A THRONE OF SWANS is the first UKYA Fantasy release I've read in a while, and I really enjoyed it! It's a loose Swan Lake retelling, set in a land where nobles can transform into birds - I loved this aspect, especially. The heroine and her family can transform into swans, and then there are families who can transform into rooks and herons, ibis and owls and peacocks, you name it. It's also a court fantasy, which are a niche passion of mine.
After her father's death, the heroine Aderyn goes to court to present herself as the new Protector of her lands, and to cement her status. Going with her as her clerk is Lucien Rookwood (yes, he transforms into a raven), son of one of her father's advisors, who's recently returned from abroad. At court, she meets her uncle the king, and her cousins Aron and Odette, plus Odette's fiance, Siegfried.
The story's antagonist was different than I'd initially expected - before the narrative events, Aderyn's mother was killed by a hawk attack, and but all hawk families were killed off as a result of a war many years ago before the start of the book. I expected Aderyn to look into this and for the hawks to generally play a larger part in the novel than they did, but the actual villain of the novel turned out to be someone else entirely. Basically, the entire plot went in a different way than I expected. Still hoping the hawks play a role in book two, however.
I quite liked Aderyn as a heroine, and though she was quite gullible at points, she was also brave, loyal towards her friends, and had some subtle cunning aspects. I also liked her love interest, and how it built up slowly - but I did think it was rather sudden how when they confessed their feelings, they went straight to spending the night together. It was a jump that made me raise my eyebrow.
The secondary characters were also great - I liked Odette, and Aron is both disabled (having lost an arm) and LGBTQ+. I did think it was interesting how everyone seemed to be vaguely related to everyone in this book, and many people were part of the Cygnus/swan family tree. Probably echoing history, I guess, where all the big noble families always associated with the same people. There's a big illustrated family tree at the beginning so you can see how many degrees of separation there are between people.
The book was really well-paced (I read it just under 24 hours) and well-written too. With two authors, sometimes there's a slight disjoint between parts written by each co-author, but this is so seamless it seems like it could have been written by just one. Together, Katharine and Elizabeth Corr have written a really interesting book. Parts of the ending I didn't see coming, but it's definitely set up to cause some drama and angst in book two, so I'm excited to read it when it releases. All in all, an enjoyable read, and one I'd suggest for people wanting to experience more UKYA Fantasy.
After her father's death, the heroine Aderyn goes to court to present herself as the new Protector of her lands, and to cement her status. Going with her as her clerk is Lucien Rookwood (yes, he transforms into a raven), son of one of her father's advisors, who's recently returned from abroad. At court, she meets her uncle the king, and her cousins Aron and Odette, plus Odette's fiance, Siegfried.
The story's antagonist was different than I'd initially expected - before the narrative events, Aderyn's mother was killed by a hawk attack, and but all hawk families were killed off as a result of a war many years ago before the start of the book. I expected Aderyn to look into this and for the hawks to generally play a larger part in the novel than they did, but the actual villain of the novel turned out to be someone else entirely. Basically, the entire plot went in a different way than I expected. Still hoping the hawks play a role in book two, however.
I quite liked Aderyn as a heroine, and though she was quite gullible at points, she was also brave, loyal towards her friends, and had some subtle cunning aspects. I also liked her love interest, and how it built up slowly - but I did think it was rather sudden how when they confessed their feelings, they went straight to spending the night together. It was a jump that made me raise my eyebrow.
The secondary characters were also great - I liked Odette, and Aron is both disabled (having lost an arm) and LGBTQ+. I did think it was interesting how everyone seemed to be vaguely related to everyone in this book, and many people were part of the Cygnus/swan family tree. Probably echoing history, I guess, where all the big noble families always associated with the same people. There's a big illustrated family tree at the beginning so you can see how many degrees of separation there are between people.
The book was really well-paced (I read it just under 24 hours) and well-written too. With two authors, sometimes there's a slight disjoint between parts written by each co-author, but this is so seamless it seems like it could have been written by just one. Together, Katharine and Elizabeth Corr have written a really interesting book. Parts of the ending I didn't see coming, but it's definitely set up to cause some drama and angst in book two, so I'm excited to read it when it releases. All in all, an enjoyable read, and one I'd suggest for people wanting to experience more UKYA Fantasy.