Thank you to NetGalley, A. B. Poranek, and for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I adored Where the Dark Stands Still. I knew I had to request to read A Treachery of Swans on NetGalley. I’m beyond thankful to have been selected. I love the concept of this book. The magic system was interesting. I only wished there was an introduction to the world at the beginning of the book so that I could understand why the sorcerers were upset. I think it would have brought more emotional depth for me. I was expecting a more gothic atmosphere. However, the mood of the book was darker. I loved Odile and Marie’s reluctant friendship to being more. This was a more romantic story than Where the Dark Stands Still. I loved that it felt like reading a play. I highly recommend it!

I don’t know much about Swan Lake, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere and whimsey of this story. I enjoyed the contrast between Marie and Odile, as Marie was kind and gentle while Odile was kind of snarky. Odile did annoy me at times, but learning what she had been through in the past helped me understand why she is the way she is a bit better. I thought that Aimé and Damien were great side characters. The use of magic and sorcery was engaging, and I enjoyed learning about the lore of the setting.

There are a few things that fell short for me. I wish that there were more interactions between Odile and Marie in the first third of the book, as well as more insight into their relationship years prior. I felt that I needed more information on their past to fully understand their connection. Additionally, I wish that there were ten to twenty more pages at the end to fully wrap everything up. I thought the epilogue was lovely, I was just wishing for a little more regarding the other characters. This is a minor comment, but sometimes I would get confused when the characters Regnault and the Regent were on the same page since the names are so similar (maybe this is just a me problem haha).

Overall, this book was lovely, and I would recommend it to someone looking for a story reminiscent of a fairy tale.

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC!
Do you wish Barbie and the Three Musketeers was gay and also gothic? Treachery is a difficult book to review, for while I enjoyed myself every moment I was in it, in the end I wanted more. I wish it was longer. I wish we spent more time with each of the characters. I loved every creeping moment in the chateau, every description of dead gardens and golden blood. In the end, this is a damn good YA book, even if I can see the gaps where it could have been great.

This is a retelling of Swan Lake and while I admit that I haven't any experience with the original story, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The story and the characters, I found to be both incredibly captivating. This story felt whimsical and I really loved the writing. I only realized after finishing this book that this is the same author that wrote Where the Dark Stands Still. Which makes everything make much more sense as I also thoroughly enjoyed that book. So far, both of A.B. Poranek's books have received 4/5 star ratings from me. I'm a huge fan of the cover artwork as well. I preordered A Treachery of Swans a while back and am so glad that I did because the ARC did not disappoint me.

While this is a sapphic, gothic romance, this is also an exceedingly slow-burn romance. Most of the romance happens off of the page, so if you're looking for a more open-door sapphic romance, you won't find it here. I didn't mind any of this, but just a heads-up for fellow readers!

The only thing I really struggled with was that I felt the ending was a bit rushed. Without spoiling anything, I wish that the epilogue had dove more into Odile's adventures at resolution. I also wish that we had received more about what life turned into afterwards with the kingdom. These are small complaints and completely based on personal preference, but it's what kept me from rating it 5/5 stars.

I would definitely recommend this book and it piqued my interest in the original story as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

TW: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Gaslighting, Classism, Abandonment

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! All thoughts are my own.

"I’m not the delicate, white-feathered bird they believe me to be. I’m the darkness of cold gutters and merciless nights, the bruised shadows beneath a thief’s desperate eyes. I’m nothing but a lie, a twisted reflection, a black swan."

After the masterpiece that was When The Dark Stands Still, I had the highest of hopes for this book. I was ecstatic when I received the ARC and had to jump into it immediately. However, it did not live up to her first novel.

The writing was beautiful and the story was incredibly atmospheric. I just had so many problems with the main character Odile. She aggravated me to no end. Yes she went through wonderful character development, but it was hard to read up until that point. And then the ending of this book has me feeling off. Like I'm strung out, it's hard to explain.

I do think this is a good sapphic retelling of Swan Lake, though it's not my favorite book I've read. I do recommend it if you're looking for a fairytale-like story though.

Odile thinks she is clever, smart, cunning and ruthless. Instead she’s insecure, snarky, and … not that intelligent. Her father has her pretending to be Marie — a young woman of noble birth — but Odile has no idea who Marie is, what her past is, how she thinks, talks or acts. Oh, she was Marie’s maid for a brief span of time when they were children, but that’s it. She has no idea why Marie has been gone from court, what happened to Marie’s father, what Marie’s relationship with the Dauphin is, but that’s okay. Odile’s wearing plot armor so thick nothing will stop her.

Past all of that, there are parts of the story that I think are well done. Odile’s relationship with her father is toxic; he’s controlling, manipulative, emotionally abusive but for all that, he’s still the man Odile thinks of as her father and even at the end of the book, when all plot twists are revealed, she still thinks of him that way, which shapes how she acts, how she reacts. Her strained relationship with her brother feels genuine, as does her crush on Marie and her slow realization that she is falling for the girl she has trapped as a swan.

The magic system is well done, with the three goddess of magic having vanished, all that’s left are faint traces of them in charmed items. Magic and the weaving of it is more of an art borne of intention than calculated craft, and there are some nice red herrings tossed around that work within the story and play fair with the plot. While the plot itself is straightforward, I think it holds up well. The author never tried to put surprises over story, which I am always a fan of.

The writing has its moments of being … a bit stilted, a bit much, but it’s told from the viewpoint of a young woman theatrically trained to be an actress specializing in villain roles, so I forgive it for some of the grand phrasing and overly poetic moments. I also liked the epilogue, neatly tying up the last thread of the story without drawing it out too long. All in all, I think this was a fun book that I’d recommend for people looking for a good YA fairy tale retelling.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC!

I really enjoyed Poranek's writing style in Where the Dark Stands Still, and one of my favorite childhood movies was The Swan Princess, so when I saw Swan Lake retelling from an author I've enjoyed previously, I was sold! The book definitely didn't disappoint - thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the ARC.

Something I really appreciate about Poranek's writing, that's become especially apparent now that I've read two books by her, is that she is great at building up the atmosphere around the characters in the book. The town in this book <i>felt</i> French, the French phrases woven throughout felt natural and not forced, and the supporting characters all felt fitting for the time period. It felt like a quintessential fairytale village and was very easy to get sucked in.

The relationships in this are also lovely - not just Odile and Marie, but also Odile and Aimé and Marie and Aimé were bright spots for me. I would've loved to see more than just hints at the friendship/relationship between Damien and Aimé also, truly the cast of characters here was so fun to read! Even some other supporting characters, both good and bad, had so much more depth than at first glance (the Step-Mother is a standout for me) and despite knowing Swan Lake and the general storyline, the characters felt fresh and could stand on their own from my view. Odile being the protagonist was a great choice that I think really added complexity to the story - her internal monologue about how she views herself and the world around her was really well done and powerful, and you can't help but love her despite being a self-proclaimed "villain." If anything, I wish I could read <b>more</b> about the characters - more scenes from Odile and Marie's childhood, from Marie and Aimé's childhood, from Damien and Aimé's burgeoning relationship. I loved the characters Poranek wrote, I wanted more!

The one major critique/pain point I have, is that the ending felt quite rushed. I actually started to think around the 95% mark that she was setting up for a sequel because of how the storyline progressed, which surprised me since I'd gone into this expecting a standalone. Except... it is a standalone, and that storyline that seemed like it was about to span an entire second book got wrapped up in a few pages. It was very jarring, because otherwise I felt the rest of the book was really well paced and easy to follow. I don't feel the book was especially long, and could've been even 10-20 pages longer to give the ending a bit more space to breathe.

That said - I enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend it. I think it was slightly more enjoyable for me than Where the Dark Stands Still, and has solidified A.B. Poranek as a must buy author for me moving forward.

This book had so many twists and turns I was on the edge of my seat! Such a beautifully written story where I could see so many elements from Swan Lake woven into the story!

Hmm I'm a little disappointed. This story had a lot of potential and it was a highly anticipated read for me. Unfortunately, it felt pretty surface level, and I didn't care all that much about the characters. I would've liked to get a deeper understanding of them, and I think that would have improved the story for me. Sad, because it had a lot of promise!

🌒✨ 4/5 STARS — An Enchanting Swan-Dive into Betrayal, Magic & Forbidden Love! ✨🌘
🖤🦢 A Treachery of Swans by A. B. Poranek is a gothic, slow-burn, sapphic fairytale that flutters between beauty and brutality like the wings of its cursed heroines. It’s Swan Lake meets Six of Crows meets Carmilla, and it’s here to steal your heart — and maybe stab it a little too. 💔🔮🗡️

👑 THE SETUP:
Odile is a foundling raised in isolation by a mysterious sorcerer who trained her to be a thief, spy, and weapon of revenge. Her mission? Infiltrate the golden court of Auréal, deceive its rulers, and steal a magical crown said to control the flow of magic itself. 🏰🧙‍♂️💎

But things go sideways fast when the king is murdered on her first night inside the palace (um, awkward?? 😳) and Odile finds herself forced into an uneasy alliance with Marie — the sharp, radiant, very-much-alive real princess who was supposed to be out of the picture. 💃👑

💘 THE ROMANCE:
This is enemies-to-reluctant-allies-to-something-much-more. 🫣 The chemistry between Odile and Marie simmers. They're cautious, calculating, and constantly circling each other, testing loyalties and boundaries. It’s filled with glances that linger too long, whispered warnings in empty hallways, and one GORGEOUS moment involving a hairpin that had me screaming. 🩶

There’s no insta-love here. Their bond builds slowly through trust, betrayal, sacrifice, and shared trauma. And when it blooms, it feels earned — soft, fierce, and stunning. 🌹🕊️

🪞 CHARACTERS THAT SHINE:

Odile is one of the most layered protagonists I’ve read in a while — she’s been taught to be a tool, not a person, and watching her slowly discover agency and tenderness is beautiful. She’s clever, emotionally guarded, but deeply yearning. 💔

Marie is ALL regal steel and hidden softness. She has her own goals, her own secrets, and she’s not a passive princess — she challenges Odile at every turn, both intellectually and emotionally. 👊👑

🎭 WHY IT WORKS:

The whole book is framed like a play, broken into scenes instead of chapters — it feels theatrical and stylized, like you’re watching a cursed fairytale unfold on stage. 🎬🕯️

The world is rich and dark — golden palaces that hide rusted secrets, forests that breathe with ancient curses, and magic that’s beautiful but costly. 🌲🩸

The writing? GORGEOUS. Poranek’s prose is lush without being overbearing — lyrical in a way that makes you want to highlight every other paragraph. 🖋️✨

🐌 WHY IT’S NOT A FULL 5:

The pacing sags slightly in the middle — there’s a lot of court politics and strategic maneuvering that, while interesting, slows the momentum. 🕰️

The climax is thrilling, but the resolution feels just a bit too fast. I wanted more time to sit with the emotional consequences, more epilogue, more after. 😭🕊️

📚 READ IF YOU LOVE:
✔️ Sapphic slow burns that ache
✔️ Fairy tales dipped in poison and velvet
✔️ Scheming princesses, morally complex thieves, and magically cursed crowns
✔️ A dark, elegant, and emotionally intelligent fantasy with teeth 🩸✨

🦢 FINAL VERDICT:
A Treachery of Swans is everything I crave in a fantasy: haunting atmosphere, queer romance, fierce women, and morally complex magic. It’s a book about identity, survival, and the power of rewriting the roles we’re given — even if we were cast as the villain. 🎭💔

A stunning debut that proves fairy tales don’t end at midnight. Sometimes, they begin with blood on the ballroom floor. 💃🗡️👑

A lush, sapphic retelling of Swan Lake set in a richly imagined 18th-century France-inspired fantasy world, Treachery of Swans is the kind of book that sweeps you away from page one. Following Odile (“the black swan”) and her mission to restore magic to the kingdom, this standalone fantasy blends court intrigue, betrayal, and a slow-burn romance that’s heartfelt and compelling.

While pitched as YA, this reads more like crossover fantasy—mature characters, elegant prose, and no explicit content. The relationship between Odile and Marie (“the swan princess”) is delicately crafted, emotionally layered, and full of tension. The dynamic between side characters is also strong, making the world feel rich and lived-in.

Fans of A Study in Drowning will love the beautiful writing style and atmospheric magic, though this is less dark thematically. Whether you know Swan Lake or not, this novel offers a fresh and standalone experience with plenty of unique twists.

Perfect for readers who love romantic subplots, pretty prose, and fairy tale retellings with bite. Highly recommended!

I really loved Where the Dark Stands Still and I was super excited about this book!

The writing was beautiful and the gothic vibes were on point. The world building and magic system were very interesting! The concept of gold blood was not something I have personally come across before. It also tackled manipulative and narcissistic parents, which was unexpected and although I don't have experience with that, it seemed like anyone who does would resonate with it and appreciate it. This book really put its own unique spin on Swan Lake too!

I found Odile to be a bit off-putting when it came to her playing the role of Marie, because she is described as being a great and practiced actor, yet is continuously doing and saying things that Marie would not. A lot of the plot was also predictable, but as it got closer to the end I started getting caught off-guard and was more invested.

As far as comps that I've seen: it did remind me of Little Thieves a lot, obviously Swan Lake, I see the Phantom of the Opera comp too. More A Dark and Drowning Tide than A Study in Drowning to me. Definitely a solid YA fantasy.

I loved A Treachery of Swans. This book felt catered to me, with how it is a Swan Lake retelling and sapphic.
Odile was such an amazing character. Seeing her struggle with her morals truly felt like reading a book from a villain's point of view, which I've seen many books try to do, but few succeed. The relationship between her and Marie was outstanding. I loved the consistent not only swan but general bird themeing around them. I love Aimé and Damien as well, and I will always treasure a found family.
This book was also an upgrade from Where the Drak Stands Still, since I found that book rather boring till the end, which I enjoyed.
Thank you, Simona and Schister, and NetGalley, for the eARC.

I wasn't entirely sure how much I would enjoy A Treachery of Swans when I first began reading. The premise had me by the throat and I was hooked, but the start of the book was slow. The FMC was irritating in her anger, judgement, stubbornness, and distrust and I struggled to find something to hold onto. I immediately was intrigued by Odette but she too was a character barely there before disappearing. Still, I continued on, and I'm glad I did. The story steadily gained my interest once Odile infiltrated the palace and I was locked in when Odette became a more regular character, the same as the prince. I LOVED these two characters and they helped balance my frustration with Odile.

There were numerous times where I questioned how easily Odile was sneaking out of the palace nightly to see Odette and neither getting caught. I was also a bit confused about the moving pieces, but I was thoroughly surprised by the prince being the monster. I often see that type of thing clearly but this time it was a surprise.

I adored the ending of the book, I adored the romance between the girls. I was hopeful for a moment of a second book to show Odile trying to gain the magic of the sisters but also, since she was my less favorite character, I'm glad we just time jumped for the epilogue to her saving Odette (thank goodness!).

Overall, a solid read. I'm interested in reading the other book of this author in the future as I hadn't read her first novel prior to this!

I like the premise and I did like the characters, they don’t grow much per se but their character is revealed over time for better or for worse and I enjoyed getting to know all of them.

BUT That TikTok sound “what happened to hello. How are you” but it’s what happened to setting a scene. Prolonging a vibe.

For a book so dependent on atmosphere it sure didn’t cultivate any. We got half details for so much of the story that it was hard to picture even what the gowns looked like. We’re referencing like 17/18th century France but then the main character wears a form fitting gown? And no one is shook? And in what world is a theater down the lake from a palace.. that bugged me the whole book. There’s no uniformity to the way the characters speak. It’s so informal for the setting. I don’t think Odile eats or worries about eating a single time. Just little details like that can cultivate a world without adding bulk and there was too much racing around in this.

3.25*

I went into this expecting a black forest cake but god gave me vanilla sponge instead

A Treachery of Swans is, overall, a perfectly fine YA fantasy, with an interesting world inspired by early modern France, the most animated-movie-esque characters ever, and a horribly predictable plot. The prose was also... something. Most of the time it's inoffensive but then Odile will drop a bar that is so cringe I have to close my eyes for a second, and rethink my life choices.

It's not a terrible book, and I could see promise in it, but the characters were so predictable —although the author did add some unique things to their backstories, they ultimately fell flat for me— and Odile's monologues went on for wayyy too long at times. Marie was slightly better, but she didn't have enough screen time for me to fully appreciate her. I was sorta invested in Aimé and Damien's story, but it was never resolved in the end. That was super frustrating.

I had pretty high expectations due to the marketing, which is why my rating is lower that maybe what it deserves. I was expecting a rich, dark, gothic world, with compelling, morally grey characters. The atmosphere didn't feel very gothic to me, nor were the two leads ever really enemies. Odile being considered a villain is also lowkey laughable — most she could manage is a villain's henchman, lol

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the ARC. All thoughts are my own :D

About this book: Swan Lake retelling / Swan Princess vibes. Tropes: court intrigue, betrayal, greed, outlawed magic, slow burn. The story follows Odile, a girl that has had to hide and deceive so much that she sees herself as the villain, and Marie- a girl in a gilded cage that seems to have everything but freedom.
I really loved their relationship once they start working together to work through all the layers of deceit. I think the blood being an indicator of magic is really unique take. I also enjoyed that the book's chapters were referred to as Acts, so that it follows the idea of the theater. The book is told through Odile's POV, which I think the single point of view really sticks to the idea of theater and is very powerful for this story. The book overall is a very solid sapphic fantasy with a slow burn and lots of twists.
““Do you think I want any of that?” Marie’s voice trembles abruptly. I pause, taken aback. “Why wouldn’t you? You’ll have everything. Wealth, power, safety . . .” “Except one thing,” she says. “Freedom.””
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher, Simon and Schuster, for an advance electronic copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I was THRILLED to see a queer romance retelling of Swan Lake: I have been dying for someone to pick up this concept probably since I was 10 years old watching Barbie Swan Lake (iykwk). However, my only requirement for a swan lake retelling is that it be atmospheric!! And unfortunately this failed on that count. As much as this Rococo theatre inspired retelling tried to capture the magic of the much-loved ballet, I fear that Barbie Swan Lake still rises higher in my esteem. I didn't feel remotely captured by the atmosphere of the story. Part of this is the dreary backdrop required for this world without magic, but Poranek's brand of storytelling also isn't one that lingers much on the physical world. Seeing women reduced to mean girl stereotypes in to first 20 pages didn't help matters either. I was most let down by the romance itself: Poranek's Odile utterly lacks teeth, leaving her supposed characterization as a sly, cunning, and manipulative laughably unbelievable, and Odette is just sort of,...there? I guess? Most of her scenes are hardly memorable, not helped but the fact that Poranek has managed to suck the tension from one of the dynamics with THE most romantic tension of all.

Sapphic swan lake? Take my money. It’s so atmospheric, it’s an amazing YA read for anyone. Especially lovers of Swan Lake in general.

Poranek's lush, lyrical writing drew me in immediately, and I found myself flying through the first third of this book. I am fond of the original Swan Lake, and the elements introduced in this retelling seemed very promising both in general and in regards to my specific interests. I enjoyed the characters, though I think they all could have done with more fleshing out. And unfortunately, this book suffers from the same problem I have found in many romantasies: the author struggles to develop the fantasy elements alongside the central romance. Instead, she developed the fantasy plot for a while before realizing the romance was being neglected and then switched, and kept doing so throughout the book in a way that was a bit jarring.