I Read the YA Lesbian Retelling of Swan Lake--My Thoughts
A Review of "A Treachery of Swans" by A.B. Poranek
Spoiler-free Review.
“Little owl, little owl, looking for a nest.
No one’s daughter, no one’s prize, whenever shall you rest?”
(pg. 196)
A Treachery of Swans is A.B. Poranek’s highly anticipated second novel; a gothic retelling of Swan Lake set in a fantasy version of historical France (I believe around the 1780s). But does it live up to the hype?
In this version, we see from the perspective of Odile, the villainess in the original ballet who takes the place of the beautiful protagonist Odette—though in this book, her name is Marie d’Odette d’Auvigny. Odile works under the thumb of her scheming father Regnault, who is the main villain Von Rothbart in the ballet. Like the ballet, Marie is turned into a swan by day and a human by night, Odile steals her place to swoon the Prince, and Regnault is the one orchestrating everything. But beyond a few more easter eggs and references, that’s where the similarities end.
Poranek took a gothic approach with her adaptation: there are murders, mysterious beasts, poisons, ancient ruins, and themes of sexuality. There’s also a soft magic system that expands on the spells we see in the ballet. The additions to the story were exciting and creative, and Poranek still paid homage to the original ballet at every opportunity, satisfying audiences familiar with the original tale and new readers alike. It’s a very atmospheric read.
And, of course, there’s the romance. Though the Prince (referred to in the book almost exclusively as the Dauphin) plays an important role in the story, the real love plot is between Odile and Marie. Marie is enchanting, feminine, and graceful, and she captures Odile’s attention from the very beginning. Odile is conniving, sarcastic, and crude, but Marie finds it charming. I was worried the romance would seem forced since one of their first interactions is Odile lying to and cursing Marie, but their chemistry was like a slow simmer into a rapid boil. It worked for me.
As for the other characters, Regnault was an intimidating villain and his toxic paternal relationship with Odile was integral to the story. The Dauphin was cute in the way of…like…a puppy, but I wish he had more character depth. There’s also Odile’s brother, but he was present in maybe 10-20 pages and I don’t even remember his name. There’s also the Regent (the Dauphin’s uncle) and the Queen (the Dauphin’s step-mother) who I felt deserved more screen time. (Or, page time?)
My biggest gripe with the book was Odile, our villainess protagonist. The author tells us how talented and smart Odile is, but whenever it came time for Odile to deliver, she wasn’t convincing. Readers were supposed to find her impressive when she just…wasn’t. She reminded me of an old coworker who was both pompous and incompetent. I still rooted for our sarcastic MC, but sometimes she had me rolling my eyes.
The mysteries in the novel were interesting and fun to try and solve on my own, and I didn’t expect any of the ending twists (though others on Goodreads said they saw it from a mile away, so maybe I’m just stupid :P). The added lore is immersive, the prose is atmospheric, and the banter is believable.
Overall, I recommend this book to anyone familiar with Swan Lake or anyone hungry for a new sapphic romance. It was a fun read with lots of twists and turns, but it was too shy of great to earn five stars.
STAR RATING: ☆☆☆☆
