Goodreads Summary:
When the one thing you live for is taken from you, do you let it go or do you fall?
Jade,
like any other student at Brushwood High, awaits the start of the
school year with a certain measure of dread. Worse, she is being
threatened by a voice that only she can hear—a voice that lurks at the
edges of her awareness, haunting her and warning her of something
unknown. She has always been able to count on her two best friends,
Claire and Nate, but can she confide in them now? About this? Would they
even believe her?
Life takes a turn for the better when she meets
Avan, a darkly handsome new student who, somehow, seems to drown out the
voice and make her feel at ease.
But Jade soon comes to realize that
good things don’t last forever. When everything spirals out of control,
she is shattered by something she never saw coming. Dazed and
despairing, she must now overcome tragedy and embrace her true existence
and a new but dangerous love. Will she be able to save herself and
those she loves, before it’s too late? Or will she let the surrounding
darkness consume her?
My Review:
As ironic as it might sound, it is often rare to find a YA Paranormal romance with a lot of mystery to it nowadays. It often happens that the paranormal elements in the story take a back seat to the romance in a lot of the current Young Adult novels that are out right now. But, guess what, my fellow readers? That does not happen here. And it was refreshing. Lucy Swing manages to create quite a heart-wrenching story in Feathermore that is packed with suspense, intrigue, and mystery from start to finish. This book is just shrouded in mystery and there is more to every single character than meets the eye, not just the protagonist, which was really interesting.
Which leads me to the characterization of this novel. I just loved it. Jade, our female lead in this novel, has a great voice. She is a regular high school student - well, so she thinks - who likes to hang out with her friends and family. She may not be the most popular person in her town or school but she has quite a lovely personality because she is nice but not a pushover and she is incredibly funny and sarcastic. And as the story develops her reactions to things were refreshing. She has quite the sense of humor and instead of accepting the changes that are happening to her immediately, she freaks out and is resistant. Her feelings about things just felt authentic because how can a person take it lightly that their real background is supernatural and that they are not really human as they thought, right? That is enough to make any person even lose their mind. I also liked that Claire and Nate who are Jade's best friends, are also an integral part of the story, with their own hidden history and character struggles. It was great that the family and friends of Jade were really important to her life, it gave the story a realistic touch and it helped add dimensionality to Jade's life story.
Another aspect of Feathermore that I really liked was the world-building. It was intricate and complex and dark. Definitely dark and mysterious. And what I liked about it is that the author didn't quite reveal from the start what the true identities of the characters were and what was going on. The reader gets to learn along with Jade what she truly is, what is after her, who her friends really were and it was interesting. The title does give a hint but the lore behind it was surprising from what I've read in other angel centered books. It was unique. Speaking of complex angel lore, I loved that the villain in this book was not your typical stoic/machiavellic power thirsty villain with a little too much time on his hands. No. In Feathermore we have a lady villain and boy is she ruthless and vengeful and her identity was quite surprising. She is a prominent figure in angel lore/myth and I liked the twist the author gave to her story.
When it comes to the romance in Feathermore. I would have to say that it was sweet. As you're reading, it feels as if this book is gonna have your typical case of instantaneous love at first sight. And all you can think is, "well, okay, the guy is cute and nice and has charm but why does the protagonist like him so much if they've just met" BUT as the story develops, the reader soon learns that that is not the case. There is actually quite an immense reason for Jade's attraction to Avan which is the male lead in this story. And that reason was quite layered and unique. There also was another character in this book named Blake that I felt had an interesting connection to Jade, though, for those who hate love triangles, no worries. It never quite reaches that status in this book. The main love story is Jade and Avan. Although, maybe in book two there is potential for a love triangle with Blake in the mix? It's hard to tell since Blake's true identity was left as a mystery even until the end of the book, which, in my opinion, was quite cruel because his scenes in this book were the most fascinating. Who is Blake? - I was dying to know but I'm hoping book two will clear that up.
My advice: Read this book. It had an amazing cliffhanger. Did I say amazing? I shall repeat myself. It was good. The writing in this novel is very fluid. Lucy Swing definitely has a way with words. It was easy to get lost in her writing. Feathermore was dark but fun - due to Jade's amazing sense of humor as a character and it really felt like a paranormal book. It was full of mystery. It almost felt like an episode of the show Supernatural where everything starts off happy and blissful and then it all descends into madness, basically. I really liked this book.
Favorite quote in this book: "Once again, the vampire idea came to me. But it couldn't be. We definitely didn't drink blood, and we were perfectly fine in the bright sunshine - we didn't sparkle or go up in flames" - pg. 140 &141
My Rating: 4/5
