A review by lili_victoire
Swanna in Love by Jennifer Belle

5.0

I finished this book in 1 night, I really enjoyed it and felt it was unique to its niche which is always something I struggle to find with Lolita stories (which happen to be my favorite genre). I completely understand the subject matter isn’t for everyone and many people who are bothered by it want to see some cerebral deep dive into how terrible things were from the point of view of the minor because they find that cathartic but speaking for myself, I definitely prefer and relate more to a story of this kind where the girl (at least in her own opinion) was the partial aggressor and doesn’t regret what happened. Sometimes the world doesn’t end because of a wild love affair (whatever the scenario), but it becomes a visceral summer memory you dwell on (fondly? Sadly?), that was my take.

For the writing style, I found it very easy to read and felt the flow just made it feel natural to keep going, but the themes and references and character profiles all felt very adult to me, I enjoyed the style.

My only criticism would be that the ending came rather abruptly and there were a few loose ends I felt never got addressed or really tied up. I think it could have still ended the same way overall but with a few extra chapters to get us there.

If you enjoy Lolita and Lolita stories, I highly recommend this. If the concept is disturbing to you, this is probably not the one for you, it’s not damning to the concept in the slightest.