I immediately requested this arc because many fantasy stories consist of a human girl living among the Fae, but this book was about a Fae girl living solely among humans. It was a really unique retelling of the Swan Princess mixed with Celtic mythology, not a storyline that’s even close to being overdone. The author used some of the most beautiful descriptive imagery and I could picture the scenery so vividly. I absolutely loved Fia and Irian (morally grey, heyyy), hated Rogan and Eala and almost every other character with a burning passion. But those creeps are necessary to the story so, whatever I guess. I do wish we got to spend more time in Tír na nÓg, as I would have liked to learn more about the land and all of its magic. Other than that, I really enjoyed the story and that ending set us up for perfectly for book 2.

A beautifully written reimagined fairytale with a touch of Celtic mythology, and a really promising sequel setup. Overall a really great story that I enjoyed.

Things I liked:
💚 Swan Lake vibes
💚 Really interesting magic
💚 Gripping story
💚 Lyrical prose
💚 Interesting morally grey characters

Things I did not like:
🖤 Love triangle (more like love square?)
🖤 Story dragged a bit in the middle and felt a little repetitive
🖤 Ending left a lot of questions unanswered

If you like fairytales with a dark streak, this book is for you.

Reading A Feather So Black didn’t feel like reading at all. Instead, I stepped back in time into an ageless fairytale that I didn’t want to end. There is something about this book that feels so timeless without being outdated. The story could’ve been written a thousand years ago and yet it still rings true today. I can't wait to escape back into Selene's prose the moment book two is released. Read it if you like…

🍃 Faeries and fairy tales
🦢 Timeless enchanted forests
🍃 Anti-heros made of nightmares and dreams
🦢 Metaphors (so so many metaphors)
🍃 Characters learning to love themselves
🦢 Swan Lake meets Irish folklore
🍃 Kisses that taste like blood
🦢 Tastefully done love triangles
🍃 Cursed princesses and wicked sorcerers
🦢 Girls trapped between worlds
🍃 Folk revels under a drunken moon
🦢 Princes torn between duty and love
🍃 A powerful FMC with flaws and a heart
🦢 Doomed love that you can’t help but root for
🍃 Enemies-to-lovers who can’t stay away from each other
🦢 Like calls to like
🍃 The time between legend and history where nothing is quite what it seems
🦢 Wicked queens and cunning princess who hide behind beauty
🍃 “I’d burn the world down for you.”
🦢 Prophecies and pretty poisons
🍃 Feeling like you’ve stepped into a world of forgotten gods who still remember you

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene is a lyrical and magical dark reimagining of the classic Swan Lake fairytale.

This book was deeply steeped in Celtic faerie lore. The fae are tricky, conniving, and mischievous like in all of the classic tales. There also is a bit of love square going on with tropes of forbidden romance, duty, enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, morally grey shadow daddies and much more.

As an adult book, this also delivers on some light spice. Personally I rated it about a 2/5 for spice level. Spice in no way takes over the book but there are a few scenes here and there that sprinkle in some nice romantic release of tension, one might say. It was definitely a romantic fantasy, not a fantasy romance.

This book also delivered MANY wonderfully lyrical quotes. I’m not much for poetic wording but I did find myself mesmerized by some of the magical lines Lyra wrote. One of my absolute favorites was; “Love is rarely anything but a prelude to tragedy.” I felt that one deep in my heart.

I did struggle a bit on whether to give the book 3 or 4 stars in the end as it was a 3.5 in my heart. I didn’t find myself desperately wanting to pick the book up while I was reading. It was more of a “yeah I should probably read some more of that today” feeling. I do think that the book got repetitive at times which was a bit frustrating, and since I do not know much about Celtic mythology and folklore, I also found that that was a bit much for my brain to handle at times as there are many words that I have never seen before and couldn't even imagine how to pronounce them. There is, however, a very helpful glossary in the back that I did not see until I had finished the book that probably would have been really quite helpful.

I also found that I did not root for either of the love interests. Towards the end I had sway towards one character over the other but did not truly feel very strongly about them. I did like the almost Vampire-Diaries-Salvatore-esque options of a Stefan vs Damon, but there wasn’t enough of a connection for me to truly care between the two (unlike how strongly I felt about the Stefan vs Damon debate 😂). I think my brain was also fixed on The Vampire Diaries because of the dynamic between our main character and her “sister”, which gave me almost Katherine and Elena vibes, but that’s all I’ll say about that. You’ll just have to experience it for yourself 😉

Overall, it was a pretty enjoyable read. This is on me, but I did not realize going into the book that it was a series (I was so certain it was a standalone) so imagine my surprise when I got to the final page and that was the end of the story. While the main story itself was wrapped up, you are definitely left with a TON of questions and open endings. I’m not sure if I will continue on when the next one is released, but I am glad that I had the opportunity to read this one. It really was a beautifully crafted fairytale.

(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


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 felt 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)

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!!

3 Stars
I don't really have many complaints about this book. However, the ones I do have really bother me.

1. The author seems to be trying a little to
hard in the beginning to add a lot of majestic sounding words, but it doesn't really try to explain most of them. It kept dragging me out of the story. There is a glossary but it's at the end which is fine but it should be in the front in my opinion, especially for e-books (I know that's not the authors choice usually but it still matters.)


2. She over described a lot. How many times do we have to be told the color of someone's eyes or how they smell. And why does everything have to somehow he compared to metal? I'm sorry, but not everything is dark as metal or smells like metal. It got to be so irritating that I found myself just skimming in a lot of parts. This did get better as the story progressed, though.


3. Dear God, does everyone loves self pity! I understand their lives are hard, but especially Rogan needs to just quit whining! And in a similar complaint, Fia is just so naive it's really hard to care at times.

4. It took too long to really get the heart of things. I almost dnfd this multiple times simply because I was bored. The last 30% of the book is what really saved it for me. It seemed more like the author came into the story then and FINALLY got to the point. I feel like 100 pages could be removed, and the story would still make sense. And the ending I have to say did not disappoint.

Other than that, I did enjoy this book, I will be reading book 2 for sure.

I really enjoyed the retelling aspect and I thought the story itself was really interesting. The world-building was captivating and the characters were complex. My only complaint is that the ending seemed rushed. I understod what was coming, but the actual climax and resolution seemed so fast in comparison to the set up. This also bleeds over into the relationships that we see develop, as some have more history and some seem to happen quite fast in comparison. Overall, I thought it was enjoyabe.

this was interesting fantasy. It was a bit difficult to keep up with all the world building but it was enjoyable. three stars

Thanks to author Lyra Selene and Orbit Publishing for making this free digital ARC available via NetGalley. The following review is my honest and uncoerced opinion.

I wanted to read A Feather So Black because I enjoy books with a combination of romance and fantasy. I wasn't aware, but came to like that it was a riff on Swan Lake. It was easy to consume and I found myself flying through the story, wanting to know how it would all turn out. I enjoyed the characters (even the ones I didn't like) especially Corra, Irian and Chandi. And I liked the earthy nature of the world and its magic. I mostly enjoyed this story, despite a few flaws...

1) I was never quite clear why Fia and her companion had to spend nearly a year on their quest. Maybe it was explained and I skimmed over the explanation.
2) Fia (the main character) and other characters repeatedly talk about what she is made of (e.g. rocks, thorns). Those repetitions quickly became tiresome.
3) Too many non-English terms were used without context to figure them out. I know the book had a glossary and I don't endorse info-dumping, but there has to be a happy medium between those 2 options
4) Fia was strangely gullible for someone "raised as a weapon". Every time someone would reveal some "truth" to her that contradicted what she thought she knew, she believed them until the next revelation and contradiction.
5) There were just a few terms that felt anachronistic in the story's setting (e.g. 'crashing' a party or getting 'high'). They sounded too modern but, as I said, there were only a few.

Overall, I am happy I read this ARC and I would like to read the sequel. In fact, the ARC included an excerpt from the next book and I actually think it should have been included as part of the first book.

Thank you NetGalley, Orbit, and Hachette Audio for an eARC and advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review!

A Feather So Black is a new adult romantasy filled with fae folklore and magical forests. This is a Swan Lake retelling with a dash of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and while it didn’t work out perfectly for me, I do think it was beautifully written.

I really loved the use of mythology and fae folklore here, and honestly the vibes of the atmosphere were delightful (you know… in the kind of creepy way that the fae are…). The overall plot was straightforward and logical: Fia is a changeling in a magicless kingdom who is tasked to enter the realm of the Fair Folk and do a little jailbreak on her sister/the Queen’s biological daughter, Eala, who is cursed to be a swan during the day… and also there are fae secrets! I liked the writing and the realm of the Fair Folk was appropriately unsettling.

Mostly, I struggled a bit because I didn’t really care for any of the romance going on. Which is admittedly a me problem: I think most people will find it compelling and enjoyable, and while conceptually I was interested (it’s a love V, but sometimes the tension between friends to lovers and enemies to lovers is delicious, what can I say?) on page I was just sort of like… well. That’s happening. There’s other stuff going on here besides Fia’s romantic and sexual entanglements, but I did find that that was pretty center stage, and I ultimately didn’t care too much for it. There are some sex scenes on the page that are fairly descriptive but not what I’d call smutty. Sometimes I found Fia frustrating to be in the head of, and the first person narration certainly didn’t help. I’m a bit over the whole shadow daddy thing and Rogan’s entire deal is… fine, but also sort of whatever to me. There’s a fair bit of potential here and while I don’t think the execution was the best, I still had fun in the world and liked all of the plant descriptions.

The audiobook for this was well produced, and I liked Heather O’Sullivan’s narration a lot. I thought it felt immersive and for me it definitely helped smooth over some parts that I wasn’t that enthusiastic about. There’s a glossary at the end of the book that got included, and while it might’ve been more useful to have it at the beginning (it definitely would’ve made some parts clearer) I’m still glad it was included.

Personally, I wasn’t super invested in this one, but it was easy to read and there was still stuff that was fun for me to experience. This was a slight mismatch between reader and book because I just don’t think I love the romantasy subgenre that much, but I do think it will otherwise have mass appeal.

Thank you so much to Orbit and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Holy - wowzers. I can't decide what to rate this book! It was addictive is what it was. I really enjoyed the take on the fair folk. It definitely is a darker take, a more wild take. I would say more along the lines of The Cruel Prince and Emily Wilde fae than SJM fae.

I absolutely loved the writing in this book, it was SO good. The world that Selene spun was amazing, and it felt like it was placed in a historical place (but it was fantasy) so that gave a jumping off point without needing too much background. This was clearly steeped in the folklore of the British Isles, and I think it was done in a new and interesting way that I haven't seen before.

The complicated familial and romantic relationships were some of the best parts of this book, there was much to dissect and figure out as you read. I don't want to give too much away, but Fia, our main character, has a lovely blooming story arc that I feel like was a partial coming of age and partial not. It's very hard to explain.

The atmosphere, the world building everything delighted me. There are some aspects I want to share about this book that definitely brought on interest.

-Swan Princess vibes (but darker)
-Celtic mythology
-curses
-fae
-shadow daddy

I cannot wait for the next book in this series! (I was shocked when I learned it was NOT a standalone.)

Unfortunately I was unable to get into this book at all. I DNF'd very early on because there were so many Gaelic words that I could not pronounce and had to look up. When this was happening multiple times per page, it pulled me out of the story. I tried multiple times to start and get past this, but I either fell asleep or grew tired of researching all of these terms and had to stop reading. I really thought that this would be right up my alley, so I'm pretty disappointed. I have seen other reviews stating that this continues to be a problem through the rest of the book as well where we are introduced to fae creatures with Gaelic names and not given any context or description to know who they are or what they look like. If that is the case, I would surely have DNF'd later as well even if I managed to push through the beginning. Celtic/ Irish lore is not well known enough to rely on a reader's prior knowledge to build your world and your characters, or even to be able to read some of these words. I don't think I could recommend this to anyone. Maybe the audio version would be more manageable, but I did not have the chance to try that and am unlikely to spend the money to do so.

A Feather so Black by Lyra Selene
4.2⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Romantic Fantasy
Format: ebook ARC (thanks Orbit and NetGalley)

Loved:
*Swan Lake fairy tale retelling
*Wonderful character development
*World
*Magic

Loved Less:
*Slow-paced at times
*Too many words that I did not know (found glossary in back of book once I was finished with book)

Description:
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.
As they journey through the forests of the Folk, 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.

My opinion:
Awesome storyline with well developed characters who continue to grow throughout the novel. Fia is such a well-written female main character who you can't help but to root for (pun intended). I absolutely adored the swan lake retelling, which I've never read before. Selene is great with painting pictures of the world/wilderness, but this can sometimes be a little too much for me as I read for the "action" more so than the scenery. The glossary would have been much for helpful in the front of the book with so many unknown words. Definitely worth the read, especially if you like romantasy and/or fairy tale retellings. I can't wait for book two of the series.

#bookstagram #arcreader #booklovers #booktok #fantasybooks #magicbook #teamirian

Definitely has crossover appeal and would recommend to my older students. Many twists and turns in this retelling. The world building was phenomenal and the character development emotional. I felt for the MC the entire time.

A Feather So Black is a romantic fantasy with strong elements of celtic lore. It has a fantastical world setting, strong lore telling, and a romantic subplot that keeps you engaged.

This book is a typical first book in a series. For me it was slow until about the 75% mark, but given that this book was introducing us to the characters, themes, story, etc…I can see why this slow pace was taken even though as a reader it was not my favorite.

The world building was lush and fantastical, and I really appreciated the work that Selene did when incorporating celtic mythology into this story. I can tell research was done and accuracy was important for setting and storyline.

I really enjoyed Fia as the main female character, and her character development was spot on for me. Even though the book plot wise was slow for me, Fia as the main character was not. I enjoyed being in her head and watching her learn about herself, who she is meant to be, and what it truly means to be loved and love yourself. Rogan was very one dimensional for me however I did feel bad about his circumstances. Irian had me intrigued from the beginning and I am glad we got to learn more about him. Besides the main three (Fia, Rogan, and Irian) the side characters, their roles varying to some degree, were all well thought out and I liked how Selene used them to push the main story along.

The romance was good though not the most enjoyable to me. There is a love triangle-esh romance subplot, and as I am not huge fans of those it made this part of the story drag on for me. However, by the time Fia had chosen who she wanted to be with/give her love too I was hooked and am interested to see where it goes in the second book.

Overall, a solid first book in a series and I am excited to read the second book to see the outcomes of the ending of the story.

I really really enjoyed this story! It was incredibly atmospheric and the writing was lyrical. It felt like a fairytale, written in rhymes and riddles. However, this made it difficult at times to follow along with what was happening. I liked all of the main characters and was invested in all of their stories. I was surprised how much time was spent in the mortal world, as opposed the faerie realm. I truly wish it had been the other way around, or at a minimum, the chapters covering the nights Fia was in the faerie realm were more fleshed out. It made one of the romances feel more rushed than the other unfortunately. Despite some of the shortcomings, I will absolutely be reading the next book in the series!

There were a few things that held me back from enjoying this book.



The pacing was so slow and the plot wasn’t engaging.

Heavy, I mean VERY heavy, on tried and true tropes. It feels like as many were shoved on each page as possible.

The relationship just didn’t make sense to me. It didn’t feel natural at all. I couldn’t tell you why the characters liked each other at all.

I strongly dislike the female main character and don’t care what happens to her at all.

I'm calling it quits at 48%. Barely anything has happened, we still know way too little about what's going on, and the pace has been so slow just to force the same scenes of Fia and Rogan pining and angsting for each other OVER and OVER and OVER. Wasn't even bothered to skip ahead to see if anything happens or who Fia ends up with because I just couldn't care less.

I absolutely loved this book! Unlike so many old fairytale retellings I’ve come across. The writing was enchanting, characters were all flawed and well developed through out, and the plot twist at the end I did not see coming. For someone like me who is very into mythology and very specifically Celtic as well as the Gaelic language, this book called to my little fairy heart. I will definitely be continuing this series!

A Feather So Black is a beautifully written book about learning to love yourself for who you are. I loved the character of Fia and her relationships white those around her. Her arc throughout the story was beautiful and so fulfilling.