Book Review | A Snake Among Swans

A Snake Among Swans by Hannah Kaner is a dark fantasy retelling of The Wild Swans that teems with rage and political intrigue. I mean it when I say it’s dark; it puts the grim in Brothers Grimm.

The author has also mentioned House of the Dragon as an inspiration, and I can definitely see it. This is a ruthless fantasy with sharp teeth and claws that hook into you and don’t let go. There are morally grey characters, a succession war between family, and tons of scheming and backstabbing.

Be forewarned though, there’s a lot of moving chess pieces on the board. The story immediately throws a ton of different empires, nations, and clans at the reader from the first few pages. Thankfully there’s a map and dramatis personae, and once I got a hang of the various factions, I became utterly engrossed in the story.

The ending was heart-wrenching, and I’m interested to see what sort of terrible choices characters will make in the sequel.

Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Voyager, for providing me with a review copy.

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