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A review by machelriller
Feather Bound by Sarah Raughley
3.0
This review was first posted on Giant Squid Books.
Urban fantasy isn’t really my genre, but Feather Bound takes it on in a really fascinating and dark way I’ve never seen before. Sarah Raughley sends us to a sort-of modern day New York, with new myths and cultural norms woven in. It’s a world where we see egregiously wealthy teenagers wielding abnormal social and political power–it’s like Cruel Intentions–and I mean that only in the best way–with a bit of an urban fantasy element thrown in.
In the world of Feather Bound there are mythological creatures that live among humans–swans. In fact, they are humans, except for the fact that there are massive wings concealed beneath their skin. Nothing else distinguishes them–but they can be bound in psychological slavery to any person who takes their wings. And sometimes the swans themselves don’t know they are swans, until an experience of emotional intensity or pain causes their wings to burst out, and puts them in danger of being so taken advantage of.
The novel starts when Deanna’s supposedly long-dead childhood friend appears at his father’s funeral–with no indication of where he’s been for the last ten years. Hyde Headley takes over his father’s prestigious publishing company, causing a political backlash amongst the elite society he moves through. As he and Deanna begin dating, she gets wrapped up in the dark world of high society–where swans suffer silently among the rich. And that’s all I say about that, to avoid giving too much away about the story!
Feather Bound does a couple of things REALLY well.
First, Raughley builds an alternate universe mythology into the plot by incorporating it into the narrative with brief (and beautifully written!) mythological stories. The combination of those chapters and the assumptions that Deanna begins with around swans create do a great job to fill in the reader while maintaining a sense of mystery. And the dark reimagining of New York is so palpably gothic and creepy.
On the realism side of the story, Raughley does a remarkable job building some of the supporting characters. The conversations between Deanna and her sister Adrianna are so on point–Adrianna’s dialogue is so solidly written, and she, like a real person, straddles the line between being truly admirable and incredibly obnoxious. I think the same is true of Shannon, a protester for swan rights, who just comes alive off the page with really strong dialogue. On the flip side of that, I did wish for a little bit more humanization of some of the villains–they’re just so wholly reprehensible!
Thematically, Feather Bound does not mess around. In deploying the swan metaphor, Feather Bound confronts issues of human trafficking, modern day slavery, poverty and class war. Generally, the metaphor worked really well for this book, especially when it comes to some of the more visceral and emotional moments about swan slavery. But despite (or maybe because of) the ambitiousness of the themes, this is where the book starts to fall. The issues needed a bit of a more delicate hand being woven into the plot–they felt a little too obvious at times. This was especially true regarding the class issues. For example, Deanna has a deep-seated hatred toward rich socialites, but the reader is never clued in completely to where her anger comes from. Without a fuller backstory to enliven her anger to the readers, it’s hard to sympathize with her completely–she just seems bitter.
And this I supposed is the biggest problem with the book. In many places I loved Deanna’s snarky and sometimes mean narrative voice–it made her a realistic character. But too much of the narrative is spent with Deanna’s thoughts, rather than her deeper impressions–she tells the reader what she feels, rather than letting the reader experience the feelings of alienation, otherness, and disconnect that she experiences. Despite being from the first person voice, the reader is kept at a distance.
Overally, I really enjoyed Feather Bound–it’s definitely a page turner! And I always love a novel with a good social justice throughline that can also balance being a genuinely fun read. I definitely look forward to seeing what Sarah Raughley does next.
3/5 for characters–I loved the way Raughley wrote dialogue, but I wanted a little more humanization of the villains–and even of some of the main characters, like Hyde Headley and Deanna’s father, neither of whom we get very close to.
3/5 for consistently solid prose that was often beautiful. But so many of Deanna’s sarcastic asides pulled away from the story and sometimes were even confusing.
4/5 for world building– I can’t say enough how much I loved the chapters that tell the swan myth. They do such a great job contrasting with the regular narrative.
4/5 for themes, which were ambitious and serious. Though sometimes a little heavy-handed, the political undertones of the plot ended up moving the story forward in an effective way.
Feather Bound by Sarah Raughley – 3.5/5 stars
Urban fantasy isn’t really my genre, but Feather Bound takes it on in a really fascinating and dark way I’ve never seen before. Sarah Raughley sends us to a sort-of modern day New York, with new myths and cultural norms woven in. It’s a world where we see egregiously wealthy teenagers wielding abnormal social and political power–it’s like Cruel Intentions–and I mean that only in the best way–with a bit of an urban fantasy element thrown in.
In the world of Feather Bound there are mythological creatures that live among humans–swans. In fact, they are humans, except for the fact that there are massive wings concealed beneath their skin. Nothing else distinguishes them–but they can be bound in psychological slavery to any person who takes their wings. And sometimes the swans themselves don’t know they are swans, until an experience of emotional intensity or pain causes their wings to burst out, and puts them in danger of being so taken advantage of.
The novel starts when Deanna’s supposedly long-dead childhood friend appears at his father’s funeral–with no indication of where he’s been for the last ten years. Hyde Headley takes over his father’s prestigious publishing company, causing a political backlash amongst the elite society he moves through. As he and Deanna begin dating, she gets wrapped up in the dark world of high society–where swans suffer silently among the rich. And that’s all I say about that, to avoid giving too much away about the story!
Feather Bound does a couple of things REALLY well.
First, Raughley builds an alternate universe mythology into the plot by incorporating it into the narrative with brief (and beautifully written!) mythological stories. The combination of those chapters and the assumptions that Deanna begins with around swans create do a great job to fill in the reader while maintaining a sense of mystery. And the dark reimagining of New York is so palpably gothic and creepy.
On the realism side of the story, Raughley does a remarkable job building some of the supporting characters. The conversations between Deanna and her sister Adrianna are so on point–Adrianna’s dialogue is so solidly written, and she, like a real person, straddles the line between being truly admirable and incredibly obnoxious. I think the same is true of Shannon, a protester for swan rights, who just comes alive off the page with really strong dialogue. On the flip side of that, I did wish for a little bit more humanization of some of the villains–they’re just so wholly reprehensible!
Thematically, Feather Bound does not mess around. In deploying the swan metaphor, Feather Bound confronts issues of human trafficking, modern day slavery, poverty and class war. Generally, the metaphor worked really well for this book, especially when it comes to some of the more visceral and emotional moments about swan slavery. But despite (or maybe because of) the ambitiousness of the themes, this is where the book starts to fall. The issues needed a bit of a more delicate hand being woven into the plot–they felt a little too obvious at times. This was especially true regarding the class issues. For example, Deanna has a deep-seated hatred toward rich socialites, but the reader is never clued in completely to where her anger comes from. Without a fuller backstory to enliven her anger to the readers, it’s hard to sympathize with her completely–she just seems bitter.
And this I supposed is the biggest problem with the book. In many places I loved Deanna’s snarky and sometimes mean narrative voice–it made her a realistic character. But too much of the narrative is spent with Deanna’s thoughts, rather than her deeper impressions–she tells the reader what she feels, rather than letting the reader experience the feelings of alienation, otherness, and disconnect that she experiences. Despite being from the first person voice, the reader is kept at a distance.
Overally, I really enjoyed Feather Bound–it’s definitely a page turner! And I always love a novel with a good social justice throughline that can also balance being a genuinely fun read. I definitely look forward to seeing what Sarah Raughley does next.
3/5 for characters–I loved the way Raughley wrote dialogue, but I wanted a little more humanization of the villains–and even of some of the main characters, like Hyde Headley and Deanna’s father, neither of whom we get very close to.
3/5 for consistently solid prose that was often beautiful. But so many of Deanna’s sarcastic asides pulled away from the story and sometimes were even confusing.
4/5 for world building– I can’t say enough how much I loved the chapters that tell the swan myth. They do such a great job contrasting with the regular narrative.
4/5 for themes, which were ambitious and serious. Though sometimes a little heavy-handed, the political undertones of the plot ended up moving the story forward in an effective way.
Feather Bound by Sarah Raughley – 3.5/5 stars