I loved the narrator; her accent and personification of the characters added to the story. As for the story itself... solid three stars for me. It's a myth I enjoyed from my childhood so i had so much hope going into it that it would feel homey. However, the plot was rushed in some aspects and seemed to drag on in others. The romance and ending epiphany felt forced. The setting and imagery helped tremendously, but i kept finding myself thinking "okay... and?". Overall, not a disappointment, but not a go to recommendation for me. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC opportunity.

What a fun fantasy filled with Irish folklore, romance, and fascinating characters that drew me in. A FEATHER SO BLACK is a retelling of the classic, Swan Maiden, which follows a changeling named Fia.


The audiobook was narrated by Heather Sullivan, and I enjoyed overall. With fantasy I have a hard time getting the world building with an audiobook, but had no problem.

*many thanks to Orbit Books, Hachette Audio, and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

(3.75 stars)

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene is a fae fantasy romance and her adult debut.

I really love to read stories that involve the fae, and especially those that specifically mention changelings and Tír na nÓg. This one even has a glossary in the back with a pronunciation guide!

This is a Swan Lake retelling, and I did enjoy that aspect of the story. Our main POV character Fia is in a bit of a love triangle (or perhaps a square) with her first love Prince Rogan and a handsome shadow fae (and also perhaps her cursed sister).

The author's prose is very lush and beautiful. It was a joy to listen to; Heather O'Sullivan does a great job narrating. I really love gardening and plant-related things, and I thought Fia's forest magic was really interesting. There were a lot of ~*~vibes~*~ that I really enjoyed.

My main criticisms are that it ran a little long and the pacing felt a little off. Certain phrases were a little overused, too (especially during the steamy scenes). This is the author's adult debut--she previously published a YA duology.

I definitely plan on continuing with the series, though. I've heard it's planned as a trilogy. I'm hopeful we'll get more worldbuilding regarding the various fae factions in the next one.

I started off really loving this. It’s Irish inspired and some effort has been made to use Gaeilge which I as a Geailgeor appreciate. It was an engaging folkloric take on a fantasy romance with plenty of twists as well and the MC was engaging and likeable. I’ll confess, I started to flag at the 65% mark when it became clear that no romance would be resolved. It felt like too much of an about turn when Roghan started wincing at Fia’s magic. (Also take a moment to appreciate that Fia and the girl she replaced are called deer and swan respectively – if you translate their names.) Anyway, overall I liked it but when it tilted over into being more about romance than fantasy, it did lose some of my interest.

Thank you to Lyra Selene (author), Heather O’Sullivan (narrator), Hachette, Hachette Audio | Orbit, and Netgalley for this free advanced reader (/listener) copy of "A Feather So Black" for an honest review.

While I started this book in a great place, I felt like by the middle it began to drag, and that the love triangle setup was too obvious (/overplayed?), as it was clear where the book was going but it just took far too long to get there, The world building and cultural presentation throughout the piece was gorgeous, and I felt it was handled with a deft hand, balancing easily when to reveal and when to keep things concealed to only hints and brief descriptions/allucidations.

Thank you NetGalley for a free advanced copy of this audiobook.

"I do all my best work as a shrub" - Rogan, Ch.7

Whew, 17 hours of Irish fantasy romance. This story starts out somewhat slow-medium paced, and we're introduced to Fia, the changeling daughter of a manipulative queen. Fia was "made to be a weapon", which we are reminded of every chapter (or so it feels like). Very heavy on the "I'm not worthy of your love", "I'm not like other girls" theme which got pretty repetitive and made Fia hard to sympathize with throughout the story. She was clearly pining for Rogan, her childhood best friend/prince/almost brother, and the constant miscommunication between them about their true feelings and intentions was tiring.

I thought Fia's power was pretty cool and thought it was obvious that she would turn it from a "curse" to one she could control eventually, just wish it had happened a little sooner so we could have avoided all the self depreciation. I did almost cry when she had to leave her horse after infecting it with her power, held out hope that she would save her later!
There was a gnome introduced in the beginning of the book that i thought would have had more of a role to play so that kind of threw me off.

Narrator had a lovely voice and inflection, but found it hard to distinguish between characters and would lose track of who was speaking vs inner voice/narration.

If you love retellings, irish folklore, adventure, and romance, then this book is for you! I loved the tale and the characters! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was awesome. I could feel myself get totally immersed in the world while listening. Lovely tale!

This story had a lot of potential, and the first half was particularly engaging. However, it became increasingly frustrating due to the main character's prolonged entanglement with the MMC, who was irritating and overstayed his welcome by about 60% of the book. The author clearly sets up interest in the other male lead, making the scenes with the MMC even more tiresome. Additionally, the side characters, who are supposed to be supportive, seem to have their own agendas, and the protagonist's blindness to their actions was baffling, especially given her background.

Despite these issues, the book's intriguing storyline kept me hooked once I got past a certain point. The world-building was executed well, immersing the reader without overwhelming them with (too many) information dumps. The relationships, particularly the love triangle involving Rogan and Irian, were compelling and added depth to the narrative. While the mission element felt like a subplot and the time jumps were jarring, the story's cultural authenticity and beautiful prose made up for these flaws. Overall, I thought this was well done, but I most likely will not pick up the sequel

**Thank you for the eARC - all opinions are my own**

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio arc in exchange for an honest review. I unfortunately didn’t really enjoy this book. I really struggled with Fia as a main character because she puts herself down all the time. It was hard to be invested. So many of the romance scenes to me were so cheesy and weird and I just couldn’t get behind them. A lot of the dialogue was that way and it made me cringe a bit. I didn’t like Rogan at all and he was super annoying. Basically I didn’t like this book 😂 It just wasn’t for me and really had a lot of issues. I do think the narrator did a great job but I didn’t enjoy the story so it made it hard to enjoy it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hachett Audio for an audiobook of a Feather So Black.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect other than a little swan lake in this story, and I loved it!

A Feather So Black follows Fia, a changeling, who was left in place of a Eala, the princess, and who has been set out on a mission to find her, break the curse, and bring her home. Not is as what it appears as truths, and lies, are discovered.

While I did guess a couple things within the story, I still absolutely adored the journey and seeing how everything played out.

The narrator of this book was wonderful, so I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook. I haven’t read a fantasy, romance with Fae in some time and this was a wonderful way to get back into it..

I enjoyed this book so much I did in fact go and buy a physical copy, so that’s high praise from me! I can't wait of the next book.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

I listened to A Feather So Black on Audio and enjoyed the narrator.

A Feather So Black weaves a compelling tale with a strong emphasis on world-building and fantasy elements. The romance added a nice touch to the story and had many tropes handed well.

I found A Feather So Black to be unique. It delves into the journey of our protagonist, Fia, a rare changeling abandoned by the wicked Fair Folk. Despite the disdain many hold for her fae blood, Fia finds solace when the queen takes her in and raises her as her own. The queen, recognizing Fia's unique abilities, even trains her to be a spy. When a hidden gate to the realm appears, the queen tasks Fia with a mission that could change everything, retrieve it, and break the princess's curse. As she takes on this quest, she has an unexpected companion. This companion is her childhood friend and the princess's betrothed, Prince Rogan. But then, Fia finds herself attracted to the princess's capture, Irian.

There is a love triangle woven into this story. As someone who grew up with young adult fantasy in the mid-2000s and 2010s, I experienced many love triangles in fantasy. I am not fond of the trope when it pops up in books. I am still not fond of it in this book, but the author handled this trope well, so I was not rolling my eyes and not hating the romance.

I found this book enjoyable and unique, with its retelling of Swan Maiden. All the characters were likable and fleshed out well. An issue I did have with A Feather So Black was the pacing. At times, the pacing felt fine, with a great pace, but then there were times it dragged.

If you are a fan of high fantasy, romance, or romantasy, do not hesitate to pick this book up. I will be reading the sequel in the future.

I am reading the book, and I am enjoying reading it on my Kindle without the audio.

Unfortunately, the narrator isn't working for me; she sounds monotone, and I am struggling to stay engaged. I will be finishing this as a physical read instead.

Thank you for the ALC.

I will absolutely be purchasing a copy of this title for my school's budding romantasy collection. Thoroughly enjoyed it and can't wait for the next book in the series. I also enjoyed the narrator and her use of voice styles for various characters.

I was granted both an ARC and the audiobook version of “A Feather So Black” by the publisher and I used both mediums to read the book. First off, I would highly, highly recommend the audiobook of “A Feather so Black”. The production and narration are both excellent. I loved Heather O’Sullivan’s mellifluous voice and her Irish accent brought life and charter to the book. Her character voices are spot-on and let the listener easily identify each speaker. O’Sullivan’s voice also helped to smooth out some of the trouble I had with the world building. The beginning of the book contains a significant amount of info dumping and O’Sullivan’s pronunciation helped me to better understand the people/places/creatures that were being introduced (it also really would have helped to have a glossary at the beginning of the book).

Second, a review for the book itself. “A Feather So Black” had a lot of elements that are automatically guaranteed to draw me in: Irish/Gaelic world-building, mysterious manor, faerie setting, green magic, and a seemingly impossible quest. A bonus was the beautiful writing - I do love purple prose and this book delivers. Lyra Selene has an absolutely gorgeous writing style. So a book seemingly tailor-made for me! Unfortunately everything just fell apart with the plot and pacing.

Two of the main characters, Fia and Rogan, are only able to cross over into Tír na nÓg during the night of the full moon which means they can only make progress on their quests in faerie once a month. Otherwise the two spend their time in the human realm basically waiting around to go back to faerie. The plot moves through the Celtic Wheel of the Year celebrating the holy days along the way - which is a nice addition to the world building - but causes the reader to spend the whole year with Fia and Rogan waiting for any kind of plot development. The nights in Tír na nÓg are definitely the highlight of the book. I lost interest and stopped reading every time the narrative switched back to the human realm. I ended up spending six weeks reading this book between the arc and audio version - and read five other books in the meantime. I finally gave in and skimmed the last third and found that the pace picked up considerably in the last 30 pages. The ending was interesting but I’m not sure that I care enough about Fia to read the next book. However, I might be tempted if Heather O’Sullivan narrates the audiobook.

Part of my problem with this book stemmed from my expectations: I was expecting a book with a lot of action, drama, and tension. “A Feather So Dark” was more vibes and world building. It’s not a bad book - just very slow.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the ARC and Audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book to be beautifully written. The audio narration was absolutely mesmerizing, and I'd find myself just staring off into space while listening. But... and this is just me and my opinion... it was a whole lot of pretty writing without a lot of plot movement? I'm typically a character driven person, but I couldn't get invested in anyone but Irian. Fia and Rogan were there, but I didn't have any feelings toward them- good or bad. It was compared to Cruel Prince, but I'd say it's closer to An Enchantment of Ravens.

I received an e-arc and audioarc through Netgalley all opinions are my own.

The audiobook was fine. I probably wouldn't have been able to pronounce a lot of the words in this book without the audiobook.

I also dont think I would have finished this book without the audiobook, because it was so damn long.

The book really didn't need to be that long.

I didn't like any of the characters, to me they were all very one dimensional.

Fia is so naive and annoying.
She keeps on talking about how she was forged and made to be a weapon. But we don't actually see her in action.

All romances sucked.

I saw from a mile away who the bad person was.


I didn't like anything about this book. This should really have just been a dnf.

“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.

I wanted to love this book, but I struggled throughout most of it to stay engaged. It felt needlessly slow. I loved the premise and the characters were interesting, but the pacing just really caused issues for me. This could have been the audio recording, I'm not sure. It did feel a bit more conversational and easier to space out than other audiobooks I've loved, but I can't put my finger on why.

I did LOVE that the FMC is a changeling. So many fae stories feature or discuss changelings, but this is the first I've read with a main character changeling. The politics of the story are also really interesting. There is so much happening from different sides, and the characters are all very dynamic.

I did finish, but would hesitate to pick up the next installment.

I really enjoyed this book. I went in blind as part of my taste-test of whether I actually enjoy reading this genre. Turns out I really do. Probably biased as 12 dancing princesses was my favourite of the Barbie movies, but I'm ok with that.

This book is a fun interpretation of this fairy tale (the proper one, not the Barbie one). I thought Fia was an interesting MC and was so pleased with how her arc developed and how the story ended. What a relief! Looking forward to the rest of the series.

The audiobook was such a pleasure to read with lovely Celtic accents. I didn't realise there was a glossary until I had finished so now I'm wondering how much detail I missed?! I have bought a physical copy to make sure! 4.5 stars.