Review Detail

A Treachery of Swans by A.B. Poranek is YA fantasy novel that will ultimately rip your heart out over and over again, and thank Poranek for it. Magic has long been outlawed in Auréal . Odile has always known she’d be the one to restore it. Raised by a sorcerer, Odile has spent years preparing for the heist of a lifetime. It’s perfectly simple. Impersonate a princess, infiltrate the palace, steal the king's enchanted crown and restore magic to the kingdom. But when the King is unexpectedly murdered, she’s forced to recruit the help of Marie d'Odette, the real princess, and the two begin to unravel a web of lies and deceit that leaves Odile uncertain of who to trust. Soon though Odile must decide – her mission or the girl she’s falling for? The fate of the Kingdom depends on her making the right choice. . .

It's no secret that A.B. Poranek's previous novel, Where the Dark Stands Still, was by far my favorite read of 2023. So I just knew that this book would become my favorite of 2025, but I was sadly disappointed.

First, let's start with the positives. I don't think I've read a retelling quite like this one. In that it combines my love of Phatom of the Opera with the more obscure (at least to me) Swan Lake. While also making it dark and spooky, and making me wish I read this closer to Halloween time than right now. Regardless, the plot was super easy to follow along to and I absolutely adored Odile and all of her little schemes. She reminded me a lot of Vanja from Margaret Owen's Little Thieves, with a little less gems. Which I LOVED given that I wish YA had more diverse (and often feral) female protagonists that disregard the narrative of being dainty damsels.

What I didn't like about this book was it's general pacing. It had a very abrupt start, that I feel like needed more lead up before the action really started. While the middle slowed down a bunch, and the ending spend up. Which in my opinion, isn't always a bad thing, but in this case I kinda of wish it was evenly divided as to keep my attention.

Regardless to say, I still really liked this book. I still highly recommend anything and everything by A.B. Poranek, and will gladly read all the things they publish.