Review: Feathertide by Beth Cartwright

I was attracted to this book because of the beautiful cover - fantasy novels always have the best covers!

Feathertide is the story of Marea, who is born in a brothel and not allowed to leave - her mother worries that she will be made of fun of or stolen away. Marea, you see, is covered in golden feathers like a bird, although she cannot fly. When Marea reaches her seventeenth birthday she goes in search of her mysterious father in the City of Murmurs, a strange, half-flooded city of canals and little bridges (Venice?), where she meets a prophetess and a mermaid, and learns of the strange bird men who live on floating islands and only appear with the mist...

I'm not sure whether Feathertide is supposed to be a YA novel but I think it would appeal more to younger readers. Clever and imaginative, it is a slow-burn story that picks up just past the halfway mark when Marea begins to make friends in her new home. Feathertide has a touch of romance and a sprinkle of fairytale magic, and is a coming-of-age story - covering the pain of first love and of learning to accept who you are. 

Thank you to Beth Cartwright and Del Ray (Ebury) for my copy of this book, which I requested from NetGalley and reviewed voluntarily.I was attracted to this book because of the beautiful cover - fantasy novels always have the best covers!