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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
thank you to margaret k mcelderry books and simonteen for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
um, this was fine. maybe i’m learning i’m not a swan lake fan or maybe this was a one off for this specific retelling. i don’t know. i just do know that odile and marie pissed me off more than was probably intended. mostly odile. while i did find the concept intriguing of having the swan curse and mixing it with almost an aurthurian retelling (via morgana), i just could not get past odile as a narrator. i recognize that she is young but she would continue to make the same mistakes over and over and it essentially took marie snapping her out of her old mindset for her to actually change her actions.
to me, it almost felt like odile did not truly have any power in her own story, even at the end. and so that caused me to feel so bogged down as we went through these cycles of her hurting the ones she supposedly loved. i really could not pinpoint one exact moment that would have been a favorite or a least favorite. i just know i struggled to pick it back up when i’d break and to me those are my least favorite types of stories. i truly wish i loved it like i’m seeing so many others rave about this one!
um, this was fine. maybe i’m learning i’m not a swan lake fan or maybe this was a one off for this specific retelling. i don’t know. i just do know that odile and marie pissed me off more than was probably intended. mostly odile. while i did find the concept intriguing of having the swan curse and mixing it with almost an aurthurian retelling (via morgana), i just could not get past odile as a narrator. i recognize that she is young but she would continue to make the same mistakes over and over and it essentially took marie snapping her out of her old mindset for her to actually change her actions.
to me, it almost felt like odile did not truly have any power in her own story, even at the end. and so that caused me to feel so bogged down as we went through these cycles of her hurting the ones she supposedly loved. i really could not pinpoint one exact moment that would have been a favorite or a least favorite. i just know i struggled to pick it back up when i’d break and to me those are my least favorite types of stories. i truly wish i loved it like i’m seeing so many others rave about this one!
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is the second novel I’ve read from A.B. Poranek, and what a difference a book makes. Where Where the Dark Stands Still left me hesitant - ambitious, yes, but clunky in execution - A Treachery of Swans soars. This is a gorgeously written, intricately layered, atmospheric story that knows exactly what it wants to be: a gothic fairy tale dressed in court intrigue, velvet masks, and longing glances in candlelight. And it wears it beautifully.
A sapphic Swan Lake retelling set in a kingdom where magic has been outlawed, this story follows Odile - a thief raised by a sorcerer, trained to impersonate a princess, and tasked with stealing a crown. It's the classic heist setup, except it’s laced with guilt, grief, and so much yearning your chest aches with it. Odile is the black swan - damaged, dangerous, not quite villain, not quite heroine - while Marie d’Odette, the real princess, is her perfect mirror: soft, dutiful, golden. But of course, nothing is as it seems. And the girl Odile meant to fool might just be the one she can’t stop thinking about.
“I’m not the delicate, white-feathered bird they believe me to be. I’m the darkness of cold gutters and merciless nights… I’m nothing but a lie, a twisted reflection, a black swan.”
What makes this novel sing isn’t just the plot - though the twists are satisfying and the pacing tight - it’s the mood. Poranek gives us a glittering, claustrophobic palace that watches like a predator. The descriptions are lush and razor-edged, her metaphors surprisingly evocative. Every hallway feels haunted. Every word has weight. The sense of place is so finely wrought you can practically feel the velvet scrape of theatre curtains and smell the dust of old magic on your tongue.
And the romance? Utterly delectable. Slow-burn, emotionally thorny, full of repressed confessions and regrets wrapped in silk. I held my breath during their conversations, hoping for just one more page of lingering silence or veiled sentiment. This is yearning at its finest.
“She laughs, and it sounds like spring rain, pure and sweet. I want to gather it up in my palms, feel it trickle between my fingers. I want to forget I ever heard it.”
Yes, there are familiar beats here - imposters, royals, revolution, girl-who-wants-more - but it doesn’t feel derivative. It feels like Poranek took the bones of something well-known and reassembled them with care and intention. There’s a maturity to her craft this time that wasn’t quite present in her debut.
My only note is that some secondary characters - particularly Damian and the Dauphin - felt slightly underused, though I suspect readers will still fall for them regardless. And the final act shifts gears in a way that hints at a sequel, though the story stands well enough on its own.
Also, that cover? Frame it. Worship it. It deserves a gallery wall.
This is a novel for anyone who loves fairy tales with teeth. For readers who want their heroines angry and their romances complicated. For the girls who grew up watching Barbie of Swan Lake and later fell in love with Phantom of the Opera.
“They will tell the story, later, of the white swan and the black, but they will tell it wrong.”
Well, not this time.
A sapphic Swan Lake retelling set in a kingdom where magic has been outlawed, this story follows Odile - a thief raised by a sorcerer, trained to impersonate a princess, and tasked with stealing a crown. It's the classic heist setup, except it’s laced with guilt, grief, and so much yearning your chest aches with it. Odile is the black swan - damaged, dangerous, not quite villain, not quite heroine - while Marie d’Odette, the real princess, is her perfect mirror: soft, dutiful, golden. But of course, nothing is as it seems. And the girl Odile meant to fool might just be the one she can’t stop thinking about.
“I’m not the delicate, white-feathered bird they believe me to be. I’m the darkness of cold gutters and merciless nights… I’m nothing but a lie, a twisted reflection, a black swan.”
What makes this novel sing isn’t just the plot - though the twists are satisfying and the pacing tight - it’s the mood. Poranek gives us a glittering, claustrophobic palace that watches like a predator. The descriptions are lush and razor-edged, her metaphors surprisingly evocative. Every hallway feels haunted. Every word has weight. The sense of place is so finely wrought you can practically feel the velvet scrape of theatre curtains and smell the dust of old magic on your tongue.
And the romance? Utterly delectable. Slow-burn, emotionally thorny, full of repressed confessions and regrets wrapped in silk. I held my breath during their conversations, hoping for just one more page of lingering silence or veiled sentiment. This is yearning at its finest.
“She laughs, and it sounds like spring rain, pure and sweet. I want to gather it up in my palms, feel it trickle between my fingers. I want to forget I ever heard it.”
Yes, there are familiar beats here - imposters, royals, revolution, girl-who-wants-more - but it doesn’t feel derivative. It feels like Poranek took the bones of something well-known and reassembled them with care and intention. There’s a maturity to her craft this time that wasn’t quite present in her debut.
My only note is that some secondary characters - particularly Damian and the Dauphin - felt slightly underused, though I suspect readers will still fall for them regardless. And the final act shifts gears in a way that hints at a sequel, though the story stands well enough on its own.
Also, that cover? Frame it. Worship it. It deserves a gallery wall.
This is a novel for anyone who loves fairy tales with teeth. For readers who want their heroines angry and their romances complicated. For the girls who grew up watching Barbie of Swan Lake and later fell in love with Phantom of the Opera.
“They will tell the story, later, of the white swan and the black, but they will tell it wrong.”
Well, not this time.
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Overwrought, underwritten, melodramatic. Why bother using a wonderful folktale if you’re hardly going to use it? Why bother with swan maidens if you’re not going to have swan maidens? Why bother at all, frankly, if you don’t manage to produce a Swan Lake book better than Mercedes Lackey’s — you know, the one with rapist Siegfried? At least that one has some semblance of material grounding and respect for the source material, not to mention prose which at least hasn’t been fed through the YA funhouse typewriter a thousand times.
3.5⭐️ I was loving this book… until the end. I loved the characters and the story and the setting and the magic. But the ending really ruined it for me. I felt like the ending was setting the story up for a sequel only for the epilogue to time jump and resolve the problem that arose in the final pages of the book. It felt rushed and it didn’t feel like it fit with the rest of the story. Ignoring the last few pages and the epilogue the book was really good. I just wish the ending went in a different direction.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If there’s one thing I love, it’s a Swan Lake retelling. If there’s one way to make THAT even better, it’s making it sapphic. A Treachery of Swans absolutely nailed it. This darkly atmospheric story was filled with banter, deceit, clever plotting, and a much larger mystery than you would believe. I read this entire book in one sitting. The slow burn romance and the complex relationships between the characters was extremely compelling. I absolutely loved how polar opposite the FMC was to the princess she was impersonating and subsequently falling for. It’s one of my favorite things to watch unfold: utterly contrasting characters who fall for each other against all odds.
I sincerely hope there will be more books.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
• sapphic YA swan lake retelling
• magical blood
• heist
• magically impersonate a princess
• unraveling lies
• darkly atmospheric
I sincerely hope there will be more books.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
• sapphic YA swan lake retelling
• magical blood
• heist
• magically impersonate a princess
• unraveling lies
• darkly atmospheric