I loved the use of mythology/fae folklore here, and the atmosphere of Tir na nÓg unsettling and eerie at times. I appreciate it given the tales of the fae that I was raised with. The narrator though was lovely it felt immersive and for me it definitely helped smooth over some parts that I wasn’t that enthusiastic about. . I struggled with pacing, it was brutally slow in parts, it is a story that could of been shortened to help with the dragging pace. I had went into the read with high hopes of its' potential. The execution was not the best.

Though the book wasn't for me, I do see the care in the story made.

Fia is a changeling - left behind in place of the High Queen's daughter as an infant with no memory before this. Over the years the queen has come to love and care for the fae as her own flesh and blood - or has she? There is a lot of scheming and secrets in this book that do get gradually revealed throughout the story. Her childhood friend Rogan returns from his home town after mysteriously returning there 4 years ago and the two of them are set a task to save the High Queen's true daughter and the 11 other children that were taken as children and kept by a cruel member of the fair folk. But of course all is not as it seems there either. I absolutely love stories about the fae and this one was a good entry into that category. I did find some of the writing quite repettitive (e.g. at the start of the book how many times did we need to be reminded about how Rogan had chosen to leave Fia 4 years ago - apparently the answer was MANY) but the overall story was engaging and I'm interested to know what happens next. The audiobook narration was really good and helped feeling more connected to Fia when sometimes it was easy to feel confused about certain decisions she makes.

<i>“…spinning webs of sunlight designed to catch daydreams.”</i>

I should have known better.

I’m not sure why it seems that I always find myself annoyed when I read stories that center fae as their lead characters, but somehow that’s always where I end up. I think the way stories portray fae, especially in romance, just irks me to no end. And it’s such a shame because I can’t help feeling that I truly <i>should</i> have loved <i>A Feather So Black</i>.

There are a mix of things at play here, I think. The first, and perhaps most glaring, irritation I have with this novel is that I just cannot stand Fia and Irian—this “shadow daddy” craze is one I find rather gross, so I guess this isn’t surprising—and I only moderately care for Rogan (you have to get about 40% through the book to like him again; thanks secrets!). I don’t care about their stakes, the treatment, the curses, or the expectations of their…destiny, I guess? The expectations that Irian had, quite frankly, pissed me off.

I cannot bring myself to feel invested in their love story or their lives. I had a modicum of care for Fia in the way her mother had treated her, but that was largely connected to Rogan and the story behind his behavior. And this all comes to a head with the awful love square of nonsense that exists. I just <i>hated</i> it.

The reason this problem arises is partially due to my previous assumptions about what the story would be. When I pick up something because I’m expecting a Swan Lake retelling, I unfortunately have a certain kind of idea in my head. And while I know there are deviations that must occur in any retelling—I read so many of them, I would have to—the way this one was adapted was both brilliant and infuriating. I think, frankly, it just drove me absolutely up the wall that the true Swan Princess was ultimately just a plot device at best and an awful character at worst.

I’m hesitant to say that this was a bad book, though. The twists were interesting even though they annoyed me at times. There was some skill to the thought process that brought us this story. The writing was actually quite pretty, though a little excessive at times. And I’m just sort of left with a feeling that this isn’t the story I wanted nor one I leave having enjoyed, but it is a story written with care.

So, take from that what you will.

The narrator was great, though! I loved the accented story. Her voice was beautiful. Admittedly, I did have to read it on higher speeds—my goodness, is it painfully slow at default.

3.5 stars rounded down.

I don't really like listening to fantasy audiobooks because it's hard for me to process the worldbuilding in that way. I do much better when I'm reading. However, once I got past that, this was a good story! I really enjoyed it. It felt like there was a lot going on at first, but that was just because of the world building. After I processed through that, this story was definitely more on the romance side of the "romantasy" genre. I wished for more information about the folk world this was set in: Tír na nÓg. There is SO much to work with there and I'm hopeful that in the following books we, as readers, will get more of that from the author. I'd recommend this book to people who like romance, but I'd caution those looking for fantasy that they will get *some* but I don't think I'd say it's as big of a point in this book as we might have hoped for.

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.

While I found the writing lovely and lyrical, I struggled with the pacing of this book and thought it could have been substantially shorter. Specifically in the first half, I felt the plot was stagnant. I listened to the audio book and think the narrator did a great job. The accents were subtle, but helpful to distinguish the characters from each other, and the overall listening experience was enjoyable. I'd recommend this book for fans of Erin Morgenstern, Naomi Novak, or Katherine Arden because of its quality writing and fairytale vibe.

"Love is rarely anything but a prelude to tragedy, colleen."
A Feather So Black reads like a classic fairy tale: a mix of Swan Lake and The Twelve Dancing Princesses. There is blood and death and magic. Pacing begins a bit slowly, but the world building takes time. There is a glossary at the end of the book. As I read the audiobook, I was not aware of it until the end, but if you are reading this review and have not yet read the book, I strongly recommend utilizing it. There was terminology I am familiar with from classic folklore, such as changelings, but I believe much of the language regarding hierarchy is unique to this world Lyra Selene has created. I savored my time in it. There is depth and longing for belonging here in vivid descriptions of shadow and forest. It was beautifully narrated by Heather O'Sullivan, who I would listen to read cereal boxes. Her voice is beautiful and always interesting, but not exhaustingly so.
I enjoyed the characters and the story, though at times the narrative became almost too self-aware with the stories within the stories of the past layering. The ending was too much too quickly after months of slow progression with every chapter beginning a full moon cycle, but isn't that also how life is: too much and all at once?
I look forward to reading the next installment of this series. I remember a kiss owed to a mysterious stranger that echoed another series meeting at a celebration under similar circumstances, and I wonder if the ending here is not the ending at all, but the beginning of something more...
Massive thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for this advanced copy to review!

The story could’ve been so beautiful, but it was slightly lacking. One thing was the pacing, it really felt strange to me. I felt like it went through the parts where Fia was in the human and then drastically slowed down in the magical realm.
Also, the relationships between the characters didnt seem natural to me, for example Fia made somewhat brash judgements in my opinion. It says she was after Roger for a long time, but we don’t see that. She had family issues, but we don’t see much of that? They only talked a few times It felt redundant yet, lacking. While I would’ve liked a little more it was still entertaining. 3.5 but giving 4 because I did enjoy it

"A Feather So Black" is a swan lake retelling in the midst of the realms of folk and humans. It follows a young woman named Fia, who is the changeling daughter of the queen on the humans. She has been trained in combat, deception, any many other skills since the day she was left in the human world in exchange for the queens biological daughter. When the queen tasks Fia and her childhood love, Rogan, to enter the realm of the fae and bring back her biological daughter, as well as steal a magical sword, Fia must do everything it takes to bring back her "sister" and win the sword, while fighting her feelings for Rogan.

The audiobook narrator for this book was great! She had a wonderful Irish accent, and was able to change between character voices seamlessly. The pacing was slow, but I think that worked to the books advantage seeing as it would be difficult for some listeners to understand the accent at a faster pace. I especially liked the voice for Kora/Cora (not sure how it's spelled).

What did not work in terms of audiobook narration, at no fault of the narrator, were all the celtic(?) words in the text. I just could not remember what the words that were explained meant, and there were some words that were never explained, so a lot of the times I felt lost. I think if I had read the book, I would at least be able to visually recognize some of the recurring celtic words. I also had a hard time keeping track of the character names because I couldn't physically see them, and they aren't your typical names/are Irish or Celtic names.

The writing was full of beautiful, flowery, prose and dripping with imagery. For me, the use of similes and metaphors was quite excessive. It got very repetitive and I think cutting back on these could have significantly reduced the word count of this 500+ page book, and still had the same effect. I think this will work really well for other readers, so it that's your kind of thing, definitely check out this book!

Unfortunately I just did not feel invested in the story. I kept hoping Rogan and Fia would just run away together, because I hated Fia's sister, clearly the queen is manipulating Fia and things are not going to turn out well for her, and the other love interest shouldn't be trusted. I found myself slowly increasing the audiobook narration speed, (not due to the narrator!) due to the slow pace and length of this book. I just wanted to be done with it. The pacing was also something that didn't work for me. Every time the characters entered Tir'nanog, it felt like they were there for like 10 minutes, not an entire night. Then they'd be back in the human realm and it also felt like there were there for a hot second, not an entire month.

Overall 3/5 stars because the writing is well done, and the plot makes sense, but it just couldn't keep my interest. I think readers will like this if they are into fairy tale retellings, stories revolving around the folk, and the romantasy genre (there's some spicy scenes!), and this is definitely geared towards adults.

Thank you so much to netgalley and Hachette Audio for providing an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

Years ago, Princess Eala was taken by the Fair Folk, who left half-fae changeling Fia in her place. The queen kept Fia and raised her to be a weapon, which she intends to wage against the fae. Fia is sent with her childhood friend Prince Rogan to the fae realm, Tir na nÓg, to retrieve his betrothed, the princess who was taken all those years ago. Fia must deal with her feelings for Rogan and balance her own desire against the duty she feels toward the queen. Meanwhile, she soon realizes that she is attracted to the fae lord, Irian, who has been holding Eala captive.

Part fairy tale retelling mixed with loads of Celtic folklore, this dark romantic fantasy swept me away! I was fully captivated by the wonderful prose and imagery Lyra Selene used to weave the narrative. The characters are so robust and the world where this story takes place was totally immersive. I listened to the audio ARC narrated by Heather O’Sullivan, and her voice acting was spot-on! The production for this audio book was spectacular. I have always loved Irish folklore, and the author has perfectly captured the mood and cadence of the rich cultural traditions of Celtic paganism.

The first of a series, I was certainly left wanting for more when it was over. I will be anxiously awaiting a sequel to find out what comes next!

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.

This was such a fun romantasy! The love triangle was absolutely stellar and I was blown away by the Irish folklore-inspired world building. I cannot wait for book 2!

I think this will appeal to fans of SJM who are looking to read more intricate fantasy.

The narration on this was lovely, I just didn't enjoy the book.

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.

Thank you Netgally for an ALC of A Feather so Black in exchange of my honest opinion.

A Feather so Black is about the story of this changeling, Fia, that was left in the human realm in exchange of the daughter of the queen. After being raised by the queen as a weapon, she now has to go search for her “sister” and free her of a curse that turns her into a sawn.

I believe this book had so much promise and potential but just felt short on the execution, in my opinion..
Things that I really enjoyed
• The Swan Princess retelling merged with Celtic mythology was absolutely delightful. I feel the world was lush and full of life.
• The writing was beautiful and there were moments that we had really memorable quotes.

Things that I thought it could have done better
• Descriptions of things. Sometimes I could recognize names of mythical creatures but there was not very good descriptions of it.

Things that were not for me.
• The love triangle/rectangle(?). I was actually excited at the begnning because I was in fact believing the childhood friends to benefit situation. However, as the story progressed that became sort of sour with some red flags. Then we have this mysterious/dangerous person and he seemed to have a sort of insta-love for our FMC, but I really did not believe their attraction. Lastly, the last member of this rectangle (not spoiling who it is) - I just hated it.
• The quests. Apparently everyone wants her to do things and complete hard quests but those same people that asks that for her do not seem to trust or even like her and she seemed to sense that but will still put her life in risk anyway. I really thought “why you are you going above and beyond for people that just openly do not like you?” So many times

Anyway, I think the story overall seems very beautiful but the execution did not matched my expectations.

★★★★★ - 𝓐𝓾𝓭𝓲𝓸𝓫𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene
Book 1 - The Fair Folk Trilogy
༘Spoiler free ༘
🎙️⭐️5/5 *audiobook rating
📖⭐️ 4.875/5 *book rating
🌟 4.9375/5 *combined rating
🌶️ the perfect level of spice
Young Adult, Fantasy Romance, Romantasy
🎙️ Heather O’Sullivan **5⭐️**
➳ 🧚‍♀️ faeries & changelings
➳ 🔺 love triangle
➳ 🖤 morally grey love interest
➳ 🦢 Swan Lake reimagining x Celtic Mythology
➳ 💘 forbidden love
➳ 🌱 botanical magic
➳ 👩‍👧‍👧 complicated family dynamic
➳ 🔮 prophecies & curses

✨“You won’t kill me.” His smile was feral, his lips curling up from his glittering teeth. “Whyever not?” “Because the thrill is in the joy of the hunt, not the promise of a kill.”✨
Lyra Selene’s immersive fantasy masterpiece, filled with betrayal and passion, captivates readers from the very first page. With its richly developed world, celtic lore and complex characters, this entrancing tale is destined to become a fantasy holy grail.

🎧Narration Review🎧

Whoever did the casting for this audiobook deserves a promotion. Heather O’Sullivan **nailed** this narration. In truth I was nervous going into this book as there are a number of words that are of Irish origin, and not necessarily words skilled narrators are familiar with, but I was gratefully surprised. Not only did the narrator use different voices, intonation and pacing with different characters, but she also assigned different accents to characters based on the character’s origin. She really put her heart and soul into this narration, and brought Lyra Selene’s work to life. Production really excelled here, and this is a prime example of books you absolutely need to pair with the audiobook for a lush and immersive experience.

🦢🥀🌝

Get cosy and prepare yourself for a dark and entrancing read, Heather O’Sullivan is about to be your new favourite narrator and once you start listening to “A Feather So Black” you won’t want to stop.

❧✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:❦:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧❧

📚📚📚

A Feather So Black is the swan lake and celtic mythology mashup you never knew you needed. Lyra Selene did some serious research to give us a witty and lovely romantic fantasy dripping with lore. The world building was beautifully executed, creating a tangible yet ethereal realm. Upon finishing this book i found myself instantly yearning for a reread. If you’re the type of person who enjoys tabbing books, A Feather So Black is perfect for you. Lyra Selene’s dreamy prose was paired with a masterfully paced plot that really hit the ground running.
Each individual character was multifaceted and complex, and made it obvious Selene really spent her time cultivating their lives and backstories. We get love triangles, forbidden love, and morally grey love interests. I’ve got to be honest, i’d absolutely devour some chapters and scenes from Irian’s perspective. I loved seeing how all the characters grew and changed throughout this story and the plot twists had me gasping and frantic to read on.
I will be counting down the days until the next book’s release, and reading all of Selene’s other books in the meantime. I’ve seen comparisons to the cruel prince series, and i will say this was a better balance between romance and the political fantasy aspects. It was the perfect blend of rich celtic mythology, swan lake elements and fantasy romance. A Feather So Black is easily one of my most anticipated releases, and favourite fantasy reads for 2024. Make room on your TBR, better yet plan to spend a weekend cosied up with this book. Be sure to save the date for March 12, 2024 for this fantasy holy grail.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

💖
LIKES:
⋆ Lush, rich and well researched lore. Lyra Selene brings Tír Na nÓg to life.
⋆ Top tier banter and wit between love interests. Honestly, was some of the best back and forth i’ve seen between characters in a long time. You will be kicking your feet and giggling at the dialogue.
⋆ I don’t know how many rounds of editing this went thru but somehow every single scene was necessary to the plot. While Selene’s prose is descriptive, every little bit was important and meaningful.

❤️‍🩹
DISLIKES:
⋆ None to note.

**Fantasy Scoring**
Worldbuilding ➷ ✅ 5/5
Foreshadowing ➷ ✅ 4.5/5
Plot ➷ ✅ 5/5
Relationships ➷ ✅ 5/5

Thank you to the Lyra Selene, Orbit, Hachette and NetGalley for the opportunity to provide my honest opinion on the ARC of this book.

A changeling is tasked with saving her sister who turns into a swan during the day and goes on this quest with her best friend, who is also her sister, the princess betrothed. At first, it’s explained that the Queen loved the changeling and raised her as his own, but as the story develops you can see as the outsider looking in, the manipulations of the Queen and her lackey who is also her lover. This story unfolds in the most beautiful way. The writing, while almost a little too detailed was so good and really allows the reader to immerse themselves into the story. I really felt sorry for her friend and I fell in love with her love interest. Both characters really helped make the story. The journey the main character goes on and the experiences she has really were just so beautiful and I’m so grateful I was able to get an advanced copy and read this book

Swan princess but make it dark and spicy! 

I listened to the audiobook of A Feather So Black and I felt like the narrator and her accent really helped sweep me away into the fairytale of this book. I wanted to pick this up after seeing it marketed as a swan princess retelling.

A Feather So Black is a dark fairy tale retelling in which the FMC is a changeling and has to go to the Fae realm to find her sister, break the curse, and also to find a magical object. She goes on this mission with her childhood friend Rogan and her sister's betrothed. While on this mission she meets Irian who is the dark-hearted fae lord holding her sister captive.

The atmosphere is dark, gothic, and mythological. I loved the author's prose and how she captures the feelings of this dark and relenting world.

The beginning started a little slow for me, but the narrator's voice really kept me interested through that part. After several chapters, I was finally hooked by the story and had to know where it was going to go.

If you like romantasy, folktales, and morally grey characters then I'd recommend this book.

Thank you to Orbit Books and Netgalley for sharing this advanced copy with me in exchange for my honest review.

I had a hard time getting into this book. I started it over multiple times and still couldn’t follow along. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the narrator, and felt the monotone reading made the story drone on

I enjoyed the story telling aspect of this book, the narrator has a slight Irish lilt which creates a nice mysterious atmosphere. However at times I found it robotic and literal, I wished for a larger range in emotion throughout.

The book had a lot of potential but it was very sluggish. I struggled to connect to the story at first and the whole middle part could have been shortened. There was a lot of telling, not showing. The descriptions of the Fae world and tales started blending together. It made the world slightly dull and not overly engaging.

I liked the faery beastie Cora, along with Fia and her changeling magic, it was compelling. I wanted to connect to her more but it took a long time. I really liked the addition of the morally gray love interest, it was believable and helped Fia’s character growth. I just wish there was more structure to propel the story past its middle. The conflict amplified in the third part, albeit a little anti climactic, it created a more enchanting fantasy.

Straddling the line between YA and NA with a love triangle, I recommend this for fans of slow burn fantasy romance.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hachette Audio for the advance listening copy to review.

Fia, a changeling raised by the Queen as a lethal weapon, finds herself on a mission with Prince Rogan to navigate the dangers of Tír na nÓg and rescue Princess Eala through the elusive thirteenth gate. Amidst the perils, including the formidable Lord Irian, Fia grapples with complex emotions directed at Rogan, Irian, Eala, her mother, and, most importantly, herself. The journey becomes a quest to discover her true identity and determine her path.

“A Feather So Black” by Lyra Selene was one of the best books I’ve ever read. It was absolutely perfect! I loved the lore of the Fae Folk being evilish and cunning instead of the Fae types of characters written in a lot of books lately. If you love Holly Black then this book is perfect. I liked everything about the story line; changeling, characters, relationships, imagery, all of it. Listening to the audio book version did not disappoint. I loved Heather O’Sullivan accent which matched how it would sound like in my head. The way the house sprite sounded like in the book reminds me of Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter which was so cute. I preordered a physical copy immediately after reading it. If I could give it more than 5 stars I would- it’s beyond perfect.