A compelling & atmospheric fantasy. The prose was beautiful and I found this so hard to put down! I look forward to the sequel!

The flighted rule, and the flightless as little more than servants. Now that Aderyn's father has died, leaving her as protector of Atratys, if anyone discovered she has lost her ability to fly, she would lose her dominion and everything her father worked for. After being kept at home all her life, now she decides it is time to go to court and see more of the world. But she has no idea of the dangers she will have to face.
I feel like I was doubting everyone, any time Aderyn decided to trust someone I thought they would betray her so I was on the edge of my seat through most of the book. I could not stop thinking about this book and it's characters every time I put the book down. I want to know more about Aderyn's father and his motivations. I feel like his character was left quite unfinished. I am very relieved there was a satisfying ending, I was terrified of being left hanging, though I still can't wait to get my hands on book 2.

This story is inspired by Swan Lake. We are in a land where nobility turn to birds according to their family line and our protagonist Aderyn is of swans. But she hasn't flown in years. With her father's death she becomes the Protector of Atratys, but isin danger of being discovered as flightless. And the flightless do not rule.

Danger is what is masterfully conveyed in the narrative, as is Aderyn's strength, even in her precarious position. Even in her naivete of the outer world and the royal court she enters. Political machinations in a royal court always fascinate me. Conspiracy upon conspiracy, all for power.

The past may govern you if you don't make peace with it and that is what's happening to Aderyn when it comes to her mother's murder. Lucien is trying to help her, but she can't stop endangering herself. Talking about Lucien, I have always liked tall, dark and arrogant.

A beautifully written POV that 'plays' the protagonist's feelings, and what she is going through, quite well. Trust, betrayal, blackmail, treason and unexpected alliances all lead the story into a direction you never expect. This incredible first part of a duology is leading to an exceptional finale.

The concept for this book’s world is what first caught my attention. Also, the cover is striking and the title, A Throne of Swans, is clearly similar to A Game of Thrones. In this book’s world, shape-shifters are the rulers and the flightless, those who cannot transform into birds, are inferior. This is the strongest aspect of A Throne of Swans. This societal structure is well thought out and depicted, including integration into the characters’ language and interactions.

Aderyn is a likeable but uninteresting protagonist. She has a strong character arc, as she seeks to overcome her own fears and regain her ability to fly. However compared to most of the other characters she seems entirely honourable and above reproach. Lucien criticises some of her actions, as she thinks before she acts at times, and is unversed in court manners. But I felt her character lacked depth. Other characters were quite one-dimensional, and the antagonists weren’t intimidating and lacked motivation beyond a need for power. Any reasons for their actions are left a mystery, making them into almost caricature power-hungry villains plotting to take the throne. One antagonist in particular features substantially in the book, having multiple conversations with Aderyn, and giving the authors ample opportunity to provide insight into that characters motivations. But sadly that wasn’t explored at all, missing an opportunity to add more depth.

Unfortunately the majority of the book was predictable. For a story revolving around court intrigue, it was lacking in said intrigue. While some scenes had potential, not enough tension was conveyed through the writing to create a sense of suspense. The writing is fairly simplistic and didn’t paint a particularly strong picture. I wouldn’t agree with the bold claim in the summary above that it is ‘written in rich detail and evocative language’. The pace picks up in the second half, and there is some action, but I was far from the edge of my seat. The climax of the book takes place at an execution and was a bit rushed, including glazing over how one character escapes capture. I thought she had been taken by the villains, but the following chapters suggest she was successfully rescued off-page, which was a little confusing.

Although this review may not seem positive, I did enjoy the book. The world-building is good, with little details that brought it to life. The problem is that I didn’t feel anything while reading. I wasn’t afraid for the characters or happy for them. I didn’t feel any suspense. Which I think is why it falls flat. Despite intriguing world-building, the characters or plot itself aren’t innovative or memorable enough to make it stand out amongst all the other young adult fantasy out there.

Beautiful high fantasy with a flawed but sympathetic protagonist and a magical world. Full of court drama, intrigue and intelligent twists, Throne of Swans is not to be missed. Highly recommend.

A Throne Of Swans, by Elizabeth and Katharine Corr is a Swan Lake inspired story of magic, royalty and murder.

Synopsis. Follwing the tragic loss of her mother at an early age, Aderyn is unable to transform into a swan. All noble bloodlines can transforms into a different bird, those who cannot are kown as the flightless and cannot rule. Aderyn’s father has just died and she is now the Protector of Atratys, her dominion, no longer protected by her family.

She decides to attend the court of her Ucle, the King, with only Lucien (a noble of Atratys) and Letya (her friend and maid) to aid her. However, without the protection of her family, and the stress of hiding her flightless status, Aderyn ends up entangled into a deadly game of love and murder.

As she seeks the truth of her mother’s death, Aderyn must chose who she can and cannot trust. And above all she must also protect her dominion.

— Beautiful and Evocative —
The Writing Style and Narrative. The Corr’s writing style is very direct but also beautiful and evocative. It took me a while to grasp the style, particularly because of the first person narrative since I am used to third person narratives in fantasy, but one I grew use to it the book was an easy read. The writing is beautifully descriptive and very easy to connect with since it is so evocative and the pacing is very good. The story has a lot of action but also parts that are less so and the balance is cleverly done so that you dont get bored or feel like it is dragging. Moreover, the writing draws you in right from the start, it is so well crafted and wonderfully written that you get hooked into the story and don’t want to leave.

The first person narrative works very well for this particular fantasy, usually I prefer third, because of the main characters past, trauma and thoughts. Aderyn’s trauma is a big partf of her story and the narrative allows us to see the extent of how it has effected her physically and emotionally. It helps us to understand why she does what she does and why she sometimes makes questionable decisions. The narrative was a wonderful choice and help me to connect well with the character and the story.

— Intriguing and Extensive —
The Plot and World Building. The plot and world-building for A Throne Of Swans is incredibly intriguing and extensive. The plot draws on some popular tropes and arcs that exist in fantasty from fight for the throne, magical dominance, romance of higher and lower statuses to the inspiration of Swan Lake. Because of this some elements are a little predictable and initially I was unsure if this was a retelling or just inspired by Swan Lake. However, despite this the story maintains a significant amount of originality and uniqueness, and the ending was actually pretty suprising. A few elements are incredibly shocking and the tropes used are done in a clever way.

The story is incredibly well-paced with a lot of action and violence. I am hoping that we will see even more severe consequences in the second book for the main cast of characters (particularly due to how this one ends!) There are a lot of elements to this story that are entwined together to create such an intense plot overall and they were all very interesting. The truth of Aderyn’s mother’s attack was an interesting element that created a lot of mystery, I only wish there was a little more to the perpetrators here, but overall it worked well to fuel the story and create a tense atmosphere of realisation and horror.

The romance in the story was a little obvious but nonetheless well written with an aspect of obligation, lust, and actual love. The actual love element was sweet and heart-breaking and I did like it, especially because it did not over power the story, and I thought it ended very interestingly – my favourite part is this point because I am intrigued as to where it will go.

Aderyn’s trauma and flightlessness (not a spoiler btw as you are told immediately and in the actual synopsis) is also dealt with well throughout the story and explains her dependency and her decisions throughout, while maintianing her actual intelligence and power despite any foolish choices.

The world itself is very complex and I cannot wait to see more of it. Despite its complexity the book never feels like it is forcing information onto you, everything you learn you do so through observation and conversation. The world is split into the ‘flightless’ and those who can fly. Those who can fly do so by transforming into the bird of their ancestral line, the people themselves reflect their inner bird through their physique (a wonderful addition), and they are the noble, the rulers. Interestingly enough they are almost ‘destined’ to rule since it is incredibly unlikely, if not impossible, that they would marry a flightless person (for reasons I won’t disclose = spoilers) and allow for flightless heirs.

The world itself is also split into dominins with ‘Protectors’ (leaders) with a monarch who rules over them all. The divide in this story is not heavily gender focused, but the main ruling characters are female and so are forced to find someone to marry, but it would be the same for a male ruler due to the laws. Furthermore, the story has laws allowing for all forms of respectful love, thus LGBTQ+ characters are represented a little (However, I do believe there is room for a lot more representation here which we will hopefully see in the second book.) However, to rule it must be a man and woman (in order to produce an heir I believe). — I look forward to seeing if this is challenged in the next book too. But, the world, laws and magic are incredibly complex and have limits and strengths which make for a fantastically indulgent world that is real and believable.

The hints to Swan Lake are scattered throughout but I will leave those to you to find because it is far too spoilery! I love Swan Lake though, so I adored this inspiration and the nods to the original story!

— Complex and Dynamic —
The Characters. Every character created was complex and dynamic,they had interesting personalities that went beyond the surface layer of expectation and made the story all the more interesting. Furthermore, the characters are diverse (partly mentioned earlier) but we also have a character that is visibly disabled with a twofold presentation (I loved this because despite the obvious limitations the character is still incredibly able and efficient! So I loved this portrayal), I hope the diversity is developed on in the sequel.

Aderyn. The main character is from a noble bloodline, and thus has the ability to turn into a swan but trauma of the past and physical pain means she is unable to. Aderyn’s character is incrediby realistic, despite the high-fantasy settng, as she is smart and determined, but also makes easymistakes and can be too trusting. Her to rotect her dominion is strong and she is rather selfless at her core, despite the focus on her mother’s death resulting in negative actions. I really loved this character even when I disagreed with her because of the realism and the layers to her personality. She is incredibly able and strong in her own right and I look forward to seeing her character develop even more!

Letya. The flightless maid and friend of Aderyn. I ADORE Letya. She is so loyal and devoted to Aderyn and terribly protective. She is very supportive of her and is overall very sweet. I really look forward to seeing more of her later on.

Lucien. The beautiful noble raven, clerk to Aderyn. His initial introduction portrays this character as a jerk right off the bat, as her escorts Aderyn his sarcasm and wit seems to grow and their conversations are very amusing. But, at heart he is a sweetheart dedicated to protecting Atratys, Aderyn and his family. He is loyal and hardworking, and very smart, but can let emotion cloud him and cause him to act harshly. His character is another interesting one that I loved to watch develop.

Siegfried. Another noble, betrothed to Odette, charming, clever, witty and helpful he aids Aderyn a lot throughout the book. But, he can be cruel and set on his decisions, rigid in his ways and secretive. The character is complex and overall difficult to judge, but does become eaier as the story goes on.

Aron. The Prince, without rights but entirely with wit. I loved this character, his initial introduction presents him as a little cruel and calculating, he is indeed clever, but overall he is just bitter and hurt. The character is very loyal and protective of his noble line and his country but comes across as cold. Complex but an amazing character overall.

Odette. The Princess, the future Queen, is beautiful and obedient. She must marry, therefore she accepts the husband she needs and tries her best to be devoted and sweet. But, beneath the obedience Odette is clever, wants freedom and is kindhearted and dedicated. She will do what is best even if she will not benefit from it. I like her character a lot.

King. Aderyn’s uncle and abolutely smarmy. He is cruel and relishes his control and nobility. He wants to control Aderyn and has little regard for anyone’s feelings. I really hated this character, which is of course intended, and he made for a good source of confllict.

Queen. Aloof, reserved and a little cold, the Queen is a quiet character difficult to place and assess which side she stands for. Interesting character, but all I will say here.

— Magical and Promising —
Overall. A Throne Of Swans is a magical and promising story. I cannot wait for the next book because this one was just so magical and the characters are so interesting and complex. Whil I feel little elements were predictable, it did not ruin the story as it is incredibly well written and the ending itself was unpredictable and shocking.

Perfect for high fantasy lovers, Swan Lake adorers or anyone who loves a good royal story of murder, plotting, treasons, secrets and lies.

*I received a free eARC of #AThroneOfSwans by Elizabeth and Katharine Corr via #Netgalley @BonnierBooks_UK @HotKeyBooks in exchange for an honest review*

Posted to goodreads/twitter and my own blog.

This book is perfect in every sense. From the kingdoms to the characters to the emotions, politics, danger! Gah!

Put this one on your TBR folks.

A Throne of Swans is going to sweep its white wings across the world and SOAR.