The Swan's Daughter / Roshani Chokshi / Book review
THE SWAN'S DAUGHTER
Demelza lives a simple life, unlike her beautiful, world-conquering sisters. As the daughters of a veritas swan (and the wicked wizard who stole her away), each of these sisters is more beautiful and cunning than the last... except for the youngest, Demelza, the only one to take after their father. While her sisters were destined from birth to bring men (and the countries they lead) to their knees and harness power for their wizard father, Demelza has always known a more... domestic existence. Reading, researching, and exploring the wild lands around her father's tower is all she's ever known.
Until her research leads her to the missing piece of her father's lifelong quest for immortality: Demelza's very own heart. And now that she knows her heart is the key, her father knows it, too. Fearing for her life, Demelza flees her father's domain and heads to the only place his influence doesn't reach: Rathe Castle.
Normally, her father and his kin wouldn't be welcomed, but she has an invitation. All eligible young ladies do. Prince Arris is looking for a bride, after all, and any young woman can throw her name in the ring. Marriage for the prince of Rathe Castle means murder, since the one who holds his heart holds his throne. Love is not a necessary component. Most brides go the more literal route. But Prince Arris is seeking love. And Demelza isn't interested in his hand (or his heart). She might not have the beauty of her swan sisters, but she does have something much more useful to a prince like Arris: a song that commands truth come to light. A song that makes the perfect bargaining chip, to save both of their lives. A song that can help him find out who wants his affection more than his life.
Until her research leads her to the missing piece of her father's lifelong quest for immortality: Demelza's very own heart. And now that she knows her heart is the key, her father knows it, too. Fearing for her life, Demelza flees her father's domain and heads to the only place his influence doesn't reach: Rathe Castle.
Normally, her father and his kin wouldn't be welcomed, but she has an invitation. All eligible young ladies do. Prince Arris is looking for a bride, after all, and any young woman can throw her name in the ring. Marriage for the prince of Rathe Castle means murder, since the one who holds his heart holds his throne. Love is not a necessary component. Most brides go the more literal route. But Prince Arris is seeking love. And Demelza isn't interested in his hand (or his heart). She might not have the beauty of her swan sisters, but she does have something much more useful to a prince like Arris: a song that commands truth come to light. A song that makes the perfect bargaining chip, to save both of their lives. A song that can help him find out who wants his affection more than his life.
THOUGHTS
This book is lush and beautiful. It is certainly the most enthralling fantasy I've read in a long time. It's easy to get lost in this world, in the sharp and intricate turns that it takes. It has gruesome tidbits and lovely scenery, like a good fairytale should. Do the characters sometimes fall more into archetype than I would like? Sure. But I was too engrossed in this beautiful and strange fantasy realm to really care about all that.
This book is lush and beautiful. It is certainly the most enthralling fantasy I've read in a long time. It's easy to get lost in this world, in the sharp and intricate turns that it takes. It has gruesome tidbits and lovely scenery, like a good fairytale should. Do the characters sometimes fall more into archetype than I would like? Sure. But I was too engrossed in this beautiful and strange fantasy realm to really care about all that.
PROS
| Whimsy | It's been such a long time since I've read a fantasy book imbued with such whimsy. I think in our current market overburdened with romantasy books, the magic of a fantasy world can get lost in the angst of the romance. But this book is fun. It's whimsical. It really embraces the magic of a fairy tale (and the absolutely random left-turns that traditional fairytale worldbuilding can take), and I loved that. Walking into this world means being surprised at every turn, and I loved each new discovery I got to make. It's what a fantasy book really should be. |
| Unpolished | We like our fairytale protagonists to be pretty, in this Disney-centric generation. Or we like them to humble and smart (while also still being conventionally attractive). Or, if we're doing romantasy, we like them to be small and "plain" (though not so plain that they don't have at least two very eligible bachelors ready to fight over them) and feisty and willing to spill blood. Demelza is... not really any of these things. And I love that. If she's beautiful, she's not as beautiful as her sisters. And if she's beautiful, well, we don't get to see it. On account of the pond scum and mud that's been spelled to encrust her for most of the competition. She smells like the swamp this mud came from. She doesn't have the pretty dresses that a fairytale princess-to-be would aspire to have (or the "trousers" that a rough-and-tumble romantasy protagonist would opt to wear). She might have a powerful voice that can conjure the truth, but it isn't pretty to listen to. And we don't change that throughout the story. It doesn't get more bearable. It doesn't get smoothed over. She doesn't really get a makeover moment. She's authentically herself, and I liked that, too. She feels like a very traditional fairytale protagonist, not a modernized one, and that's something that feels so refreshing. |
| Wicked Women | It's nice to have women who are cunning and ambitious and unafraid of a little bit of bloodshed, and it is even nicer to have them not constantly pitted against one another. These ladies might be in competition, but they're not really out for each other's throats. They're here to get a prince's heart, which is an entirely different endeavor. And I like that, while the prince himself might be a hopeless romantic, the women in his life aren't. His own murderous mother always has poison on hand, and his necromancer sister isn't afraid to use her special skills to help him achieve what he wants in life (even if her nefarious means aren't what he would prefer). This vicious queen and wicked princess also aren't out to stand in the way of any of the women in the competition, not Demelza or any of her cohort. They're not here to make things worse for other women, and I love that. It's a wicked-women-supporting-other-bloodthirsty-women world. |
CONS
| Some of the supporting cast here slots very easily into fantasy and fairytale archetypes. And I don't know that this is a major issue, with a world as lush as this. But if you're seeking a cast of fully-developed side characters, that's not what we're getting in this one. Sorry. | Archetypal |
| It's very easy to spot early on which of the characters are meant to be friends to Demelza, because they're weeded out as "real" competition for the prince's hand early on (despite staying part of the competition). Their motivation to win isn't there. Their hearts aren't in the competition. Their dreams are leading them on other paths (paths that might be better suited to being friends with a queen instead of the queen herself). The authorial strings being pulled in this case weren't very subtle, and while it didn't ruin the story for me in any means, it did feel like the execution was a little... obvious. It might have been better, more character-involved, to have some messy interpersonal relationships develop here instead, but at it's core, I think this is a simple story meant more for showcasing a fun world than developing any great character repertoire. | See-Through |
| There are so many vicious women in this cast, and I love that. Obviously I do. I expounded upon it above. But it would have been nice to see another type of femininity, too. I like these hard-edged, razor-sharp women, but a wider spectrum of characters would have been nice. That's all I'm saying. A bit of representation both ways. | Not So Soft |
Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
9/10
Fans of Kiera Cass's classic dystopian story The Selection will love this new bridal competition. Those who liked the bite of Sasha Peyton Smith's The Rose Bargain will like these new cunning ladies after a prince's precious heart.
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Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own. |
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