Pub date: January 6, 2026
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 some queer representation which I’m always looking for in stories, 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, Ell Potter, 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.
About the Author
About the Publisher
The Swan’s Daughter audiobook is published and produced by Macmillan Audio. Performed by Ell Potter.