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A review by inspiretruthblog
Court of Swans by Melanie Dickerson
3.0
Fairytale meets Historical Fiction with Court of Swans, in a very loosely inspired retelling of the famous fairytale, The Wild Swans. Fast-paced, often rushed, this novel is perfect for young girls, pre-teen/teens, looking for an exhilarating new fantasy to get lost in. While I'll admit that I did enjoy flowing through this novel, I am not Melanie Dickerson’s target audience and will therefore be more critical than most.
Delia Dericott and her seven brothers are reunited after the sudden death of their father. Hated by her stepmother, Delia is comforted to have her beloved brothers home; however, the peace is short-lived because, soon after the funeral, a company of king’s guards arrives to arrest all of her brothers for treason.
Sir Geoffrey is on his first assignment, yet the thrill of doing his duty dissipates upon arriving at the Dericott's palace. Arresting seven brothers for treason, the youngest being no more than ten, sits uneasily with Sir Geoffrey; nevertheless, he has no choice but to obey the king’s orders, no matter how much his conscience protests and the brothers’ beautiful sister demands their release.
Taken to the Tower of London, the Dericott brothers are helpless. With no one to testify in their favor, Delia flees from her stepmother to save her brothers, but what can she do? Will she be able to stop the king from declaring a guilty verdict? Can she hide with the servants to stay close to where they are imprisoned? And, what of the knight who took her brothers away, can he truly be trusted?
Opening the pages of history, Court of Swans takes you back to medieval England; however, readers do not have enough time to be introduced to the setting or characters before being thrown into the conflict surrounding the whole novel. As other reviewers have stated, there was no depth to the storyline, and while the plot held my attention until the end, I felt as though I was reading the middle of a book rather than one from start to finish. Honestly, Court of Swans was very anti-climatic and repetitive. While it seemed that a lot was going on, it all ended as quickly as it began, making it very difficult to connect and feel the protagonists' anguish. Also, it seems as though Delia is handed all the answers rather than going on a quest to search out the truth for herself; instead, the narrative keeps her close to her brothers (who do not have any personality except for Edwin), where she knits them sweaters (which I know is a nod to the fairytale, but doesn’t have the same reaction as Hans Christian Andersen’s telling) and prays through the hopelessness of their predicament.
Those things said, I will end by stating that I did connect to the crisis Delia and her brothers faced since I, too, am going through very similar challenges, though not as dire. The theme of finding joy in the midst of tribulations and crying out to the God of justice while so much injustice is served all spoke to my heart. So, while this novel is not for adults, I closed the book feeling inspired by the hopeful message found within its pages.
Positive content: 4⭐️
Language: 1⭐️
Sexual content: 2⭐️
Violence: 2⭐️
Age: 11+
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a pre-release copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are entirely my own!*
Delia Dericott and her seven brothers are reunited after the sudden death of their father. Hated by her stepmother, Delia is comforted to have her beloved brothers home; however, the peace is short-lived because, soon after the funeral, a company of king’s guards arrives to arrest all of her brothers for treason.
Sir Geoffrey is on his first assignment, yet the thrill of doing his duty dissipates upon arriving at the Dericott's palace. Arresting seven brothers for treason, the youngest being no more than ten, sits uneasily with Sir Geoffrey; nevertheless, he has no choice but to obey the king’s orders, no matter how much his conscience protests and the brothers’ beautiful sister demands their release.
Taken to the Tower of London, the Dericott brothers are helpless. With no one to testify in their favor, Delia flees from her stepmother to save her brothers, but what can she do? Will she be able to stop the king from declaring a guilty verdict? Can she hide with the servants to stay close to where they are imprisoned? And, what of the knight who took her brothers away, can he truly be trusted?
Opening the pages of history, Court of Swans takes you back to medieval England; however, readers do not have enough time to be introduced to the setting or characters before being thrown into the conflict surrounding the whole novel. As other reviewers have stated, there was no depth to the storyline, and while the plot held my attention until the end, I felt as though I was reading the middle of a book rather than one from start to finish. Honestly, Court of Swans was very anti-climatic and repetitive. While it seemed that a lot was going on, it all ended as quickly as it began, making it very difficult to connect and feel the protagonists' anguish. Also, it seems as though Delia is handed all the answers rather than going on a quest to search out the truth for herself; instead, the narrative keeps her close to her brothers (who do not have any personality except for Edwin), where she knits them sweaters (which I know is a nod to the fairytale, but doesn’t have the same reaction as Hans Christian Andersen’s telling) and prays through the hopelessness of their predicament.
Those things said, I will end by stating that I did connect to the crisis Delia and her brothers faced since I, too, am going through very similar challenges, though not as dire. The theme of finding joy in the midst of tribulations and crying out to the God of justice while so much injustice is served all spoke to my heart. So, while this novel is not for adults, I closed the book feeling inspired by the hopeful message found within its pages.
Positive content: 4⭐️
Language: 1⭐️
Sexual content: 2⭐️
Violence: 2⭐️
Age: 11+
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a pre-release copy of this book. My thoughts and opinions are entirely my own!*