The Wild Swans by K. M. Shea
Fairytale Retelling. 282 Pages. 3 Stars
Synopsis:
Elise is the foster-daughter of the King of Arcainia, a mathematician, and the country’s treasurer. She is not a hero. But when her step-mother, a wicked witch, curses Elise’s seven foster-brothers—the princes of Arcainia—and turns them into swans, Elise is the only one who can save them.
To break the curse, she must knit seven shirts made of stinging nettles, but there’s a catch. She has to complete the shirts without uttering a word, and if she doesn’t finish the task, Arcainia and her foster-brothers will be lost.
THE WILD SWANS is a retelling of the German Six Swans fairy tale and the Dutch Wild Swans fairy tale. It is a story of humor, love, adventure, and magic, and it is part of the top selling Timeless Fairy Tales series—a series comprised of loosely related adaptations of your favorite fairy tales. All Timeless Fairy Tales take place in the same world and can be read all together, or as individual, stand-alone books.
My Review:
I must say I do really like the cover for this book. And I actually really like the Wild Swans fairytale (often called the Six/Seven Swans, depending on where you look). There were some things I enjoyed in this sequel and a few that I didn’t love, but I do want to continue in the series.
I enjoy Shea’s humor and her style. She writes fun stories that make you smile, and that’s an incredible plus in my book. I liked how she used the original elements of the story and I liked that it wasn’t all easy for Elise all the time to break the curse. I also enjoyed her brothers. It didn’t take super long for me to figure out who was who and track them throughout the story. I liked their swan personalities and the refinements of the curse. I think one of my favorite parts of the book was actually the growth in Brida. She was one of the most interesting characters to me. I was also inordinately intrigued by Angelique’s shadow/star horse thing. I know she has her own series, so I’m sure I’ll see more of her in the future!
It was a little hard to keep the kingdoms straight and to understand the political implications in some parts of the book. I remember Verglas because I read the Snow Queen duology (really enjoyed those!) and it’s been a while, but I did read the first book, so I recalled some of the references to that kingdom, too. But perhaps that also played a part in why I didn’t 100% buy into the villain’s motivations and plan. It felt a little…incompetent and distanced from Elise, her brothers, and their journey. The villain never really pushed or challenged Elise and Elise defeated her way too easily. There was no true depth or growth in the characters or obstacles to overcome. And thus the climax felt anticlimactic to me. She broke the curse and then whew, defeated the wicked witch with the touch of her hands. It was a defeat anyone could have done, any character in any story. It wasn’t specific to Elise in any way other than that she was the one we gave the mission and ability to. And it didn’t require any sacrifice. She obviously sacrificed through the rest of the book with the stinging nettles, but even that didn’t have any lasting or deep effects to make us feel her sacrifice.
Another thing I didn’t love was the love triangle. I did actually really like that Shea dipped her toes into the foster care arena, but I had hoped she’d do a little more. I was confused about Elise’s origins. Was she nobility to begin with? Was she a street rat? The head of family thing confused me. I didn’t follow how all that worked. And then you throw in a triangle that still didn’t quite make sense to me. It felt a little forced, out of nowhere. I just wanted them all to be family. It felt like we never really got to the “you’re not a foster kid; you’re family period” part with or without marriage on the line. They clearly all loved her, but I just wasn’t as convinced I guess as I wanted to be. I wanted to go on the emotional journey, see the growth in everyone’s characters, and participate in a plot that wove everything together well. And then on top of it all, there was a potential third ship thrown in, but so little was done with it that I was simultaneously confused, disappointed, and not surprised at the abrupt end to that ship. The idea of choosing your own ship and epilogue was neat. (Of course I read both XD) But again, I just didn’t buy any of the options, so Ima just pretend neither epilogue happened XD
I will say, though, that Elise’s organization and kingdom were interesting. I liked the cultural revelations. The way the princes all served the kingdom in different ways and the way Elise was so good and passionate about her work. It would have been cool to see her use that as part of the plot and the story (not just an answer to the wrap up). I wanted to see more at stake, more risk of loss, more gelling together, just more I guess. I liked the uniforms and the way she knew all the servants by name, the way they did meals, etc.
Some of the characters felt pretty one-sided and cliché (villain *cough*) and the story felt a little random in places. But I liked the simplicity of the fairy tale and there were definitely some spots of humor and lightheartedness. This is one of Shea’s older books, so I’m curious to see how she’s grown since publishing this one. I wouldn’t call it my favorite, but it was a cute little read.
Some mild fantasy violence, a clean romance, and no foul language. Probably fine for pre-teens.
More
Book 1 in the Timeless Fairy Tales is Beauty and the Beast (4 Stars)
Book 3 is Cinderella and the Colonel
Book 4 is Rumpelstiltskin
Book 5 is The Little Selkie
Book 6 is Puss in Boots
Book 7 is Swan Lake
Book 8 is Sleeping Beauty
Book 9 is The Frog Prince
Book 10 is The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Book 11 is Snow White
I have not read this entire series yet, but oh am I looking forward to it! I’ll come back and update this as I go, but for now, you can check them out and find more information with the links above! I did read the prequel duology, the Snow Queen books, which I loved, and you can find more info on those here.
On GraceBought
Check out my thoughts on the previous books here!
Heart of Ice, Princess and the Pea, and Beauty and the Beast