I really wanted to like this one based on the premise especially with the poly aspect but I just couldnt get into it. Might be my mood but I wasnt enjoying the characters or connecting with them

"I do not have a type! I am a type. I am the mysterious maiden who will not let anyone get close, who tempts people yet holds them at bay. I'm a siren who leads people toward their doom, the swan song of a love that never could be. I am the beautiful Fairy Queen, the entrancing witch in the forest who is lethally beautiful and forever out of reach."

So this is a queer Swan Lake retelling. Basically the only thing I could tell you about Swan Lake is 'uh ...she gets turned into a swan at some point?' so I'm not sure how closely this follows along with the original version, but it's still a fun read even if you only have a passing familiarity with the original subject matter. The main characters are two bisexual girls and a non-binary princen [apparently the gender neutral term for prince[ss], you learn something new every day] and it's an actual poly-amorous relationship instead of a horrible love triangle! Hallelujah!

The writing style is very reminiscent of a fairy tale, by which I guess I mean it's very lyrical but also kind of stripped down and basic. I feel like this kind of writing style works well for fairy tale retellings because it evokes the feel of the original, but also it makes it a bit harder for me to relate to the characters because they all seem just a little bit distant. It was definitely a very interesting read though and I like the general world the author has built, obviously basing it on Russia and China but changing some things around. If you're looking for queer fairy tale retellings I would definitely recommend this.

A rather interesting take on Swan Lake with a diverse cast of characters. My only real gripes were with the way the overall story is written. There's quite a bit of telling rather than showing. I also wish the dialogue was a bit better.

This is a re-telling of Swan Lake except instead of the hag being a hag she's a young beautiful forest person who falls in love with the princess and saves the day. The plot is well done but the characters are not fleshed out at all. Lots of info dumps, very slow paced. The villain is almost too nice? As in I still can't tell if he was or was not planning on killing the heroine. The story is told by an unreliable narrator and the villain is not given much time at all to explain their motives and I think this book really needed that. I think the world that was built was interesting and I wanted more world building even if it meant the book was longer. Overall I found the style of the book to be very slow paced and a little dragging but the romance/intrigue elements too fast paced to be interesting.

As both a queer reader and former ballet dancer, I really love the premise of this book: a Swan Lake retelling with an all-queer cast. As a regular book reviewer, I had a number of problems while reading.

I'll start off with the good: I absolutely LOVED the complete normalization of all kinds of sexual orientations and genders in a fantasy setting, and I especially enjoyed seeing the f/f and background ace rep (I'm wlw and acespec myself). Unfortunately, I never felt like I was able to connect with the writing or any of the characters. The dialogue was awkward and unnatural, the pacing was all over the place, and all of the scenes were too focused on description and summary. There's a good story in there, with representation that I appreciated on a very personal level, but it was too bogged down by clumsy writing for me to truly enjoy it.