⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – A Dark, Lush, Sapphic Swan Lake Retelling Full of Magic, Murder, and Messy Feelings

This atmospheric fantasy pulls you in with its rich world-building and keeps you turning pages with high-stakes court intrigue, forbidden magic, and a delightfully complicated sapphic dynamic.

Odile is raised by her sorcerer father to steal the crown and restore magic to the kingdom—but her plan involves impersonating Marie, her former childhood friend turned rival… whom she turns into a swan. Naturally. Things spiral quickly when the king is murdered and her brother is blamed, forcing Odile to team up with the elegant (and understandably furious) Marie to untangle a mystery that might involve something more monstrous than either of them expected.

Odile and Marie’s relationship is the emotional heart of the novel—equal parts tension, vulnerability, and chemistry. Their reluctant alliance brings all the enemies-to-lovers energy, and their interactions are layered with history, hurt, and the slow rebuild of trust.

This story is twisty, romantic, and enchantingly dark, with a mythic edge and enough political intrigue to keep things interesting. The pacing occasionally dips under the weight of the plot’s complexity, but the lush writing and strong character arcs more than make up for it.

If you love fairytale retellings with teeth, morally gray heroines, and slow-burn sapphic tension, this one is absolutely worth diving into.

There isn’t much to say about this book that has not already been said before by reviews of equal or worse opinion than mine—which is quite unfortunate, as I was really looking forward to this one.

While I think this book has an extremely interesting premise, it falls flat. There’s a lot going for it—Swan Lake is a classic story that everybody loves, gothic is one of my favorite aesthetics, and I love a friends to enemies to lovers romance—especially when it’s queer.

The main issue with this book, more so than anything else I can say about it, is that Odile sucks. I don’t like her. She’s completely unlikable as a main character, she’s selfish, thinks she’s much smarter than she is, and is, frankly, downright rude. And she gets away with it, too. She steals Marie’s identity and doesn’t even try to come across as a convincing one—she plays herself, hiding behind Marie’s image, and no one really says anything, except Marie herself, and that’s short-lived. Her relationships with others feel two-toned and predictable, and she gets way better treatment from them than she’s treated them. Better treatment than what, personally, I felt she deserves.

It was nearly impossible to enjoy the story because of Odile. I couldn’t get behind it. Telling it from Odile’s perspective was the main draw of this story, in my opinion. I do think there’s some extremely interesting ideas in her. I liked when Odile would talk about magic history. I liked when the book would talk about magic in general. The mystery intrigued me and made me want to keep reading. But books with horrible main characters that it expects you to like are a no from me.

This is a dark, sapphic re-telling of Swan Lake. I loved the French setting and the mystery at the beginning of the book. The first half was filled with tension and intrigue. However, the second half of the book kind of fell off for me. I would recommend this book if you're into French folklore and are interested in a new take on Swan Lake.

I flew (pun absolutely intended) through this one and my goodness, A. B. Poranek is quickly becoming an autobuy author! She crafts exquisitely layered characters that you can't help but root for and I loved the way she handled parental emotional/verbal abuse and manipulation. This is the way retellings should be done!

Thank you so much, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing | Margaret K. McElderry Books and NetGalley, for the chance to read this book in exchange of an honest review.

Two hundred years ago a slighted deity stole magic from Aureal and disappeared and now seventeen years old Odile has a plan to restore magic to her kingdom and win her father's, a vengeful sorcerer, approval. She had to steal Marie d'Odette's identity, a noblewoman, infiltrate the palace and steal the king's crown, an artefact able to restore magic. Marie d'Odette is rumored to be the future queen, so Odile will have to interpret that role. Even though Marie was a childhood friend turned enemy. With her father's help, Marie is turned into a swan and Odile takes her place, but when the king is murdered and her own brother is accused of doing it, Odile is forced to ask Marie for help. To make things worse, there are rumors the king was killed by a beast and Odile is torn between loyalty to her father and her growing feeling for Marie, her friendship with the king's son Aimè and her love for the brother Damian. In a web of lies and treachery, Odile and Marie investigate and to save her kingdom, Odile will have to risk everything she ever held dear and find the real killer before it strikes again.

A treachery of Swan is a imaginative retelling of Swan Lake and deliciously queer, so queer. I loved everything about this book. The complex and abusive relationship between Odile and Rothbarte is the key of what Odile does, trying to win his approval, his love, his respect and she's been molded since childhood to be a liar, a thief and someone able to change at will. But meeting Marie, Amiè and Damian changed everything for her, pushing her to open her eyes and to realize her real situation and to do the right thing.
I loved the relationship between Marie and Odile, made of bickering, saving one other, talking, confessing, trying slowly to be true to themselves and each other and their growing feelings. It was so beautiful to read. Also, I do love Damien and Amiè and I wanted more of them.
The story is intricate, filled with lies, incantations, old and new magic and I truly loved everything, Morgane in particular.
This book is very recommended! If you are looking for a queer set of characters, complex relationship and magic, this book is for you.

2/5 stars. (this one hurts)

Having loved the eerie, folklorish yearning in Where the Dark Stands Still, I was very much looking forward to this story. I also think the Swan Lake/Princess fairy tale is so underused in fairy tale retellings and its one of my favorites, so a gothic, sapphic retelling from the POV of one of the villains had me so hopeful. Sadly, I was left wanting by this story, and not in a good way.

For most of the story, I just did not really care about any of the characters. Though there was a teasing of romantic, gothic prose, much of writing felt very flat - in a way, I'm not sure the first person POV served the story as well as it should. The interactions between the characters felt rushed and forced, or were explained by awkward, not complete backstories that I don't think did the job they were intended to of helping to flesh out the character motivations. Even the world building felt a little flat - the lore of the three goddesses was not well integrated and it felt like the story was a mishmash of potential world features.

There were also many areas of plot holes or sort of convenient "oh this is now explained", and a lot of just very bad decision making. Odile is supposed to be clever, but literally fails at everything when she tries on her own (which would be fine if the narrative felt aware of that, but we are instead fed the idea from other characters that Odile is indeed clever). The drama between Odile and Marie also felt so forced - like they were sort of friends once and then Marie let an adult be kind of mean to Odile, so Odile hated Marie for the rest of her life. There is nothing I dislike more in a story than an overwrought, unnecessary conflict. Even accounting for characters being younger, the conflict between them was so worthless and just felt like it was a way to force an "enemies" to lovers trope. And while I don't think the conflict between Odile and her brother was quite as trivial, the story would hav benefited from that being more fleshed out.

And just a quick note - this is young adult. While I have no problem with that and acknowledge that it is labeled as such, much of the marketing I have seen has positioned it as more romance forward and adult - while romance is involved, I don't think it is well developed enough to truly be romance forward. I also feel like even the author teased elements on social media (like what a dressing room scene would look like if one of the love interests has wings), but those elements are not actually really in the story.

I appreciate many of the elements that were introduced in this story - the perspective of Odile, the idea of a magic heist as motivation for the whole "swan princess" curse and the use of theatre as a backdrop (in an ode to the stage/ballet), but it felt like the author tried to do too much at once, and so nothing felt as fleshed out as it could have.

Thank you to NetGalley/Simon and Schuster Publishing for an advanced copy of this story.

“I want to feel like I’m worth. I’m scared that if I’m not worthy, if I don’t prove myself, I will end up alone again” 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

“Villain are pitiless, villains are unfeeling, villains can’t be hurt. And I am so tired of being hurt”

This book is beautifully written. The story was so intriguing and unique! I loved understanding Odiles life and all her insecurities and overall seeing herself growth throughout the book. I love seeing the “villainous” character recognize how wrong their beliefs are and they end up redeeming themselves. I truly fell in love with Odile because she just didn’t want to be alone anymore 😭😭. I also felt sympathy for Marie, being trapped by societal expectations and feeling her freedom is revoked. Marie truly had “everything” but the one thing she wanted…freedom. MY HEART HURT FOR THESE TWO GIRLS 😭. My only comments is that I wish the ending was longer, I felt like more than 50% of the book was Odile trying to solve the murder. I wish Marie and her were able to work sooner because their complex friendship was so good. I wanted to see her relationship expand to new horizons. I LOVEDDDDDDDDD the plot twists though. PLZ READ THE EPILOGUE!!! Don’t skip it!

Thank you NetGalley for the free electronic arc!!!!

When I heard about a sapphic retelling of Swan Lake, my response was basically "Gimme now!"

This is an incredibly beautifully written love story, and I was enchanted the entire time.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc for this!

Fun retelling, I like the French terms, what I don't like is mostly the pacing. It took more than 2 weeks to read this. I feel like the middle was stretched and then everything happens in the last 40 pages. It's interesting that we find out about the truth before Odile realizes it herself? Was that intentional? When the beast was killing the step mother, it was so obvious that it's Aimé and yet Odile found that out like a while later. It's like I was Chandler waiting for Joey to get it and catch up on the delay.

thank you to Simon Teen for the e-ARC

I did overall enjoy this book, though I had even higher hopes for it initially. sapphic take on swan lake is very much a good sell to me, and I was satisfied by it. this author is a great writer, and I enjoy her prose and characterization.

I have two main gripes: the manipulation and the ending. I struggle in books where our main character is being manipulated and oblivious, which is very much the case here. it leaves me frustrated with our main character’s decisions because they’re so obviously bad. the ending was also just….. strange? a a bit of a left turn, and bit rushed, and then just over.

still, I enjoyed it as a whole, and felt like the main relationship was moving and believable- in the good and the struggle.

A moody, slow-burn, sapphic retelling of Swan Lake for the ages. It was exactly what I needed today. It completely filled my daily quota of yearning!

Lush writing, gothic atmosphere, fully-developed characters, and so on and so forth. Really, it checked all my boxes, I couldn't have asked for more.

A Treachery of Swans follows Odile, the foster daughter of a sorcerer who has trained her to help bring magic back to Auréal. All she needs to do is steal her former friend’s identity, trick the prince into marrying her, and to steal the king’s crown. Easy. Surely no familiar faces from her past or unexpected murders will make this difficult for her.

Odile’s desperation for power and security drive this story. The Black Swan had to be the main character, and it’s so interesting to spend time in her head. She’s a deliciously biased narrator, and I loved getting to uncover truths alongside her. A plot that sounded relatively uncomplicated on the surface had so many twists and turns I got myself caught up in.

All our main character relationships are a delicious tangled knot. I loved watching how Odile bumped up against Marie, Damian, and Aimé just as much as I enjoyed Odile trying to understand how the three of them related to one another. They’re all so desperate for control and freedom in their lives, but it means something very different to all of them.

It’s strange to finish a standalone and wish it had been part of a series. The way the final threads wrap up made me wish more of it had happened on page, it’s an ending that’s maybe a little too neat for all the messy and jagged aspects of the characters I’d previously appreciated.

I really enjoyed my time with this! If you’re even mildly intrigued by the gorgeous US cover like I was, I think you’ll have a great time with this. It promises you sapphic Swan Lake, and oh boy does it deliver.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the eARC.

This was such a beautifully depicted sapphic swan lake retelling!!! It had the perfect slow burn & yearning as well!! It read like a thriller having the perfect amount of mystery & “whodunit”, a perfect YA book. Just bits & pieces reminded me a little bit of Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco, but this timeframe is set in the 17th century. I wish there was a bit more description in the world building, as well as a bit more background in the read, but overall I was very pleasantly surprised!! I will be picking up a physical copy once it comes out because I can see myself rereading this!

Gorgeous storytelling mixes with a Sapphic take on Swan Lake in a lush, baroque setting.

Odile has always obeyed her father, completing missions for him and betraying whoever she must in order to help him gather what he needs to bring magic back to the kingdom of Aureal. Now he gives her the biggest mission of all, to infiltrate the nobility, get the Dauphin to marry her, and steal the powerful Couronne du Roi, the magic-laden crown he needs to finish his work.

To do this, she must become Marie d'Odette, the beautiful white swan of a princess Odile is consistently drawn to. And she must never, ever bleed, lest her disguise is exposed to everyone.

This book took me over and didn't let go until the very last kiss. The beautiful prose and descriptions along with the very fallible characters and the mysteries seeded throughout the story compelled me to finish this in one sitting.

<I> Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review </I>

First off, this book is pure vibes and I love it. Very gothic, swan lake meets phantom of the opera at different parts. I love swan lake and I think this story did an amazing job of weaving the classic in with a full fledged storyline.

Things developed well and I really enjoyed all of the characters, as well as the romance in general. I would have liked to see some more of the side characters as I thought they were each really strong and brought their own additional level to the story.

This just really made you crave that old castle in the middle of winter and its a feeling I thrive in. This was such a good time and a story that moved my emotions as it went on. In true Swan Lake fashion you don't know what ending the author is going to use until you get there and it makes it that much stronger reading through it.

This plays a perfect homage to the production and I devoured it.

LGBTQ rep: sapphic main relationship, achillean side character relationship

Summary: Odile is an actress in her adopted father's theater company, but the two of them are hiding a treacherous secret: they're sorciers, magicians with golden blood that have been run out of the kingdom a hundred years ago after an evil sorcier tried to harm the goddesses, who fled and left the realm to die. The only magic left in the world is in the crown worn by the King on special occasions only, but Odile and her father, Regnault, aren't going to let that stop them. To bring magic back into the world, Odile must infiltrate the palace and convince the crown prince to marry her, as the crown would be brought out for the royal wedding. The only catch? To do so, Odile must take the place of the only girl she's ever felt something for, while Marie-Odette is forced to live as a swan. Only problems arise - Odile is not the only schemer in the palace, and new complications arise at every turn, including those of her own heart.

Review:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! As a theater kid and former dancer myself, I am familiar with the ballet of Swan Lake, and I loved to see the eerie, romantic show come to life on the page. A.B. Poranek excelled particularly at atmosphere - when I think back on this book in my head, I can almost see it like a Pinterest board of golden mist, dark lakes, sparkling gowns, all hinting at corruption and mystery underneath. Occasionally the world-building felt a little two-dimensional (why were the only two buildings on the lake the palace and the theater?), but I actually rather enjoyed that, as it gave me the impression of the sort of set pieces that might have been used in the ballet itself, something that is meant to cast an illusion, to be merely a backdrop to the love and betrayal playing out on stage for the audience. I also really liked Marie - I loved how clever she was, and I was drawn to her (I know how you feel, Odile!). And I really enjoyed Damien and Aime as side characters. Also easy to read, in the sense that I wasn't forcing myself to slog through it, it flowed naturally and I was invested!

DNF @ 40%
As a veteran Barbie Swan Lake lover, I was excited about this one, unfortunately, it just wasn't going in a direction I cared to follow. I never felt interesting in the characters or plot, I kept pushing myself to read but felt little joy in getting deeper into the story. Was this story suppose to be a romance? A murder mystery? A fantastical political drama? A retelling? I DON"T KNOW. It feels as if our author was being pulled in many different directions and I wish she had focused in on one or two of these genres. I felt like everything that happened was just grazing the surface and we are expected to care for characters that we only got to know through "backstory" moments. The writing felt like it dragged and dragged and it just became a book I dreaded going back to. Overall, I think this author just isn't for me/I am not the audience for this book. If you like lush writing, sapphic stories, and gothic settings you might enjoy picking this one up!

SAPPHIC SWAN LAKE RETELLING!!!

Honestly, that was enough for me to pick up this book. And it did not disappoint. It was atmospheric and moody and gothic and full of yearning. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to pick something up that is a little different than what you're used to.

3.5 🌟 a gothic, sapphic Swan Lake retelling that was so lush and atmospheric 🦢 My favorite aspect of this book was the setting and how everything was bleak and dying without magic. I liked the plotting and villainous tendencies of Odile but for some reason struggled with enjoying her as the FMC? Also, a lot happened in this book and it made the pacing a little wonky. I think it definitely could have been a duology (or even a trilogy - making the epilogue its own story). The found family was hard earned but so sweet in the end. Overall, I enjoyed the story and would recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my e-ARC in exchange for my honest review 🫶🏼

I have made it my mission to read every Swan Lake retelling I can find, so when I heard about this one, I was so excited. I'm here to say that this is an excellent version of the story. I loved Odile's character development and her relationship with Marie. There was fun mystery and intrigue this one, all set against a lavish yet rotting 16th century court. Add in the drama of a theater and I'm hooked! The twists and turns kept me intrigued up until the very end. This is a refreshing take on Swan Lake - it delivers on atmosphere and adventure. It's a great pick for anyone interested in Swan Lake retellings like me, sapphic love stories, court intrigue, and unique magic and creatures. I enjoyed this one!