Books Like A Feather So Black
If you finished A Feather So Black and want more fae, forbidden love, slow burn, start here. Each pick shares at least two tropes with it, and we've rated every one for spice and darkness so you know what you're getting into.
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The picks
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1. A Cursed Kiss
Shares: fae, forbidden love
Keelynn's sister died from a Gancanagh's cursed kiss, so she teams up with a witch and the half-fae Tadhg to bring her back. Irish folklore all the way down. There's a lot of miscommunication, but Tadhg carries it.
- Fae
- Curses
- Enemies to Lovers
- Morally Gray
Content warnings
Death of a loved one, Murder, Graphic violence
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2. Bride of the Shadow King
Shares: fae, slow burn, court intrigue
The shunned princess nobody notices gets picked as the Shadow King's bride instead of her golden sister, and goes off to a fae kingdom that may not want her either. More yearning than heat, and very soft-hearted for a book with this title.
- Fae
- Arranged Marriage
- Slow Burn
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, War
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3. A Broken Blade
Shares: fae, court intrigue, slow burn
Keera is the King's Blade, a half-fae spy who drinks to forget what she's done for a human king. Hunting a rebel called the Shadow drags her back toward the fae lands she abandoned. Indigenous-inspired and slower than the hype. Readers rate the first two books highest.
- Assassins
- Fae
- Court Intrigue
- Enemies to Lovers
Content warnings
Self-harm, Suicide or suicidal thoughts, Drug or alcohol abuse, Murder, Sexual assault
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4. An Heir Comes to Rise
Shares: fae, slow burn, court intrigue
Faythe is a human in a fae-ruled kingdom hiding the fact that she can slip inside other people's minds. Once the wrong king finds out, she's a weapon whether she likes it or not. It starts YA-ish and slow, and fans swear the series improves a lot from book two.
- Fae
- Slow Burn
- Fated Mates
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one
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5. Faebound
Shares: fae, forbidden love, court intrigue
Two elven sisters, a disgraced soldier and a fortune teller, get exiled and stumble into the fae everyone said were extinct. The main romance is sapphic.
- Fae
- Forbidden Love
- Enemies to Lovers
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Death of a loved one
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6. Seraphina
Shares: forbidden love, court intrigue, slow burn
In Goredd, dragons can fold themselves into human shape, and the treaty keeping the peace is barely holding. Seraphina is a court musician hiding exactly what she is. The romance with Prince Lucian is slow and sweet, and the prose is gorgeous if you don't mind a gentle pace.
- Dragons
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Murder, Physical or emotional abuse
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7. Wicked
Shares: fae, forbidden love, slow burn
Ivy Morgan hunts fae in the French Quarter, and the Order's new transfer Ren Owens is way too charming to trust. New Orleans urban fantasy with classic Armentrout banter, lighter than Blood and Ash and more fun about it.
- Fae
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
- Touch Her and Die
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one
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8. Zodiac Academy: The Awakening
Shares: fae, forbidden love, court intrigue
Twins Tory and Darcy Vega find out they're the lost heirs to the Fae throne and get dropped into Zodiac Academy, where four Celestial Heirs want them gone. Book one is mostly bullying and pranks, which is a dealbreaker for some. Stay and it becomes a nine-book obsession.
- Academies and War Colleges
- Enemies to Lovers
- Fae
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence, Drug or alcohol abuse
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9. A Fate Inked in Blood
Shares: slow burn, forbidden love, court intrigue
Viking romantasy. Freya is a shield maiden with a prophecy on her head and a jarl's son who is very much not her husband. Feels like Vikings meets a political chess game.
- Gods and Mythology
- Slow Burn
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
War, Graphic violence, Physical or emotional abuse
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10. Ash
Shares: fae, forbidden love, slow burn
Cinderella with a fairy named Sidhean who wants to take Ash away forever, and the King's Huntress Kaisa, who teaches her to love the woods again. A quiet, lyrical sapphic retelling where the fae are cold and the human is warm.
- Fairy Tale Retellings
- Fae
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Death of a loved one
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11. Lament
Shares: fae, forbidden love, slow burn
Deirdre, a shy harpist, plays the competition of her life alongside a gorgeous flute player named Luke, who happens to be an assassin sent by the Faerie Queen to kill her. Early Stiefvater, a bit rough, steeped in Irish folk music.
- Fae
- Assassins
- Forbidden Love
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Death of a loved one, Murder
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12. The Iron King
Shares: fae, forbidden love, court intrigue
On her sixteenth birthday Meghan Chase learns she's the daughter of the Summer King, right as her little brother gets stolen into the Nevernever. Puck, Ash of the Winter Court and fae made of iron. Very 2010 YA, and Ash is why people still recommend it.
- Fae
- Love Triangle
- Forbidden Love
- Court Intrigue
Content warnings
Kidnapping, Graphic violence
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13. The Veiled Kingdom
Shares: fae, forbidden love, court intrigue
Nyra has spent her whole life hiding that she's really Verena, the lost fae princess of Marmoris, and Dacre, the man she can't stop wanting, has no idea. Fast and very spicy, light on worldbuilding. That's either the appeal or the problem.
- Fae
- Enemies to Lovers
- Forbidden Love
- Forced Proximity
Content warnings
Graphic violence, Murder, Death of a loved one
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14. Immortal Rose
Shares: court intrigue, slow burn
Viola is the illegitimate Rosebourne heir and a perfumer, roped into making the one scent that could save Albion's king while a royal spymaster watches her every move. Regency gloss with some grit underneath. Ends on a cliffhanger, fair warning.
- Court Intrigue
- Forced Proximity
- Morally Gray
- Slow Burn
Content warnings
Murder, Graphic violence
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15. Radiance
Shares: slow burn, forbidden love
Ildiko is a human noblewoman married off to Brishen, a Kai prince whose people find humans just as ugly as humans find them. They become friends first. Kind, funny and grown-up, a monster-adjacent arranged marriage with zero cruelty between the leads.
- Arranged Marriage
- Slow Burn
- Forbidden Love
Content warnings
Physical or emotional abuse, Graphic violence
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