Delighted to win this as I enjoy Young Adult Fantasy and am always on the lookout for new authors. This was immensely readable from the start - Aderyn is the Protector of Atratys, a shapeshifter formally able to transform herself into a swan, as can all houses of the nobility into various birds of flight.
However on witnessing the death of her mother several years before she can no longer transform and is forced to hide this fact when she ventures to court because no flightless can rule. At court she hopes to find answers, not least to her growing suspicion that her father was not the man she thought he was. In a court of secrets where she must learn who she can trust amidst plots to claim the throne her loyalty for Atratys becomes her mainstay. The characters are well portrayed, distinctive and plausible. I look forward to the next volume!
However on witnessing the death of her mother several years before she can no longer transform and is forced to hide this fact when she ventures to court because no flightless can rule. At court she hopes to find answers, not least to her growing suspicion that her father was not the man she thought he was. In a court of secrets where she must learn who she can trust amidst plots to claim the throne her loyalty for Atratys becomes her mainstay. The characters are well portrayed, distinctive and plausible. I look forward to the next volume!