An engrossing and fascinating book that kept me hooked and fully immersed in its magical world. The excellent world building and character development, the poetic and dreamy style of writing kept me hooked. It's a book that can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Recommended. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

What an enchanting delight of a book. This is a beautiful fairytale about self love and acceptance. Marea is born with feathers in a whorehouse and is hidden away to protect her from prying eyes. As she grows up, she starts to see herself as ugly and different and strives to be normal like everyone else. She also builds this deep fear of being locked up and treated like a circus freak. When she turns 18, Marea finally summons up the courage to break free and go in search of her father. This takes her to the city of murmurs, where she can finally be free in all her glory. However years of self hatred have ingrained that fear of rejection so deep, that even in the city of freedom where every one is different and accepted, she stills hides her true self even as she seeks to build a new life. I found this book really interesting. We’ve all had issues with self acceptance at some point or another, and this really resonated with me. I wouldn’t go as far as plucking/cutting off all my feathers in a bid to be normal but I can relate. The author deals with the themes of love, loss and self acceptance really well and has written a very self empowering book. I throughly enjoyed it and found myself staying up till 3.30 in the morning to finish it because I couldn’t put it down. It is definitely young adult but not twee or cheesy in the slightest. Highly recommended. I got this as an ARC from Netgalley, but I would buy this in a heartbeat.

After a night of passion with a man she had only just met and didn’t even catch his name in the City of Murmurs Leman finds that she is pregnant. Marea is born in the whorehouse that Leman lives in. She is born with feathers on her shoulders and to keep her away from the prying eyes she is brought up in a basement room where she lives with her mother and has a tutor. She is only allowed out once a year and granted one wish she can put in her wish jar. On her seventeenth birthday, her wish is for her freedom. She wants to travel to the City of Murmurs to try to locate her father. All she knows is that he came in a mist, had feathers too, and was a sky-worshipper. Feathertide is a very unusual book. It certainly took me out of my comfort zone as I’m not really a fantasy fan and this was filled with fantasy, mystery, and magic. The story is told in the first person, from Marea’s point of view of her life growing up in the whorehouse. Getting to see the world outside of the basement for the first time and then onto her adventure to find her father. It took me a little while to get into the plot and at one point about four chapters in I did think about giving up but I’m glad that I pushed through as it does come alive and invite you into this weird yet satisfying story. It is quite a slow-build plot though so be prepared if you prefer fast-paced ones. There are some amazing characters along the way my favourite being the Keeper of the Hours who not only kept the time but seemed to be the caretaker for the City of Murmurs. If you are a fantasy fan then I think you will love this book. If like me fantasy isn’t your go-to-read, but the synopsis grabs you, give it a read anyway but make sure you stick with it as it has a kind of poetic feel to it. The world-building is so precise and imaginative that it will make you realise just how creative the author is.

I was sent a copy of Feathertide by Beth Cartwright to read and review by NetGalley. This is a very engaging novel. It as absolutely brimming with similes, so if you don’t like this style of writing then this will not be for you. At times I did feel this aspect was a bit of overkill, but it did calm down in the latter part of the book. The premise of the story was great, and everything was very atmospheric – aided by the similes! – but I felt there was something slightly lacking which meant that I didn’t quite Identify with the protagonist. This was a shame because it is the type of novel that I can get really engrossed and lost in. The story is written entirely in the first person which would normally create a closer bond with me, but somehow everything seemed very slightly detached. Having said all that I did still really enjoy the book and I feel that the author, with a bit more experience, has great potential to become an exceptional novelist.

A beautiful coming of age fairytale about love and loss but primarily about self-acceptance. Encapsulating bird people, mermaids, floating cities and jars of mist, this is a lovely introduction to the world of Marea and her feathers. The world building is excellent and I’d love for this to become a series. It’s not perfect, but it’s very enjoyable and a quick read too. Great stuff for a bit of escapism.