3.5 stars

I was so excited to get my hands on this arc since Where the dark stands still was one of my favorite reads last year. This book unfortunately didn’t quite meet my expectations. I was bored until around maybe 70% of the story. The feelings between Odile and Marie honestly make no sense to me. Nothing about their relationship felt believable.

I think the thing that I didn’t like the most was the epilogue. It feels like a missed opportunity for a second book. I would have loved to read about Odile going on an adventure.

All in all it was a good read and I would recommend it to others that are looking for a YA fantasy. Thank you NetGalley for the arc!

Poranek set the stage for a truly beautiful, exciting, and atmospheric retelling of Swan Lake, full of magic, mayhem, and drama.

In a world where magic is outlawed, a young sorcière triggers a sequence of events years in the making in an effort to return magic to the lands. All she needs to do is impersonate the enchanting Swan Princess, infiltrate the court, and steal the crown. But when a wrench is thrown into her cautiously laid plans she must seek help from the one person who she trusts the least, the Swan Princess herself.

Right from the beginning, I was in love with Poranek’s ethereal and immersive storytelling. Each chapter of the book is a scene, an act played out for the reader to feel transported in, and I was wholly captured by this tale. I loved the dark whimsical fairytale edge Poranek brought to the timeless story, and I was lost in the pages of this heist. It kept me on the edge of my seat!

There was a dreamy quality to this retelling reminiscent of the ballet and inspiration itself. I loved the morally grey characters and the themes of dark, light, trust, loyalty, and love. I also really enjoyed the little found family in this story and can’t wait to read Where the Dark Stands Still as well!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

This wasn’t my favorite, but I know there are going to be people who love it. I loved the concepts and the plot elements, but I found the main character to be very frustrating. As a result, I just couldn’t get into this book the way that I wanted to and I also didn’t feel super connected to the romance. But I think people who liked this author’s first book will also like this one, as well as people who are fans of con artist storylines.

Lush writing and a intriguing plot combine to make A Treachery of Swans an absolute delight!

Readers follow Odile as she navigates her way from orphan, to thief, to feigned royalty. Her hunger to return magic to her kingdom is insatiable but playing politics is a complicated and dangerous thing..particularly when love enters the game.

This world and it's magic are the absolute stars in my opinion. Poranek has written this tale in such an evocative and lush way that in truth, the plot and characters played second fiddle for me. They are intriguing enough though and together they combine to weave a story that feels sultry and savage.

I think if you consider yourself a atmosphere over plot reader...this will be a sure win!

The way this was written was so beautiful. I was grabbed immediately from page one because of the writing style alone.

I really love character driven books. I just seem to fall in love with them quicker. I've always enjoyed Swan Lake so a sapphic more gothic retelling was literally right up my alley. The plot was just a touch hard to get into in the beginning but once it got going it REALLY gets going.

Even the side characters were engaging. I wanted to know absolutely everything about them. I do feel like at the beginning I didn't get enough between the main characters and I wanted a bit more but that's rectified later.

Seriously though the writing style.

The gothic atmosphere makes this a perfect read for the fall. Unfortunately, I didn’t connect with the characters. I didn’t find myself rooting for them and I didn’t feel invested in the personal growth of the main character.

The sapphic love story was cute and kept me reading. If it weren’t for that romance, I probably would have walked away simply because the characters fell flat for me.

Overall, the vibes were on point for fall, I just would have preferred more robust character development.

i had some time to think about this book. some things i think should be discussed.

- i absolutely loved the interactions between marie x odile, but they became repetitive & by the end, i just wanted the book to end.

- unfortunately, odile referring to herself as a continual villain didn't reiterate her villainy. she's clearly not & there is an in depth discussion of narcissism & that regnault is actually a piece of shit whose consistently being the dirt bag father figure she wants. the pacing of odile understanding/learning that after the climax lagged.

- i will always adore this sapphic take on swan prince BUT marie x odile's relationship falls flat. too flat.

this would've been a two star read if it wasn't for the epilogue. absolutely PERFECT

To preface this review, I am only vaguely familiar with the story of Swan Lake, however– as a huge fan of gothic themes and writing, coupled with my enjoyment of Poranek’s last standalone Where the Dark Stands Still, I was anticipating that I would enjoy this book. It was an enjoyable read overall, however, there were some instances where I was left feeling dissatisfied or eager for more.

The plot itself was enjoyable (despite it being semi-predictable in the mystery elements of the plot), engaging, and well-paced, however, I would say the heist aspect of the plot was not as solidified as it was advertised. There were concepts of a heist….!! Additionally, I have followed the author’s work since WTDSS, and knowing this was meant to be a standalone left the ending and epilogue not surprising. But I wish in the future Poranek will try out fleshing out their stories in a duology or maybe even a trilogy :) Another thing I was picky about is the lack of explanation of the magic system in this book. Coming from an avid fantasy fiction reader, I was hoping we would be able to dive deeper into it, but of course, I feel like that would’ve made more sense if this was a book series.

One thing Poranek truly excels at is setting the atmosphere of a book. It’s really like I can picture the setting in my head. The theatre, the gardens, it felt so whimsical, dark, and luscious. There was a slight disconnect for me at times when trying to picture this as a “gothic” book when the next few lines would include some juvenile, silly, dialogue but again, this being a YA the more serious aspects of gothic books being lack-luster was no surprise.

Another thing I appreciated about this book was the characters! I liked a majority of them, they are silly, complex at times, and you definitely connect with some of them in my opinion! I wish the early relationship between Odile and Marie was explored more or they were given a different reason for their falling out in early childhood. To me, the reason didn’t warrant that much angst and slow burn in their later years. It was kinda an underwhelming reason to hate each other that much in my personal opinion. I was hoping Odile would be a more serious character, of course, I ended up liking how clumsy, bratty, and silly she can be at times but considering her whole shtick was proving herself to her father, and how f-ed their childhood was, you would think it would warrant some more serious undertones in her character which in turn I think would’ve helped with the gothic themes in the story as well! I also wish we saw more of Damien, personally.

Overall, this book was a whimsical journey, and I had a fun time reading it! Thank you so much netgalley and Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy!

This gothic and atmospheric novel is a sapphic Swan Lake retelling. The pacing was inconsistent, ebbing and flowing because medium and fast paced without any consistency. I found the lack of consistency with the pacing difficult to fully find myself immersed in the story, with the imagery holding the story together. I did enjoy the slow burn chemistry between the two main characters. Though miscommunication is often times one of my least favorite tropes, I think it elevated the story, allowing the audience to feel the pining and yearning deeply. I loved how vivid the imagery was and was able to escape into the detailed and delicate world created. The twists, though easily able to see from a mile away, were still enjoyable and pushed the plot forward. I did feel like the ending was rushed and left more to be desired. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more by the author.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for the digital ARC of “A Treachery of Swans” by A.B. Poranek! I loved, loved, this book. It’s a deliciously gothic and romantic tale inspired by the “Swan Lake” ballet. A romance between the white swan, Marie, and the black swan Odile, that took her place in the palace to bring magic back to the kingdom.

Marie and Odile are so beautiful and intriguing, and their character arcs so satisfying. I loved how their character archetypes compliment each other. They are both in their “maiden” stage, still tied to their caretakers and feeling unable to break free. They are the shadows of the “maiden” archetype, Marie is the “damsel”, she has been scared into passivity and forced to conform by her mother, so she’s unable to self-actuate. Odile is the “vixen”, and while she acts aggressive and appears free she is just as trapped as the “damsel” by her adoptive father and the fear of rejection he instills in her. As the events of the novel proceed we see how together they are able to free themselves from the invisible chains that keep them from full maturity and finding love. And their love story is so thorny and sweet, a true villain and hero romance.

There were some plot twists in the story that I found predictable but I didn’t really mind too much. It was an exciting and enjoyable ride regardless as Odile had to navigate the extravagant royal court, the demands of her manipulative sorcerer father, and her growing affection for Marie. I had fun getting lost in this dark fairytale world, the chateau, the lake, and the old theater even added a little sprinkling of the gothic romance of “The Phantom of the Opera” into the mix. If you’re looking for a new YA sapphic dark fantasy story give “A Treachery of Swans” a go! I’ll be running over to the bookstore later to get my physical copy, that cover is so gorgeous.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was a solid read!

It was fun because I didn’t know the story of Swan Lake so a lot of it was new to me and it kept me guessing! I thought this was a very well crafted story!

There were a lot of plot lines but they flowed together really well.

I loved the banter and dynamics between Odile and Aimé as well as Odile and Marie! The friendship between Odile and Aimé was incredible. The tension between Odile and Marie killed me! It took a while for them to get together, but honestly the journey of them getting together made sense to take so long!

Aimé was my favorite character. My whole entire heart loved him! I just wanted to hug and protect him! I loved that even though Odile was a “villain” she was still so likeable. Marie wasn’t my favorite but I liked her because Odile liked her, even if she didn’t want to admit it right away. I just didn’t think she had that much of a personality. I wanted to see more of Aimé and Damien! All we got was crumbs; it was so subtle, but the moments we did get were incredible.

The book was kind of slow at parts, so that is why I gave it 4 stars. I thought the story was going to be done soon after we discovered some things but then there was still close to 100 pages left. That kind of threw me off.

I really liked the end! I would love to read a second book, but it also ended with enough answers you wouldn’t need to have another one!

I would read a second book about seeing him as king and her finding the other mothers; with it being a duel POV. I think that would be cool. Or a whole different story set in the future with these same characters!

This would be a great movie in my opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC of A Treachery Of Swans. These thoughts are my own.

My thoughts:
A.B. Poranek has a way with words. After loving Where the Dark Stands Still, I knew I wanted to get my hands on whatever this author wrote next, and I was thrilled to see that A Treachery of Swans was a sapphic Swan Lake retelling. I will admit that Swan Lake is a tale that I am not very familiar with, I remember watching The Swan Princess animated movie as a kid and I know that it stems from a ballet but the actual details of it are fuzzy so my opinion on this novel as a retelling should not hold much weight - I will say that even with my limited knowledge, parts of this were still familiar and I could tell which parts pull from it being a retelling. A.B. Poranek creates such an intriguing gothic atmosphere in this book, and it was so fun to be seeing things through Odile's morally grey eyes.

I really liked Odile, she's a mess of a girl but she's relatable and even though she's practically the villain - I was rooting for her. I wanted her to come out on top of those that had wronged her. It was such a roller coaster of emotions as Odile began to see how astray her dad had lead her whole life. I didn't like Odette in the beginning as we only know how Odile views her and due to their past, she's viewed as a bit of a spoiled brat but as Odile got to know who she really was - I started to love her as well.

I didn't love the pacing throughout - there were parts where it felt like nothing was happening or what was happening, didn't feel like it was important. I also was not a fan of the epilogue/ the end which is not something I feel often. With Where the Dark Stands Still, I loved the ending, it left me feeling sad but it was really impactful for the story in my opinion, and I feel like this book wanted to have an ending like that and then added a little bit more to fix it and it just didn't hit the same - I feel like the author was just trying to please readers who were upset about the ending of Where The Dark Stands Still.

“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔, 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒌𝒖𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌.“

Came for the gorgeous cover, stayed for the equally stunning writing. This was my first reading experience from this author, and wow, what an incredible experience it was!

In A Treachery of Swans, Poranek weaves a story soaked in magic, chaos, and stunning softness and vulnerability.

Aside from the prose, my favorite part of this story was the characters, especially Odile. The intensity of her internal struggle throughout the story wrecked my heart. Her journey as a character and the relationships she builds along the way was so impactful, and I loved every single moment.

This book had me in tears, sobbing to my wife, in case you were wondering. 😭

If you’re looking for a lovely sapphic Swan Lake retelling, please look no further.

3.5 rounded up

I had such a great time reading this fantasy book. I thought the magic and characters were really interesting. The element of mystery in this made it entertaining and had me guessing.

I liked Marie and Odile. I do wish there were more moments between them.


Thank you Simon Teen for the arc!

I genuinely enjoyed this retelling more than I expected. I wasn’t particularly drawn to Swan Lake as a story going in, so I was surprised by how much this pulled me in. The gothic tone, the rich atmosphere, and the immersive writing really brought everything to life in such a captivating way.

This easily could’ve been a five-star read for me if we had just a bit more insight into Odile’s backstory. A deeper look into her past would’ve made her motivations feel more grounded and helped me connect with her character much earlier in the story.
Overall I liked it but I expected more.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I was so excited to receive an arc, and it did not dissapoint!

It was a seamless blend of old tales twisted into something new that is both atmospheric and steeped in magic from the first page. I highly recommend it.

3.5 stars!

Expected Publication Date: June 24th, 2025

A big thank you to Netgalley and Margaret K. McElderry Books for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A Treachery of Swans is a beautifully written sapphic retelling of Swan Lake. Poranek’s prose is so stunning and elegant, honestly ill-fitting for a YA book, and it plunges you instantly into the gothic atmosphere.

The characters are okay, I enjoyed Odile’s arc and she’s quite a complex character, but I wasn’t particularly invested in her or Marie. Their romance is cute, though it progressed awfully quickly considering Odile’s actions at the beginning of the book.

Like the romance subplot, the plot itself is oddly paced. The first 70% or so is slow, which is fits this book’s vibes, but the final section descends into chaos. It’s intense, there are some plot twists, and it’s hectic. The end wasn’t terrible, I quite enjoyed the revelations, but it gave me whiplash.

Overall, a gorgeous read. Not really for me but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

This queer romance is the perfect Pride Month read! I've always wish someone would write a queer retelling of the Swan Lake and this lived up to my expectations.
Odile and Marie are great characters.
I don't want to spoil the plot too much, but I think fans of slow burn romance will enjoy this.
The ending is so magical too. I really think it was a great conclusion.

This is one of those YA books that I wish existed when I was a teenager, and I'm glad it exists now.

I came across A Treachery of Swans on Netgalley and was immediately intrigued because of the absolutely stunning cover and premise of the book. I'm so thankful to have received an e-arc of this for an honest review!

I loved the descriptive writing, and the portrayal of a gothic setting in the 17th century. In addition, this book stood out to me for having such a morally grey main character, which I always love. I love when characters in stories have actual reasoning behind their actions, and those actions reflect the character in a way that is consistent with how they’ve been portrayed.

Every character in this story had a backstory, and as the characters go through a moral struggle, they make decisions they never would’ve made in the beginning of the story. Which means, character growth and development occurred!

It is unfortunate however, that I think some readers may be left disappointed due to the slow burn romance that occurs throughout this story. It is a little beyond 80% through the book before a real romantic scene occurs, and it’s more alluded to than anything else. However, I LOVED the yearning. I loved the other LGBT romance in this story as well (iykyk!), albeit it was much more alluded to.

I adored the ending as well, which is quite rare for me and standalone books. The ending is one of my favorite aspects of this story, as it truly felt so fairytale-esque. These characters have continued to stay with me long after I’ve finished this story, I’ve been captivated by them. (I miss Aime, and Damien and Marie and Odile, gosh)

Anyone with a love of very slow burn enemies to lovers with lots of yearning, gothic settings, and sapphic romance stories, this is for you!

Adding .5 stars for the offhanded Barbie of Swan Lake nod.

I feel like this book had two different personalities. It is a very melodramatic tale, which at times played well with the dark theatrical atmosphere we were crafting. But at other times, it veered towards the juvenile which didn’t flow with the tone we had previously set. I was hoping the prose would better capture the devastating beauty and grace of the ballet. Instead, it had very woe-is-me characters, wince worthy flirting, and stilted dialogue.

I did appreciate the portrayal of an emotionally abusive parental figure. Odile’s journey as she unravels the brainwashing her father put her through to keep her loyal was definitely the strongest aspect of this book. I was also really invested in her relationship with her bother, Damien. Seeing Odile realize that she was turned against him in order to keep her isolated added great dimension to her character. And I liked watching her make friends with Amie despite vowing to hate him. Seeing her barriers slowly broken down was what kept me invested in the story.

However, I’m going to be completely honest I did not buy Odile being an actress for even a second. Her performance as Marie was abysmal. She barely tried to impersonate her, and I’m supposed to believe she grew up in the theater? The entire plot hinges on this, like BRO.

Marie was giving manic pixie dream girl. She was so much more of an idea than an actual character. When she was having her little speech about how she’s not actually perfect, she’s a coward who aches for freedom, I was rolling my eyes at how monotone she sounded. She’s supposed to be super clever, but half the time I felt like she didn’t have a single thought in her head. Just meant to sit and look pretty. Odile’s romance with her was cute, but nothing groundbreaking. I felt like the angst was lacking and the ending felt very unsatisfactory.

For an entertaining read with the occasional eyeroll-worthy moments, this book delivered. It had a sweet enough romance and nostalgic fairytale vibes. But I couldn't help but crave more from the execution considering the story it was retelling.