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Review: The Song of the Swan by Karah Sutton

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Song of the Swan Karah Sutton

The Song of the Swan
Karah Sutton
Knopf Books for Young Readers
Published October 24, 2023

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About The Song of the Swan

A magical retelling of Swan Lake, featuring a clever orphan, a castle filled with enchanted swans, and a quest to unearth the secrets of the past.

Olga is an orphan and a thief, relying on trickery and sleight of hand to make her way in the world. But it’s magic, not thievery, that could get her into trouble.

When Olga and her partner-in-crime Pavel learn of a valuable jewel kept in a secluded castle, Olga sees an opportunity to change their lives: a prize so big, they’d never have to steal again. But the castle is not as it seems, ruled by an enchanter who hosts grand balls every night, only for the guests to disappear each morning, replaced by swans. Guided by cryptic clues from the palace spiders, Olga soon realizes she’s in over her head—torn between a bargain with the enchanter, loyalty to Pavel, and determination to understand how the enchanted swans are linked to her own fate.

One thing is certain: there is dark magic behind the castle’s mysteries, and Olga will stop at nothing to unmask it.

My Review

The cover copy lists this book as a retelling of SWAN LAKE, and I definitely see some of the elements from the ballet in the story, but I’m not sure it would really be classified as a straight-up retelling. It had some elements, but other elements are absent or very changed.

The biggest change is probably that there’s no prince in this story, and it doesn’t center around a romance. There’s a minor romance plot, and the main character does impersonate the love interest at one point to trick the boy into thinking she doesn’t love him, but it happens really quickly and is a minor point in the story, rather than the big, critical moment that it is in the ballet.

The other big difference is the addition of the spiders and the heartstring magic. I really liked those parts. I felt like it added a whole new layer to the story. The story is also broken into parts. Each part begins with a short tale told by a spider that reveals some important parts of the history of the story world. I really liked the way that structure set the pace of the story. It felt like a really quick read because there were only a few chapters per part.

I also liked Olga, the main character, a lot. She’s flawed and scrappy. But she learns and grows so much. I guessed some of the relationship connections between characters before they were revealed, and I thought they were cleverly done.

All in all, I had a great time reading this book. I loved the fairytale feel of the narrative and Olga’s emotional journey. I think readers who enjoy fairytales will love this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Representation
Major characters are white. Some characters are spiders. Readers with a strong aversion to spiders might struggle with some scenes that describe the way spiders move and in which spiders sometimes climb on other characters.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
A boy and girl are in love.

Spiritual Content
Long ago, a spider gifted a piece of silk to a person, and it became their heartstring, a magical string that a person can pull magic from. Some characters have the ability to perform magic which can be used for good or evil.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. In one scene, a soldier shoots a swan with an arrow. In another, a soldier shoots a person with an arrow.

Drug Content
Brief mentions of party attendees drinking alcoholic drinks.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of THE SONG OF THE SWAN in exchange for my honest review.

Review: A Warning About Swans by R. M. Romero

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A Warning About Swans
R. M. Romero
Peachtree Teen
Published

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About A Warning About Swans

Swan Lake meets The Last Unicorn by way of the Brothers Grimm in a dreamy, original fairytale in verse which transports readers to the Bavarian Alps.

Bavaria. 1880. Hilde was dreamed into existence by the god Odin, and along with her five sisters, granted cloaks that transform them into swans. Each sister’s cloak is imbued with a unique gift, but Hilde rejects her gift which connects her to the souls of dying creatures and forces her to shepherd them into the afterlife—the “Other Wood.”

While guiding the soul of a hawk to the Other Wood, Hilde meets the handsome Baron Maximilian von Richter, whose father was once a favorite of the king and left him no inheritance. Hilde is intrigued by Richter’s longing for a greater life and strikes a deal with him: She will manifest his dreams of riches, and in return, he will take her to the human world, where she will never have to guide souls again.

But at the court of King Ludwig II in Munich, Hilde struggles to fit in. After learning that fashionable ladies are having themselves painted, she hires non-binary Jewish artist Franz Mendelson, and is stunned when Franz renders her with swan wings. The more time she spends with Franz, the more she feels drawn to the artist’s warm, understanding nature, and the more controlling Richter becomes. When Hilde’s swan cloak suddenly goes missing, only Franz’s ability to paint souls can help Hilde escape her newfound prison.

My Review

Last year I read R. M. Romero’s THE GHOSTS OF ROSE HILL, and it was one of my favorites of the whole year. As soon as I heard she had another book coming out this year, I could not wait to read it. Her writing has this whimsical yet dark, very fairytale-ish feel to it that I can’t get enough of.

It took a minute for the story of A WARNING ABOUT SWANS to really build momentum. The opening sets up the story by showing Hilde and her sisters and their relationship with Odin, who created them, and their lives in the forest. As the story moved into Hilde’s experiences in the world, I felt like it picked up speed and really drew me in.

I loved Hilde’s curiosity and her otherworldliness. She alarms a room full of people at court by dancing as though she isn’t quite human. She has to remember to breathe. And then, there’s Franz. I loved the way their paintings are described and the magical feel of them. It was easy to root for Hilde and Franz to find their way to happiness.

If you liked THE GHOSTS OF ROSE HILL or have been meaning to try a book by R. M. Romero, definitely pick this one up. If you love fairytales or whimsical, otherworldly stories, especially those in verse, A WARNING ABOUT SWANS checks all those boxes and more.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Hilde is described as having brown skin. Franz is nonbinary and Jewish. One minor character is gay.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between two characters.

Spiritual Content
Hilde and her sisters were created by Odin and have the ability to make someone’s dreams a reality. They also have magical cloaks which give them the ability to serve the forest in some way. Hilde helps to guide a creature’s spirit to the afterlife.

Violent Content
Brief descriptions of domestic violence, gaslighting, and verbal abuse.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of A WARNING ABOUT SWANS in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.