The Swan Princess gets an empowered twist in this modern take on the beloved fairy tale.
On one side of this dual point-of-view fantasy, Ren is a secluded sorcerer who has lost his entire family to a malicious curse. Living only with talking animal companions, he is fueled by a vow to seek revenge against Prince Derek, who turned him into the villain of the kingdom. But despite what the public thinks, Derek is the true villain, the one who caused the death of his entire family and used his public image to twist the narrative.
In the other point of view, Odette is a princess whose mother promised her to Prince Derek before she died, despite Odette’s distinct dislike of the man. Secretly, Odette is reckoning with the development of magic as well. She has no one to help her with her newfound ability to turn into a swan, which arrived on her twenty-first birthday.
When Ren and Odette meet at an event at the palace, they bond over their hatred for the prince, and an instant attraction forms between them. Despite his disguise, Odette can seemingly see Ren behind his magical mask. His plan was to kidnap her, but after their meeting and witnessing both her hatred for Derek and her magic form as a swan, the plan shifts and Odette partakes in her “woman-napping” willingly, this twist of her story giving her more agency this time.
The pair escape to Ren’s hidden castle where they work on unleashing Odette’s magic to fight for both of their freedoms from Prince Derek. There, Odette learns more about her own family history and the ongoing war between light and dark magic.
As the months pass, Ren and Odette grow closer, their attraction turning into something deeper. What Odette doesn’t know, though, is that Ren’s history is more entangled with Odette’s family tragedy than he initially lets on. Meanwhile, Prince Derek turns to dark magic from a notoriously evil sorcerer to get the princess back for good, even if it means using violent blood magic to do it. The Swan’s Arrow is an intriguing twist on the Swan Princess fairy tale with more grit as dark magic fights to overtake the light.
Odette is a headstrong, fiery main character, with typical fantasy lead clumsiness and verbal bluntness that make her, as she says, not like other women. She protests against what’s expected of her, demands to take part in her own kidnapping, and flirts through teasing and pranks. Her depth comes from the grief she’s still in the middle of due to the death of her mother after a beast attacked their carriage one day before her twenty-first birthday. More than anything, she wants to choose her own future, and her mother promising her hand in marriage to Prince Derek ruins that.
Without her mother around to explain why she made that decision, Odette is left both confused and angry at her mother while also reckoning with her death. This conflicting emotion is the true strength of Odette’s character, and it lends some explanation to the sometimes naïve or immature decisions she makes, especially as she blindly trusts Ren.
Some of the conceit of the story is built upon the fact that Ren was declared an enemy of the kingdom for, according to Prince Derek, killing Derek’s father prior to his meeting Odette. But, somehow, even though Odette can see through his disguise, she either doesn’t recognize him, or she has missed this declaration and seemingly has no idea a supposedly dangerous enemy to the kingdom is in front of her. She willingly goes along with his plan to kidnap her, or woman-nap her as she requests he call it, without questioning why Ren is at odds with Derek to the point where he must disguise himself so as not to get arrested. With her forced proximity to Derek growing up and with their impending marriage, Odette realistically would have heard about this sworn enemy of the kingdom. That part is difficult to suspend disbelief for.
The characters sometimes over-explain what’s happening, leaving little room for mystery or subtlety. This often happens with magic and worldbuilding through dialogue instead of letting it exist around them for Odette to discover and work out herself.
Ren and Odette’s romance is sweet and immediate. Much of the plot is dedicated to their infatuation with each other and the courage it takes for Ren—a man who has lost his entire family—to act on his feelings. The speed at which they fall for each other fits neatly with other romantic fairy tales, and a lot of the tension in the later parts of the book come from the way it puts that love at risk. It gives both Ren and Odette more depth, but it also causes the relationship to read a bit immature at times, especially when that love doesn’t waver after a particularly shocking revelation.
The Swan’s Arrow is a romantic fairy tale with a feisty main character, talking animal sidekicks, and a compelling war of magic at the center of it all.
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