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jessversteeg 's review for:
The Swan Harp
by Elizabeth Creith
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Let me first say that I don’t think this should be marketed as YA, but pre-teen middle grade. If it had been marketed as that, I would have enjoyed the book a lot more—and I think others would to because they’d know better what to expect. I also feel like the cover is misleading. It gives “dark fairytale” vibes but that’s not what this is. It’s a nice fairytale story that has a friends-to-lovers trope.
The plot was interesting enough, but I wouldn’t say I adored the main character. I did want to see how things played out and didn’t totally see the events at the end coming. I wanted to see how the MC would fare. She’s actually probably one of the more relatable MCs I’ve read recently, in that she was actually fairly average. She made some wise decisions, but otherwise was fairly plain. So many books these days feature a “plain” “average” FMC, but in reality these young women are anything but. Kiar, on the other hand was pretty vanilla and that’s ok—especially for middle grade readers.
The plot was interesting enough, but I wouldn’t say I adored the main character. I did want to see how things played out and didn’t totally see the events at the end coming. I wanted to see how the MC would fare. She’s actually probably one of the more relatable MCs I’ve read recently, in that she was actually fairly average. She made some wise decisions, but otherwise was fairly plain. So many books these days feature a “plain” “average” FMC, but in reality these young women are anything but. Kiar, on the other hand was pretty vanilla and that’s ok—especially for middle grade readers.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood