Review : The Swan Kingdom
The Swan Kingdom by Zoë Marriott
Pages : 258
Genre : YA, Fantasy
My Rating : 
Shadows fall across the beautiful, lush kingdom after the queen is attacked by an unnatural beast, and the healing skills of her daughter, Alexandra, cannot save her. Too soon the widowed king is spellbound by a frightening stranger, a woman whose eyes reflect no light. In a terrifying moment, all Alexandra knows disappears, including her beloved brothers, leaving her banished to a barren land.
But Alexandra has more gifts than she realizes as she confronts magic, murder, and the strongest of evil forces, and is unflinchingly brave as she struggles to reclaim what is rightfully hers. Fantasy lovers will be held in thrall by this tale full of visual detail, peppered with a formidable destructive force and sweetened with familial and romantic love.
If this sounds familiar to you, it might be one of two things; you might have read Hans Christian Anderson’s tale The Wild Swans, which inspired this novel, or you might have read Juliet Marillier’s Daughter of the Forest, an adult fantasy novel also inspired by this tale.
To be honest, I picked up the book without reading much of the description. I liked the cover, and the word swan in the title reminded me, yes, of Daughter of the Forest, which is one of my favorite books of all time! So I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was indeed inspired by the same story. I won’t compare both though, but I’ll say this : despite a common inspiration, they felt like two different stories, with different settings and characters.
The Swan Kingdom was a nicely written but slow story. I was hooked from the first page, but my interest diminished slightly when I hit the last third of the book. By then, I felt like not much was happening, and Alexandra’s detailed description of her actions felt a little too technical. As for the romance aspect, I didn’t feel it much, but I did enjoyed its presence in the story.
This being said, I did enjoy Marriott’s first novel and I can’t wait to read her second novel, Daughter of the Flames. Her writing flows easily and she had a great grasp of her characters, giving them strengths and weaknesses and making the interesting. I would have loved to know more about some of the characters, especially her aunt. Still, the intriguing setting kept me reading.
Despite being categorized as a YA novel, it didn’t feel juvenile at all. Alexandra is a strong character who lives in a world similar to medieval times, which means that at 15, she is more a woman than a teen. If you enjoy reading different takes on Anderson’s tales, this one certainly is an interesting one.
Excellent review (as usual) 😉
I’m a sucker for great covers and while browsing B&N this one jumped right out at me. I loved Daughter of the Forest too!! Great review 🙂
Wow, this book sounds so good. I love books based on fairy tales.
I love the cover as well. I found that I have loved books that are based on older fairy tales or other stories. At first, I didn’t like the idea, but after reading some, I found that they can be really wonderful. I think I might give this one a try.