Review by Booklist Review
This sequel to A Feather So Black (2024) begins with Irian's anguish, having watched his new wife, Fia, a changeling finally comfortable in her own magical skin, sacrifice herself in his place. After an agonizing month, she returns from the dead linked to a magical Treasure, similar to Irian's own Sky-Sword, with new abilities she must learn to control. Fia and Irian embark on a journey to his former foster home where they both compete in the tournament for the Oak King's Crown for the prize of a new magical forging. Their marital harmony is disrupted by their opposing goals in the tournament, as well as Fia's half-sister Eala's machinations and smith-king Gavida's magical interference. Forced out of the tournament on the first day, Fia's quest to recreate the other lost Treasures becomes a rescue mission for Gavida's son and the trapped creature that powers Gavida's magical forgings. Readers will get lost in Selene's fairy world; this tale showcases expansive world building, fascinating political intrigue among the fae, and death-defying love in an epic adventure that will turn the characters' worlds on their heads while setting up nicely for the next book.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In Selene's woodsy and romantic second Fair Folk fantasy (after A Feather So Black), a changeling heroine challenges her evil sister for control of the magical, Celtic-inspired land of Tir na nOg. Fia returns to life after sacrificing herself to the Heartwood tree and discovers that she now possesses strange powers to raise winds and shatter trees. She must learn to wield this magic if she's going to defeat her sister, Eala, and free her childhood flame, Rogan, from enchantment. She must also sort out her conflicted feelings for her equally doting and domineering husband, Irian. Together, Fia and Irian set off to a remote island to compete in a Hunger Games--style tournament with a dazzling prize: the Oak King's crown. After Irian forces Fia out of the games in the interest of saving her life, she finds a new ally in the king's hedonist son, Wayland, Irian's half-brother. Though there are no big ideas on offer, the mix of fantasy and romance feels just right. Selene's fantastical cityscapes dazzle, the outfit descriptions are to die for, and there's plenty of fairy dust to cover the Freudian mating rituals as the bride and her overly protective groom tumble into all kinds of exotic sacks. With ample emotional turmoil and plenty of tantalizing questions left open for future installments, this will have readers hooked. (Jan.)
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