A dazzling performance and a beautifully written dark fairytale, sure to enchant readers’ hearts into loving monsters that might plunge a dagger into their hearts after making grand professions of love if they aren’t careful.

The protagonist, Demelza, finds herself swept up in a bachelor-esque competition for the throne (and the prince) after running away from home. To keep herself safe from her sorcerer father, who wants to cut out her heart so he can have immortal life, she makes a bargain with the prince to use her truth song as a ‘veritas swan’ to root out the contestants who might want to kill him. After all, the spell on the kingdom says that whoever holds the heir’s hand and heart in marriage becomes Queen, and it doesn’t specify whether the hand and heart have to be attached to the prince after they are married.

A morbid premise for this grim fairytale that seems to be a mash-up of multiple older stories, The Swan’s Daughter is fabulous, grotesque, and sparkling. Pretty words fill these pages, and performed as it is by Ell Potter (at 1.5x for me), we are very truly transported into a realm of glittering gowns, magical estates, fantastical creatures, and romance that feels like a dream.

What’s more interesting than Demelza’s relationship that forms with the whimsical, kind prince in this story is the friendship that develops amongst the contestants and the confidence that grows with each trial until transformation finds our protagonist in the most beautiful way. As always, I find the side characters that surround the main characters more fascinating and fun, and this book doesn’t let me down.

There is queer representation which I’m always looking for, but in this one, it’s only in side characters.

A few mixed feelings:

I’m not convinced I like books where “ugly ducklings” are transformed with the help of others into “beauties” and then get the attention or are seen as worthy of being royalty or perceived or treated better… This story walks a fine line between this and the ugly duckling being liked for just being who they are. Jury’s out for me at the moment on how I feel about this for The Swan’s Daughter.

The author walks another fine line between loving a monster and a monster’s love, will they or won’t they harm you ultimately? Can you ever trust them? And by monster, I could substitute the word abuser in here, and it would work the same. The relationship between Demelza and her father (and mother) is grim. Her father loves her, but would ask that she let him cut out her heart for his eternal life. Her father loves her mother but would cage and control her. Her father loves his other daughters but would control and punish them as well if they didn’t go along with his plan. Additionally, the prince’s parents have a toxic relationship involving poison. It’s definitely unhealthy but supposed to be darkly funny?

Another word I’m looking for is contradiction. For example, on one hand, the story begins being about trapping women and using daughters as bargaining chips, but then, at the same time, teaching them to be strong and protect themselves, and telling them how much they are loved. Loved but controlled.

This book feels like a satire to me. Especially in these parts that are so absurd, it has to be satirical, otherwise it would be pretty messed up. Perhaps the author’s reference to the Brothers Grimm tale of the princess with the three gowns in three walnuts is a clue to her knowledge of these messed up tales and is she rolling them in to make commentary or because she was inspired by them? I can’t guess. It is a spin on the Swan Princess but different in so many ways with parallels to other classic stories as well.

The book explores themes of freedom, choice, friendship, honesty, cruelty, destruction, individuality, longing, dreams, vanity, motive, comfort, and betrayal. Overall, it is centered around love and control.

I loved the prose and one of the reasons it took me in so much was that it centers the idea of savoring life and being in awe, giving wonder and awe so much space, and the act of marvel, marveling at beauty or delicious food or smells, savoring everything will all the senses. This is something I try to do and I think people who don’t have long to live or live in chronic pain might find themselves appreciating more of the good things in life because the rest is so shit. So, I enjoyed this aspect of the character of Arris for this reason.

All that being said, this novel is 470 pages, and I think I could have listened to another 500…the rhythm of the writing and the performance of the narrator would have kept me listening for another 10 hours.

Content: There is no explicit sexual content aside from kissing and thoughts/mentions of more. Depictions and situations of domestic abuse and abusive relationships. Violence. Poison.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

FEAST continues right where Interstellar MegaChef left off and pushes ahead further into the chaos of politics, food culture, protests, betrayals, and horniness - it’s a guaranteed Ur-drama!

One of the reasons I enjoyed Book #1 so much is one of the reasons I didn’t enjoy Book #2 as much. The book starts off with an extreme level of horniness from one of our leads, and it was too much for me. It was desperation which aligns well with their character but this isn’t something I like to read that’s constant in the book. I can see how some might find the characters a bit frustrating in this book with their decisions and actions, but again, these are characters and not everyone is every book is meant to be likeable - how boring would that be!

Other than that, this book delves further into the relationships established in the first book, featuring a lot of interpersonal drama. The heat intensifies from all directions, and it feels like Saraswati is in a pressure cooker!

I would recommend this for anyone looking for a Sci-Fi adventure with a queer-normative cast of main characters, an imaginative premise, and action/drama that doesn’t seem to let up from the start!

Thank you to Solaris for the eARC via NetGalley - all opinions are my own.

One of the most exciting and imaginative sci-fi adventures I've read. Please, don't read this on an empty stomach though...or at least have some snacks ready!

Saraswati Kaveri is a talented chef running away from something on Earth. Serenity Ko is trying to differentiate herself in the corporate world of tech simulations and immersive reality on the planet of Primus. A chance meeting kicks off a series of adventures involving an interstellar chef competition, found family, lots of drama, and a deep exploration into technology and food and what would it mean to integrate the two at the next level. And if it would even be ethical.

We get a serious look at ambition from both the perspective of those with ambition who see the allure of it but also those affected negatively by being close to a person with high ambition. This was one of my favorite pieces of commentary in the book. What is the cost of ambition? What is the cost of isolation as well? And if people stepped up and spoke to their friends about poor behavior, can people recognize it and change?

Additionally, the story dives into what it means to come to a new place as a refugee and exist as an other in a culture that isn't yours, especially one that considers itself superior to all others in the galaxy and wants to enforce that superiority in all ways.

So, while the cover and synopsis may indicate to some that this book is all fun and no bite, that couldn't be further from the truth. The author hits many concepts and themes that are quite serious and complex. The book is rich and has great depth to it and I found myself wanting even MORE.

Primus is a world that appears to be LGBTQIAP+ normative which is very welcomed!

The world-building is exquisite, pacing is even, and the layout of scenes and plot points is well-crafted. The author leaves little breadcrumbs and moments later draws up the curtains for the reveals and it's delightful. The writing/editing is class. Character development is supreme and the mini romantic subplot feels genuine.

I was honestly salivating during several parts of this book, frequently debating whether or not to head straight over to the closest Indian restaurant I could find. It was delicious and I CANNOT WAIT to get started with the ARC of book #2 - Intergalactic Feast (March 2026).

V. E. Schwab knows how to pull heartstrings. Her words, sentences, rhythm are magic. Her stories, imaginative and original. Nothing is ever too much or not enough, every single word is meant to be there. It's such a joy to read her books, each time it feels like entering a fairytale that is both wonderous and tragic. Gallant is no exception.

The audiobook is phenomenal.

There are so many things I didn't like about this book, it's hard to decide where to start. Maybe with the lack of diversity...unless I missed something.

Library of Fates centers around two timelines, a group of students, their professor, a magical library, and a magical book. One timeline takes place while they are in college taking a seminar together. The other is 20 something years down the road when some of them reunite to solve a mystery about the magical book and the library it powers.

Without spoilers, the idea of the magic book/crux of the whole story falls short to me. It imagines a promise which the author makes it seem is assumed to be the natural choice for people. However, I found this assumption to be coming from a place of superiority and ego. It's hard to say this without spoilers but the book assumes people would make a certain choice given the ultimate power of something at the end. That people read books to see only themselvs in as the hero. Yet many do and should read books with others represented as the main to learn about different perspectives and backgrounds and stories. The concept presented in the book assumes people center themselves in everything, and yes many do, but many don't and given the choice wouldn't and shouldn't.

The romance is not believable and superficial at best. It's also a little messed up. I didn't know before going in, but the male main character is a "player". That alone would have made me put the book down. The language used in this book, the terms used, the adjectives, the way the characters speak to each other is reminicent of 90s-2000s rom com american hollywood-speak, bland, crass, unimaginative, and infused with misogyny. Such quotes like "you look sexy when you use the power"...NO THANK YOU.

There's one comment about American tourists in this book that reeks of a French superiority complex. Not that American tourists aren't known to have a certain reputation but it added to the already pretentious francophilia of the book.

I wouldn't recommend this at all.

Perhaps the only part I enjoyed was that it brought back memories of living in Boston and being around the areas mentioned in the book.

An exquisite collection of short stories written in Amal’s poetic prose that might leave you shedding a few tears or staring at the wall after reading, contemplating life, love, and the many joys and horrors of our world.

If everyone loved women the way this author so dearly loves women, the world would be a more beautiful and safe place for all. The way my heart ached for the women in these stories, for all the evils the world of men has put upon them, for the way they were healed by fellow women, sisters, mothers, friends...the way they were accepted for who they were, not for who others (men) wanted them to shaped like...

My auto-buy author list has one more addition!

A standout story in this collection was the title track, Seasons of Glass and Iron. This was a story of women discovering new possibilities through their relationship with each other after being conditioned by men/systems into harmful beliefs. It was beautiful, and I cried.

Another poignant tale is John Hollowback and the Witch. This perfectly encapsulates the horrible habit men have of seeing something beautiful, wanting to cage it and shape it to their liking, thinking they are doing a wonderful service, demanding to be the hero, the main character in everyone’s story, and completely blind to the reality where they smother someone’s soul so much it shrinks to barely a whisper and it isn’t until this crushed and bruised soul breaks free that the full scope of such a harm is realized...and everyone hates the men for it but they don’t even know because they cannot see themselves in a poor light, it must be everyone else’s fault.

While these two might be the ones I point out in this review, it by no means diminishes the rest. Each piece in this work is as precious as any other. You’ll find stories, perspectives, and representations of queer, Palestinian, and immigrant characters. There are also West Asian supernatural entities such as the Peri and Djinn. In every piece, there is magic.

This book is for everyone; everyone should read this book! Highly recommend!!

Thank you to Tor for the eARC copy via NetGalley for review consideration. All my opinions are my own.