Next up: “The Swan Harp” by Elizabeth Creith
I received a free advance copy from NetGalley.
Summary
I was Father’s heir now, and one day I’d be queen. But when I looked at Mother, Adana, and Orla and imagined flying, somehow the thought of being queen didn’t comfort me.
As next in line to the throne, Kiar will be responsible for protecting the human kingdom of Valenia. The middle of three daughters of King Tir and Queen Tianis, a woman of the swanfolk, Kiar is devastated when her sisters are able to take swan form and she is not.
When three young swanfolk arrive to be fostered in the royal family, her friendship with spirited Willow and growing feelings for tall, thoughtful Tuan make her feel even more different. Her inability to change shape is not the only problem Kiar faces; the king of neighboring Noermark is determined to bring Valenia under his rule, either by force or by guile. He send his son to ask for her hand in marriage.
Facing down a human enemy is one thing, but when dark magic threatens the kingdom and tragedy pulls the family apart, it’s up to Kiar and her swanfolk friends to defeat the supernatural forces before Valenia falls.
(From the NetGalley description)
My Thoughts
I really need publishers to stop requiring or using book comps; they’re never particularly accurate. This book is likened to the works of authors like SJM, Holly Black, and Robin McKinley… which is an absurd list in the first place because the only thing those authors have in common is a tendency to write fairy tale-esque stories. The stories themselves, the narrative styles, and their authorial voices are all extremely different. And this book isn’t particularly like any of them, really. I felt more like I was reading something like Grimm’s Fairy Tales or Hans Christian Andersen.
This was a largely ‘meh’ reading experience for me. The prose is very basic and very emotionally detached, a lot of simply described actions rather than giving many looks into emotional motivations or the inner thoughts of characters. The voices of the characters were not differentiated from each other, so most of the characters felt very flat. They didn’t transcend from character into person. I think this was a large part of why it felt like reading a Grimm fairy tale or a story from Hans Christian Andersen; old “traditional” fairy tales are often simple and focus more on the actions of characters rather than their emotions. This can work, but it can also not work. The biggest problem it can result in is a lack of emotional connection and investment in the story. And that was a problem I had.
The emotional detachment in the book made it so that when the reveal happened of the biggest conflict and who the villain was, I was a bit boggled. It felt like it had come out of nowhere. While we might get little hints of arguments between characters, they never seemed particularly significant and felt way more juvenile than what is revealed in the confrontation. Like, the vitriol that is spat during the end of the book is extreme. I think it may have worked better if the villain had not been the architect of the conspiracy, but had been manipulated, their dissatisfaction weaponized by a different character. There just wasn’t enough emotion leading up to all of the murder and blood magic.
There also wasn’t enough emotion leading up to the ‘romance’ that came in at the end. I got the sense that the guy had feelings, but only because I had seen that type of romantic plot play out before, not because there was a lot of emotion shown. Some actions could be interpreted as pining/attraction, I guess, but they could also be interpreted as friendship or any platonic devotion.
I did like some parts of the story. I liked Kiar’s sense of duty, which came across clearly in her actions (her riding out to confront the ‘bandits’ was a great bit). I love shapeshifting, and the swan shapeshifters were wonderful. The political aspects with the Noermarkers were pretty good, with the exception of when Kiar sent the first prince away. She didn’t even give him any chance to address the problem it was just “your soldiers said unkind things, a marriage treaty is impossible, go away”. Like, that’s terrible diplomacy, Kiar, Jesus.
Eh. Maybe give this to a middle grade reader who likes fairy tales, I think that would be the most receptive audience.
Rating
4/7 stars
Warnings
None
Bookshelf Babbles 