This was such a good read! I was immediately sucked into the story and could not get enough of the characters. I went on a full emotional journey with these characters and I really enjoyed it. The book was easy to read and kept a good pace where I was never bored. I will be recommending this book to all of my friends and family.

Following the point of view of Kiar, you are thrust into a world alike to The Swan Princess - only this one has magic and wonderful worldbuilding. Its a slower paced story that immerses you into the world of princesses, swans, castles, love, and magic. While Kiar has always wanted to be a swanling, a human who can shift into a swan at will, it seemed that she might never get the privilege. Her sister Adana, the eldest daughter, made the change. And when her young sister, Orla made the change as well, Kiar was sure she would be doomed to never become a swanling.

For most of the book, I believed this would be about a massive territory battle between Kiar's territory and Noermark's want to steal the territory by any means necessary. Subtly, there was an even more interesting underlying plot that centered around the sisters and their lives. When things got to the crisis point, I was thoroughly invested in the turnout of the story. Rooting for Kiar, while also hoping there was an open ending that could hint at a second book. But it does seem that this story is well ended and answers all the questions readers might have.

If you're looking for a cozy, slower paced book with sisterly bonds, love, risk and reward, this is an amazing book to pick up in April 2024.

The book and the story were lovely and it read like an embrace. It almost has more old timey fairy tale qualities to it. The writing does consistently feel like a babbling creek even at moments you expect the story maybe to be more stormy ocean. That might not be for everyone but I enjoyed it. I'm definitely keeping an eye on the next in the series.

This was such an unexpectedly amazing read!! With no boring moments or chapters, I am now looking forward to the rest of the story as well. Thank you for my advance copy!!

Let me start out by saying that I am a fan of Sarah J. Maas books and seeing that this would be in that vein had me very excited. I was expecting to read a YA novel; however, this has more of a MG book feel to it. The story is slow to start it takes over half of the book for much action to happen. With that said, I did enjoy the book to some degree and may have enjoyed it more if I did not have preconcieved notions going in. The cover is quite lovely and ties in nicely with the story.

4 stars

The Swan Harp was reminiscent of East by Edith Pattou. A coming of age story of the heir of the throne of Valenia.

Part human, part swanfolk, Princess Kiar learns through trials and tribulations what it will take to one day rule the kingdom. I enjoyed the simplicity of the swanfolk kingdom, and the magic that lingered in the background throughout the novel.

The plot is filled with unwavering loyalty, fierce friends, and character growth. I teared up between the relationship between Kiar and her father, and loved the king and queens devotion to each other. I look forward to the next book in this series.

Language: mild, a few uses of H
Spice: one kiss
Content warning: death

It feels like re-reading one of those fairy tales of yesteryear! Is it normal for me to get a Barbie in Swan Lake vibe?

I don't know, but I liked that fantasy feel of an old story you might have been read as a child, but in a broader context.

We find ourselves in a realm where the characters can become swans. You see the connection with my previous reference. In this kingdom we find three princesses of which two can turn into swans, while the middle one Kiar cannot, this makes her envious and sad because she feels excluded from her family.
But in addition, because of this condition she is groomed as the heiress of her kingdom, where she must learn to fight and strategy.

The magic subtly woven into the pages comes to life as the story builds with the passing of the pages.

It wasn't until the end of the story that I learned that it was not a self-conclusive but a trilogy, so I understand why they left the ending at such a shocking point.

I must say that the story has a slow build up, not only of the world but also of the characters, some of them leave much to be desired, but since there will be more books of this world, surely there will be more development and maybe some of them will be less annoying.

There's a hinted romance without going deep, so if you're looking for a potential romantasy, let me tell you to wait and see if the next ones have more, because with the first one you won't have that as a focal point.

Do I recommend this story? Yeah, sure. It's a fairly easy going fantasy and the touch of classic story makes it all the more gripping.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced copy and putting me on to a story I might not have read otherwise.

#TheSwanHarp #NetGalley

Let me first say that I don’t think this should be marketed as YA, but pre-teen middle grade. If it had been marketed as that, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more—and I think others would to because they’d know better what to expect. I also feel like the cover is misleading. It gives “dark fairytale” vibes but that’s not what this is. It’s a nice fairytale story that has a friends-to-lovers trope.

The plot was interesting enough, but I wouldn’t say I adored the main character. I did want to see how things played out and didn’t totally see the events at the end coming. I wanted to see how the MC would fare. She’s actually probably one of the more relatable MCs I’ve read recently, in that she was actually fairly average. She made some wise decisions, but otherwise was fairly plain. So many books these days feature a “plain” “average” FMC, but in reality these young women are anything but. Kiar, on the other hand was pretty vanilla and that’s ok—especially for middle grade readers.

THIS IS NOT YA/NA.

First, I’d like to thank NetGalley and Elizabeth Creith for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

The title, cover and description are what really pulled me to read this book. It gave me “The Swan Princess” vibes.

That being said, while I was reading I constantly found myself struggling to figure out the plot, it didn’t seem like there was one. Not until 70% through the book at least.

This book has good bones and had the potential to be way better, but it took too long to get there and it seemed a bit abrupt. I loved the swan folk and human alliance and the dueling kingdoms aspect with courtships and betrothals. The book itself just didn’t do it for me and focused too much on daily life that didn’t have much of a connection to the plot.

Unfortunately, I likely will not be continuing with this series.

If you’d like to see my full review, then head over to GoodReads!

Thanks to NetGalley for sharing the pre-release ARC of this book.

The Swan Harp held me in its spell till 1:30 AM this morning. The story drew me in and held from its beautiful cover through to the end. The settings were wonderfully drawn and the freedom of flying like a bird (or at least a swan) that we earthbound humans long to experience, dream about or envy - come through very clearly. The writing was very lyrical.

The book was very plot-driven and the characters largely stayed in their assigned good-bad roles. Character was probably the weakest area of the book - the main character, the princess-to-be-queen Keir, and other characters changed over the course of the tale, but it felt flat somehow. The maturing felt superficial even though the situation appeared serious or even deadly at times. The place of the swan people - where they came from, how they fit into the life of the kingdom, how they interacted with humans, how their society differed from the human one - was much glossed over even tho they were important characters in the book.

There were some places where I thought the tale jumped over some critical spots to get to the turn at the end. Not an inconsistency so much as incompletion (yeah - is that even a word?).

The overall feeling of this book was that of a fairy tale, although as far as I know it did not call directly on any specific one. The theme of action > consequences, especially poorly motivated or ill-considered actions and their consequences, and personal responsibility for the consequences was pushed heavily and explicitly - that was probably where it got the "fairy tale" feeling.

So - rating of 3 or 3.5 - would recommend the book, but will probably not re-read it. A good story and well written.

“The Swan Harp,” by Elizabeth Creith

Kiar is the heir of the human kingdom. She somehow did not get the ability to turn into a swan when she should have. The neighboring kingdom of Noermark is also causing trouble and hunting the swan people. But the son of the Noermark king is asking for her hand in marriage that could potentially help keep the human kingdom safe.

I loved this book so much. It made the girl in me that loved The Swan Princess movies so happy. The swan people aspect is unique type of shifters. I loved the main character and her development in the story. This is a book I’m definitely going to be rereading. 5 out of 5 stars.

-Swan Shifters
-Magic
-Coming-of-age
-Royalty

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

This book is a whimsical YA fantasy filled with shapeshifting magic, detailed world building of clashing cultures, and a fierce and determined female protagonist. I liked the coming of age elements and the direction of the world building, but personally the writing style did not really gel with me. The pace was inconsistent, especially ant the beginning where it was quite slow. I found the main character Kiar’s development slightly forced and convenient, as opposed to the more natural development in similar series.

I would recommend this book for those who want a lighthearted adventure and love a good sword fighting lesson. This book has a really gorgeous cover and the author shows real potential for detailed and interesting world building. This book and series isn’t really for me, but I will be interested in seeing more from this author in the future. I really hope this book finds its audience, I’m sure the following series instalments will be eagerly anticipated.

Thank you to Elizabeth Creith and NetGalley for an advance reader copy.

This debut installment in a new series presents a solid foundation for the world of the Swanfolk, offering readers a uniquely imaginative and fantastical setting. The intricate political dynamics between Valenia and Noermark, coupled with insights into the Swanfolk's culture, added depth to the narrative. However, the initial half of the book felt somewhat disjointed, lacking a clear central plot and instead presenting a series of smaller storylines to keep the momentum going until the latter half, where the main action unfolds.

While the author's emphasis on world-building was commendable, it often overshadowed the development of the characters, making it challenging to establish a strong connection or witness substantial growth. Despite the potential of the love interest, Tuan, his character ultimately felt underdeveloped, with minimal interaction and peculiarly depicted scenes with the protagonist, Kiar. As a result, their supposed feelings for each other lacked believability due to the limited depth of their relationship.

Overall, this debut offers a promising start to the series, laying the groundwork for future developments. While it may have faltered in certain aspects, particularly character development and pacing, I eagerly anticipate how the story will unfold in subsequent installments.

This has a fairytale feel to it with more action and heart break moments than a typical Disney princess movie but within similar scope
And as an adult Disney fan I ate it up.
The writing was easy to follow and read.

This story falls flat. It's kind of repetitive and doesn't have much action. The ending is very out there and doesn't have a good set up. The characters are very flat and the interactions are okay it's very surface level with not much to the story. The blurb of the story is very good but it doesn't live up to the being for SJM or Holly Black fans. It was a cute story but I wouldnt go out of my way to read the rest of the series. It ends pretty good to be a standalone.
I recieved an e-arc of this book through NetGalley and this is my honest opinion of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publisher, and the Author for an amazing read.

Oh to be a Swan!!

This book I feel is for those who have, and are still growing up with The Warriors series by Erin Hunter. This book has in comparison a very whimsical atmosphere, yet delightfully dubious world.

The book itself has a wonderful cover, and I think the chapters were spaced just right, and gave something to the story every chapter.

Creith has made character’s one cannot help to fall in love with and even more so with their names! I thought every character’s name had great imagination and there were names I haven’t seen before. I think Creith should be in the fantasy character naming business more often! Every few chapters I kept reminding myself that I loved the character names!

The plot moved well in my opinion. This is young adult, and I found it to be on the younger side of the category. Plot wise it is a book that needs little explanation. There is a good amount in there for a Young Adult category book without it being overwhelming. I would recommend this to someone who is transitioning from the middle grade category into YA fantasy.

A bump in the road for me include the writing style in the sense that it felt doubtful, as if the direction of adding characters and plot were in a tug-of-war competition and neither side came out on top. That only happened for me in the first half of the book, due to the dismissal of character feelings, like Orla’s to her wanted love. Tension with that could have been more towards the character development side.

Overall… this is a great read! It kept me entertained the entire time, and I could see new to YA readers enjoy this wonderful adventure!

When you are the middle daughter of a human king and his swan-shifting Queen, you'd think things would be easier, but Kiar has it tough: while her older sister shifts easily into swan form, and her younger sister shifts AND has off-the-charts magic, Kiar is stuck on the ground. But she's royal and her father tasks her with becoming the next ruler: she has to learn to fight with sword and arrows, and she has to learn about governance and the responsibilities of the role.

In this first volume of a proposed trilogy, Kiar faces, threats of invasion, friendship, a budding love, and betrayal. It's hard work, but Creith makes the struggle believable and the characters cheer-worthy. The vaguely middle-agey setting is given depth for being scaled down and given specificity: this is a small kingdom, and this is hands-on ruling. The novel will be a good fit for fans of fantasy who aren't looking for gratuitous adult content, but want characters who develop along a reasonable arc up or down.

Thanks to NetGalley and Type Eighteen Books for the chance to share my unfettered opinion in exchange for a free eARC.

Starts out quite slow, but some really beautiful world building 😍
Love how relatable our main character is, defo recommend!!
Also, the cover is just 👌

4/5 Stars!
This was a really good read! The family dynamic + the romance and even the writing style reminded me of Little Women in a magical setting (almost like Practical Magic).

The story follows Kiar and her royal family of a land called Valenia, where her and her two sisters, Adana and Orla, are half human-half swan(folk). At first, only Kiar's sisters had the ability to shift into their swan shape, which made her extremely jealous/angry/sad, but eventually she had gotten her powers as well (I would have liked the moment that Kiar got her shifting abilities to be more of a event, it felt like not much of a big deal when it did happen, or least I thought it would happen later into the story).

Kiar is meant to be the heir to the throne and has to make some very difficult and sometimes heartbreaking decisions, from beginning to end, because of it.

Honestly, if this was a stand-alone novel, I would not be mad at howe this ended at all. But, because I know that this series is going to be a trilogy, I am excited for what is in store for Kiar and the land of Valenia!

3.5./5

This was a solid first book in a new series. The concept of the Swanfolk and the fairytale-like world the author creates is so unique and imaginative. I really enjoyed the interesting political dynamics between Valenia and Noermark and learning about the Swan folk's culture.

The first half of this book was confusing and seemed to lack direction. There was no MAIN plot that was being followed, but instead, a series of MINI plots that were JUST interesting enough to keep the story moving until the second half of the book, where the main action happens.

To compare this book to books by Sarah J. Mass and Holly Black is a bit of a stretch. If anything, I think this book MAY lean more towards Holly Black's unique world-building and politics. But if you pick up this book expecting the Romantasy that SJM is known for, or Holly Black's Cruel Prince, you might be disappointed.

The author's focus on world-building overshadowed character development, making it hard to connect with or see any growth within the characters. The love interest, Tuan, had such potential but unfortunately fell flat. There was very little interaction between him and Kiar, and the scenes between the two felt bizarre. It was hard to believe their " feelings " for one another since they didn't interact outside a handful of quiet moments.

Overall, this was a unique story that definitely read like it was setting the foundation for what is to come later in the series, and for that, I excitedly await.