythological creatures, especially Corra. The set-up of the quest seemed so intriguing and I was looking forward to Fia’s journey. I was also enjoying the allure and setting of of Tír na nÓg. Everything was going great, but this book becomes a predictable and dull story that is undistinguishable from every other ACOTAR ripoff.

At first, Fia is a compelling character to follow. She is strong, with a genuine struggle of not belonging due to her magic and being a changeling. I was invested in her journey and empathized with her challenges. Not long after, however, she goes from being an interesting protagonist to the cookie-cutter female character of every other adult romantic fantasy. Despite being constantly referred to as a weapon by everyone around her, she never actually demonstrates any noteworthy skills or abilities. She is clueless and naive, and easily manipulated.

This book is pitched as a romantasy, and I knew it would be going into it, but if romantasy means the same lust-filled ACOTAR dupe every time, I want nothing to do with the genre. Honestly, despite this book being a romantasy, it would have worked much better as a fantasy without romance, or with very minimal romance. Usually I can root for one or the other, but both love interests were terrible.

First, we have Rogan, Fia’s childhood best friend, former lover, and future king. I didn’t like him from the start, and my feelings for him didn’t change at all throughout the book. The constant descriptions of him being so big and strong with his "man scent" became a bit too much for my taste. If I wanted that, I would have picked up an Ali Hazelwood novel. Predictably, he turns out to be like every other boring first love interest, and I guess it's no surprise given his blonde hair.

Then, we have Irian, who, with his raven hair, moonlight eyes, and mysterious shadow magic, is your average Rhysand wannabe. And of course, he is Fia's enemy and so lonely and misunderstood, because apparently every romantasy needs a brooding, dark-haired bad boy.

How cliche the two love interests wouldn’t have irked me too much, because I wasn't going into this book for a life-changing masterpiece. It's more of the fact of how terrible the chemistry is. Am I actually supposed to root for any of them? Rogan spends most of his time whining and giving mixed signals while only focusing on Fia's body. On the other hand, Irian isn’t that bad, but he and Fia hardly have any interactions and suddenly they have feelings for each other.

Despite my issue with the book being like every other romantasy, the writing is lot better than I expected. I don’t typically like first-person point of views in fantasy, but it worked well here. Compared to the characters, the author was at her best when describing the setting and atmosphere. The plot itself is interesting, but the pacing is too slow. There are too many scenes that add nothing to the book, and there was no reason for it to be nearing 500 pages. Once I got to the 80% mark of the book, I started to skim read, because the book was almost over, and it felt like the quest barely Fia goes on barely progresses at all.

Overall, A Feather So Black misses the mark. The qualities that I did enjoy are overshadowed by the romance and cliche characters. Romantasy is a hot genre right now, and it’s not going away anytime soon. For me, though, I would prefer a romantasy that isn’t driven purely by lust and physical attraction. Give me real love, yearning, slow-burn, and emotional attraction. It seems like the former is the direction all adult romantasies are going towards, so I guess I’ll stick to my young adult romantic fantasy books until that changes. I’m begging for an actual good adult romantasy, and please God, if you’re listening, stop the SJM-ification of every book I want to like.

Fia is a changeling, switched with a princess when she was very young. The princess, along with 11 other girls, was taken to live in the lands of the fae, cursed to be a swan during the day and human only at night. Fia is not quite human, and those around her do not let her forget this. She's raised by the Queen who has her druid sculpt Fia into a weapon. She is tasked with rescuing the princess from the lands of the fae and stealing one of their great treasures. She must do this alongside the prince who is betrothed to the princess, Fia's childhood best friend/first love who had broken her heart 4 years prior.

This is a more traditional faerie story. The meat of it takes place in fae lands one night a month over the course of I think a year or so. The fae in this book are tricky, beautiful, cruel, etc. The writing style has a more ethereal sort of vague/artsy vibe that kept me just a bit too disconnected from the plot/characters. I couldn't really dive deep enough or latch on if that makes sense.

I didn't like how foolish Fia seemed, but she didn't have any memory of her life prior to ending up switched with the human princess, and she was incredibly sheltered and molded into what they wanted her to be. Still, I found myself rolling my eyes/frowning a fair bit at her choices. Everyone seems to speak in riddles, and there is a dearth of straightforward or clear communication.

It's a lovely story for people who enjoy traditional fae themes, if a bit too fluffy and poetic for me to really love it. It's very much a long form fairytale. I'm not quite sure if I want to read the next one. I'm not terribly invested.

Ok this was fun and enjoyable. A Feather So Black is a Swan Lake retelling, but if you do not know the original story you'll still enjoy it (or at least I did). There's a pretty strong plot in comparison to most romantasies, in my opinion, but it was a bit confusing. Big things happened and I knew they were explained but they weren't necessarily explained the most clearly. I left with a lot of questions, questions I wasn't super invested to take the time to find answers for. BUT I had fun along the way so I didn't care? The writing was great, and the romance plot was intriguing, so I had a good time. As a friend described it, this book is brain candy. The growing romance wasn't exactly explored that deeply, but once they connected I was into it.

This book is smutty for those who don't read explicit sex books, and not smutty for those who do. Which worked for me, but might not for others! Before the on-page sex scenes I had assumed this was YA, so I was a bit surprised when they showed up.

I really enjoyed this as a non-romantasy fan, and I think a lot of romantasy fans will eat this up. I will definitely be continuing the series.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.25 stars

This book was Fine. It was Alright. This was one of those books that I think was probably ruined for me just by virtue of having read so many romantasies before. I was constantly left feeling like this was a book I'd already read, and it followed the romantasy formula so exactly that every twist or act of subterfuge was so obvious that I could see it coming from a mile away. It was hard not to feel like every page I turned was just a perfunctory act to fill in the details of an ending I'd already seen spelled out from the beginning.

Really, everything I could say about this book just comes down to it being solidly Okay. The writing was fine, if repetitive at times. The world-building is probably interesting if you're more interested in stories about fae realms than I am. The love interests had decent chemistry even if I never particularly bought into what they saw in each other. I think our main girl Fia was probably the only part of this book I ever felt more than neutrally about. I liked her character arc and the way it actually spent a decent amount of time with her trying to learn and grow for her own sake rather than for anyone else's, and I also thought her magic was interesting and I found the way it was written about equal parts whimsical and compelling. Really, the bonus .25 stars I'm giving this book are entirely for her.

As solidly middle-of-the-road as most of my reading experience was, there were a handful of things that made this book challenging to get through at times:
- The info dumps in the first ~100 or so pages of the book were such a slog to get through. The way we would get entire paragraphs of lore narrated to us kept throwing me out of the story, and I never felt like I was actually able to retain the details it wanted me to.
- Along with the info-dumps, the overuse of (presumably) Celtic/Celtic inspired words within the text made things hard to parse at times because they would either be thrown in without translation and relying on context, or would be expecting us to remember a translation we got several pages or chapters back. I normally love when things like this are dropped in fantasy books, but the frequency of it in the early chapters made certain parts difficult to get through because I felt like I needed flash cards for all the new vocab being dumped on us
- The supposed timeframe this book takes place in is not at all reflected in the actual feel of the story. This book more or less takes place on a series of days spaced a month apart each time, and yet despite the characters presumably having 4 weeks to sort through their feelings and come up with a new plan, it always played out as though everyone's brains had been put on pause that entire time. Whatever feelings everyone was having a month ago would seemingly be just as strong the next time, and despite all the time they supposedly had to scheme and research, it never seemed like they had any new ideas by the time the next full moon rolled around. This book could have played out over the course of a couple weeks rather than a full calendar year and truly nothing would have changed.
- This is more of a nitpick, but it's reconfirmed near the end of the book that the shelter Fia and Rogan are staying in is only a day's ride away from home. Why, then, do the two of them have to stay there full-time and figure things out on their own rather than regrouping back home for the other 3 weeks of the month? It felt like the sort of thing that was only done for the sake of forcing proximity, but made absolutely no sense logistically given their parents' investment in their mission.
- The sheer number of times ~a certain character's~ smell or taste or eyes were compared to metal was exhausting. I'm all for consistency, but it often felt painfully repetitive

I think that if you haven't already burned through all the different iterations of the romantasy archetypes, and you like stories set in fae realms, you'll probably have a good time with this. As it was, I was just entertained enough to not DNF this book, but I also don't have any interest in continuing the series when those books are published.

This was a wonderfully done Swan Lake meets Celtic mythology book. I really enjoyed the characters, world building, and even the odd love square situation happening between the characters. 🖤

Overall, I thought the characters were a great cast for the story. Fia is a changeling tasked with finding a way to retrieve her stolen sister, Eala, who’s cursed to live as a swan by day, and human at night. I found her to be a rather interesting character because of her upbringing and heritage. She’s clearly of the fae, but very much acts like a human. While I was expecting a more cunning version of her, I found that her humanness made her more complex, especially with the mystery of where she came from in the first place. Her upbringing screamed manipulation to me from the get-go, but I understand her deep need to be loved. Her relationship with the equally traumatized Irian felt a bit rushed towards the end, but I did like their banter. He reminded me so much of Cardan Greenbriar from Holly Black’s The Folk of Air series that I had to consciously not mix the two up. 😅

Rogan is the betrothed of Eala, and these two were an interesting bunch for me. While Rogan is the dashing and sweet childhood friend of Fia, I kind of felt that his side of the relationship with her was always the upper hand. While he does love her in his own way, I never really felt like they were equals. The same goes for Eala when Fia finally meets her. Her slyness was so well done that even I was left wondering at the level of manipulation she could get to. Her role towards the end was something I suspected, but man did it leave me shocked nonetheless when it actually happened. 😦

The world itself was wonderfully done, and I really liked the elemental aspect of the fae magic system. The creatures were straight out of Celtic mythology, though I do wish there were more interactions with these beings. 👹

In general, I had a great time reading this, though again I felt like a nasty little fly on the wall during the racy scenes. I’m definitely excited to see where the next book will take the plot! 🍀

A big thank you goes out to NetGalley and Orbit Books for accepting my request to read in exchange for an honest review, and to the author, Lyra Selene, for creating such a lush forest fairytale retelling!

Publication date: March 12! 💚

Overall: 4.25/5 ⭐️

Thank you so much to Orbit Books for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Fia is a changeling, swapped for a Princess and raised by the Queen to become a weapon. The Princess has been stolen, a la Swan Princess, and is stuck at a lake, becoming a woman when night falls. Fia is sent with the Princess's betrothed, Rogan, to figure out how to release her from this curse. Rogan wants to abandon all and stay with Fia, but she is also becoming enamored with Irian.

This is a dark, almost gothic tale, with a more true fae story than more mainstream faerie. Full of mischief, bargains, and trickery. This is a true slow burn romance with a love triangle.

I liked this Irish mythology; the war between the fairies and the humans was complex and interesting. The way Fia exchanges stories with Irian is my favorite part of the book- it added emotional layers and beautiful details to the kingdom politics and inevitable betrayals. I felt transported to the land of Tír na nÓg. But, the sex scenes distracted from the plot and took me out of the story too often for my rating to rise higher than 3 stars. Plus, love triangles are too angsty for their own good. But, I’m still curious enough to consider coming back for the next installment so take that for what it’s worth.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for this eARC! I thoroughly enjoyed this swan lake retelling. Not only is the writing lyrical, whimsical, and spellbinding, but it also paints a very real and lush story that I immediately got lost in. I enjoyed the journey with our strong yet flawed FMC, Fia, in her quest to break the curse on her family. This book also contained a rather tastefully done love triangle and I am biting at the bit for the continuation of this tale. The story gripped the entire time and I was captivated by the plot and the pacing of the story. I highly recommend!

A solid 4/5 star read for me! I A Feather So Black, set to publish on March 12, 2024, is a romantasy book that follows protagonist, Fia, who was 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. Fia is sent on a mission by her adoptive mother to rescue her true daughter with her childhood best friend, Rogan. Along the way, she navigates reckoning with her own upbringing, what the meaning of love is, and a world with lots of deception as she unravels and questions her mission.

I felt that the initial third of the book was a tad slow for me personally along with the worldbuilding, but in the second half of the book thought it picked up and I was much more immersed in the book. I did quite enjoy it, but did feel that it was jumping back and forth and trying to tackle a lot of the themes, therefore ending up a tad too long and with some pacing struggles. I definitely will be picking up the second book when it comes out, however, and am very thankful for the bonus sneak peek chapter that was included!

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for honest review!

I requested this ARC based on the Swan Lake/ Swan Princess reimaging, Celtic Mythology and the beautiful cover art caught my eye.

This story is about Fia who is a Fae changeling who was switched with a princess at a young age. The Queen raises Fia but does so in a cold way- without love. The Queen discovers a way into the land where her true daughter was taken and sends Fia and her bestfriend/ex on a quest to save her.

It took me about 20% into the book to really get invested and even throughout the book the pacing felt off to me. There isn't an " info dump' to build the world. It's more of a throw you in and learn as you go. There is a nice glossary at the end of the book that explains terms used as well as pronunciation with I really appreciated.

As far as romance goes, there is spice and a love triangle. I was not expecting it to be as spicy as it was and it was a pleasant surprise! Yes we have a shadow daddy and he didn't disappoint me.
"If loving you is a cliff, then I already fallen over it"
" When you give yourself to me, I want all of you. I am not willing to share."

I did enjoy this- the writing is lyrical and I easily lost myself in the world the author created. The only thing I had trouble with is the pacing, I would recommend to any one that enjoys fairy tale reimaginings, Celtic mythology and romantasy.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Lyra Selene and Orbit books for this eArc!

I read a few reviews before I sat down to read this (which I don't normally do) and it was a mixed bag. However, I'm happy that I decided to give it a chance. I enjoyed Selene's poetic prose, the lush descriptions propelled me through the story. Her writing immerses you in the world, which might be my favorite part. I also thought the author did a good job showing how multi-faceted the main character is, how she has been crafted vs. who she would choose to be on her own.

I would have loved a bit more effort on the villain part she felt a little two-dimensional and the spicy scene at the end didn't fit with the writing. I think she could have ended the story in one book, but I look forward to the next one and to see how this authors writing evolves.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. A Feather So Black was such an atmospheric, beautiful read that held my attention the entire time I spent emersed in the world Ms. Selene created. There was more spice than I expected to find (you'll hear zero complaints from me!), and the world/adventure was well fleshed-out, and beautifully described. I can't wait to read more of what Ms. Selene has to offer us!! A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

A Feather So Black was a twisted haunting take of unrequited love and second chances. The world building was so vivid I could feel every moment and it was as tragic as it was mesmerizingly beautiful and terrifying. Gia a changing left in place of a princess at 8 with no memory of her own past was hated, reviled and forged as a weapon to punish the far folk who stole her daughter and to gain nearly limitless power in a queens quest to rule both the human and far realms. Desperately wanting love and a sense of purpose Fia was unflinchingly loyal despite a tortured childhood that left little doubt she was simply a means to an end in a political power struggle. She was willing to do anything to finally be valued. Rogan a Prince promised at an impossibly young age to the queens real daughter is tasted to get her back from the far and break a dark curse keeping her captive. Together Fia and Rogan must go to Fae only able to cross into the realm of fae on the first night of the full moon are sent in a quest to rescue the princess and steal the magical sword that would restore magic to humans and herald the fall of the fae in a centuries old struggle.

But as impossible as all this seemed it was nothing in a the face of what they discover and the secrets that bind the princess, magic and the fate of two worlds in the balance.

Can Fia find the truth hidden in the lies of two worlds find a way to save both worlds and finally be loved? Wonderfully done and leaves you wanting more and has you wondering till the very end who is friend or foe and what is truth or lies.

Intricate fantasy with elaborate backstory and setting. The characters are more complex than in some fantasies; however I also found them unsympathetic.

I didn't much like this, probably because I didn't like the characters. Some of the motivations are murky and the plot leaves many ambiguities.

The writing creates tension; I didn't find it created much mood or sense of being carried along by something wonderous.

Thanks to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC.

A bit of a slow start, but then I couldn't put it down. Fia's story is powerful, as she learns she is worthy of love, and gifted, not the unloveable monster she was taught to be. The other characters are not who we think they are, and nothing unfolded the way I expected it to... which was exhilarating.

The writing is flowery -- literally, with lots of descriptions of nature and its wildness. I'm not usually a fan of that kind of writing, but it worked here, setting scenes, escalating tension, and connecting Fia to her magic. And some of it is quite beautiful and evocative.

I was bothered at first by all the words I couldn't pronounce and had no meaning for, but then it grew on me, and it was easier to let the mystery and magic be mysterious and magical. (There is a glossary at the end, which might be more useful at the beginning. Although, when I read through the definitions, I felt like I had figured them out ... and liked some of my pronunciations better.)

I was so happy for that one chapter of the sequel -- makes it easier to wait.

A Feather So Black reminds me a lot of the Wilderwood duology. There’s a unique world of humans and The Folk that is split by gates. Fia the changling is pulled in so many different directions by people wanting her to do their bidding.

It was hard to tell who was being genuine with Fia and who told her what they thought would make her serve their purposes. The ending is perfect for the start of this series. There is still plenty of story left to tell but it’s not left on a massive cliffhanger that makes me want to throw things. I will definitely be continuing the series!

I received a copy of A Feather So Black via NetGalley to read and review.

Thank you NetGalley and Orbit Books for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 stars

I really enjoyed the world building and magic of this book. This story is really a story about Fia embracing herself and who she is. She was constantly molded to her surroundings. So it was fun to watch her personality unfold as she mad decisions.

Irian was mystery and intrigue. I enjoyed his anecdotes and the folk lore. It was nice to see someone encourage Fia after everyone else complained. I will say, I was counting down the chapters that included him. A lot of them left me wanting more.

Rogan was a childhood friend that still loved Fia. He was basically a helper and a thorn in her side. I enjoyed watching their relationship play out but it did seem a little repetitive. In the beginning he had better character development, in the end he fell flat.

My only complaint was the pacing in this book. It seemed like time went really fast yet really slow. It didn’t help they could only go into the folk land once a month. I think the fort could have been explored more along with the sprites.

Overall I really enjoyed this world and what the author created. Fia was different and her changeling background was interesting. The swan princess curse was interesting and I enjoyed trying to piece everything together.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for the chance to read the e-arc of A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene.
I took a few days after reading to sit with the story and can honestly say I am happy that I did. What started out as just an upcoming read on my tbr pile, has become my new obsession. I was so glad at the close of the book that there was more to the story coming (although not soon enough!) The preview of book two definitely left me wanting more.

I am unsure what the finished book page count will be, but it did take me the better part of e-arc 100 pages to find my groove in the story. Possibly because of Fia’s interactions with pretty unlikable characters and an unexciting road trip to the ruined fort. But once Fia, and childhood friend Rogan start crossing into the land of the Folk, things get much more interesting. For one thing, the parallel to fairytales and Celtic mythology add a layer of color and lushness that the human world lacked. There are masked balls, dangerous enemies and powerful connections made one night a month. The story expands to include the elusive Eala, Fia’s human sister and her fellow stolen girls who turn into swans by day. But more importantly, it includes Fia’s interactions with their captor. I do not want to spoil anything about this arc of the story, or Fia’s side mission, because it unfolds deliciously month by month and the reader should be able to discover all the nuances by themselves.

Fia’s character arc is complex and satisfying in a way I find lacking in many fantasy reads. While her origin story is vague throughout most of the book, I found the connection to the folk realm more believable as the book progressed. The themes of “other” evolve from a place of weakness (someone raised as a weapon, incapable of being loved) to one of strength and self-love. This carries her forward to a satisfying “conclusion” that is only the start of her adventures for sure. 5/5 star read