Order of Swans
In this spellbinding, fantasy-rich novel, a woman is swept into a world where she has the power to alter fairy tales, and change a kingdom's destiny... To Kaley Arens, a PhD student and expert in folklore, fairy stories have always had a power and an allure beyond mere entertainment. It's only when Kaley accompanies her lifelong friend Jobi on a visit to his home that she realizes how much she still has to learn. Bellis isn't the remote island that she believed it to be. It's another world--a stunningly beautiful and seductive one, with its own royalty, its own rules, and inhabitants who breathe life into the tales she was taught were fiction. Kaley's presence is no simple holiday. She has a mysterious connection with Jobi and with Bellis, and abilities that may help determine this world's fate. Tasked with locating a lost prince, Kaley and her companions--the enigmatic Tanek, a member of the Order of Swans, and Sojee, Kaley's colossal bodyguard--journey through a land both thrilling and terrifying, where the uncanny and the familiar go hand in hand. But in fairy tales, heroes and villains are easy to discern. Here, nothing is quite as it seems. And though Kaley is discovering that she can change the outcome of the fairy tales she knows so well, her own story is unfolding in ways impossible to predict, with a destiny she could never have foretold...
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1 primary book#1 in The Blue Swan duology
The Blue Swan duology is a 1-book series first released in 2025 with contributions by Jude Deveraux.
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DNF at 16% (~56 pages)
i know the ARCs i receive aren't always the final copy that ends up published, but this read like a first draft. the writing was juvenile and the MC came across to me as someone in her early teens, not a PhD candidate in her mid twenties.
there is a scene early on where she's reporting to speak to a king and is already almost late and covered in dirt. a man she met like five minutes earlier walks into the room and she throws something of his at him then runs up and leaps into his arms while he spins her around. like?? you already know you're pushing it with how you're dressed, so why would you do this?
the pacing was sooo confusing. i had to reread pieces of the first chapter repeatedly to figure out the timing of some parts and still walked away confused by it.
an aside, but the emphasis on weight also rubbed me the wrong way. i'm sure there will be a reason why she needs to be physically fit, but talking about how her stomach is too “soft” and then later being thankful that she was working out because she looked good in front of a hot guy was just like... idk, i didn't love it
i DNFed because if i finished this, it would probably end up being 1 star. part of me wanted to finish it just to see if it improves, but i had to remind myself that i am trying not to waste my time on stuff i don't like this year.
disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for review consideration
