A Throne of Swans
by Katherine & Elizabeth Corr
YA Fantasy
In a world where the flightless are ruled by those who can fly…
When her father dies just before her birthday, seventeen-year-old Aderyn inherits the role of Protector of Atratys, a dominion in a kingdom where nobles are able to transform at will into the bird that represents their family bloodline. Aderyn’s ancestral bird is a swan. But she has not transformed for years, not since witnessing the death of her mother – ripped apart by hawks that have supposedly been extinct since the long-ago War of the Raptors.
With the benevolent shelter of her mother and her father now lost, Aderyn is at the mercy of her brutal uncle, the King, and his royal court. Driven by revenge and love, she must venture into the malevolent heart of the Citadel in order to seek the truth about the attack that so nearly destroyed her, to fight for the only home she has ever known and for the land she has vowed to protect.
Written in rich detail and evocative language, this is the start of an irresistible, soaring duology about courage, broken loyalties and fighting for your place in the world.
This was one of the first books I read as a result of my new TBR Jar, and I’m so glad that I did! I’ve only had this since last October when I received it from Deptcon5, but I have a feeling if I didn’t randomly choose this, I wouldn’t have read it for a long time.
Anyways, onto the book! With gorgeous prose and exceptional storytelling, two sisters writers (which is just so lovely) take us to this new world of an aristocracy that have the ability to transform into different birds. Our main character, Aderyn, the new Protector of one of the realms, has the ability to turn into a swan, but hasn’t been able to do so since her Mother’s death in a tragic accident that left her own back scarred. Already I was hooked from the premise because there was a sense of originality to it; a new story I haven’t read before.
It was engrossing from the very first page. Both of the Corr sisters do a wonderful job of creating some compelling characters like Aderyn, Lucien and my favourite, Aron. The setting is done really well too, it felt very immersive. There was never a dull moment in this book and it constantly felt like something was going to happen next, and there was a really satisfying plot twist that I didn’t see coming!
There was just one issue I had with this book, and it was one of the plot points they went down. I can’t go into what it was because it is quite a big spoiler, but as soon it happened I was like nooo, because it instantly brought me to Game of Thrones and something that has already been done already. But other than this tiny little detail, I did really enjoy this book and I will definitely be reading the sequel.
Perfect for fans of Sarah J Maas and Game of Thrones.
THE ROYAL BOOKSHELF 