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From the author of Where the Dark Stands Still comes A.B. Poranek’s second novel, A Treachery of Swans. This Young Adult queer romance is perfect for fans of A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft and Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid.
A Treachery of Swans is a reimagining of the story of Swan Lake. But, instead of following Odette and her romance with the prince as she struggles to break free of her curse, Poranek centers her novel around Odile, the daughter of the sorcerer who curses Odette, and her struggle with choosing between her love for Odette (or Marie, in Poranek’s version) or her loyalty to her father.
But A Treachery of Swans isn’t all magic and romance. There’s a darkness at the center of the story, a darkness that sneaks up upon the characters and threatens to destroy everything they have worked for, whether that be devious plans hundreds of years in the making, or the fleeting moments of a gentle, loving romance just starting to flourish.
Swan Lake, reimagined
Odile, the daughter of the powerful sorcerer Von Rothbart, has never been given a real story. Only ever appearing just in Act III of the ballet, Odile enters the stage as the black swan, Odette’s dark counterpart. She is nothing but a tool for Von Rothbart, an enchanting accessory in his plan to trick the crown into giving him the power he so desperately craves. That is where Odile’s story starts and ends. Movies like Barbie: Swan Lake and Black Swan expand on her character, giving us more than what the original ballet had to offer. But Odile is always the villain and never the hero, when the truth is probably much more complicated when having a father such as Von Rothbart. A.B. Poranek dives deep into this grey area as she seeks to tell us a version of Odile’s story.
There are very little similarities to the original plot of Swan Lake, but that doesn’t bother me in the slightest. The most important bits are there: Marie (Odette) is cursed by Regnault (Von Rothbart) and Odile takes her place in order to secure her marriage to the prince and steal the crown (literally, in this case). I love that Poranek gives us more. Aimé (the Dauphin), the monster, Odile’s complicated relationship with her brother, and the three goddesses who rule over the magic of the land.
Because of these differences, Poranek simultaneously creates a story that is familiar, but still holds surprises. Some secrets were easy to figure out, while there were others I didn’t guess at but still made sense when they were revealed. There’s nothing I hate more than a plot twist that comes out of left field, a plot twist that is too shocking, that didn’t have enough groundwork laid out for it to make any sense at all. So, although A Treachery of Swans doesn’t make you work too hard, it is evident that Poranek did her job well to hide hints and clues throughout her story.
As far as reimaginings go, A Treachery of Swans is very successful and Poranek’s success is only made more evident through the complexity of her characters and the romance between them.
Make me your villain
If you like Jude Duarte from The Cruel Prince, then you will certainly like Odile. She is not a fighter or a warrior, but she has the same wicked essence within her, the same viciousness that had Jude dropping lines like “if I cannot be better than them, I will be so much worse.” Because Odile is worse, much worse than what people perceive her to be.
Odile calls herself many things throughout her story. Thief. Liar. Villain. All of them true. She has done many things that would have people believe she isn’t a good person, that she is, in fact, the villain of this story.
“I’m not the delicate white-feathered bird they believe me to be. I’m the darkness of cold gutters and merciless nights, the bruised shadows beneath a thief’s desperate eyes. I’m nothing but a lie, a twisted reflection, a black swan.”
But things are never black and white. People aren’t just good or evil. A hero or a villain. Poranek does an excellent job exploiting this grey area by writing her book in the point of view of the so-called villain and making her a sympathetic one.
As a sorciere, Odile’s life was never going to be easy, but that doesn’t mean she was destined to always be a bad person. We don’t know much about what Odile was like before Regnault, before he sunk his claws into her. Only what she is now, after years of Regnault’s tactful manipulation. But that isn’t to say Odile isn’t villainous. She is a deeply flawed character who is given the option to make the right choice time and time again and continues to pick wrong. And that’s what makes her such a good character. We know that she isn’t the villain, that deep down she isn’t evil, that she has been molded in Regnault’s image to be this way. She is so trapped in the illusion that Regnault has spun for her, stuck in his web of lies, that she is almost too far gone to be redeemed, to finally make the right choice.
If not for Marie.
The gays love to yearn
Oh, Marie. How wonderful you are.
In a day and age where people are asking how spicy YA novels are, I am so happy to recommend a beautifully romantic novel, full of hateful longing and soulful yearning that has absolutely no spice in it (there is an intimate scene, but it fades to black). It’s a romance full of tension, full of denial. Of learning how to accept affection and give it in return.
Odile and Marie have always longed for each other, but it is so easy to muddle love and hate when hate is all you’ve been taught to feel.
“It matters not how much I crave her touch, how cleverly she tempts me with her sweet, generous trust. How much I regret my role in her ruination.
I can long for her and still hate her.
After all, does a moth not hate a flame when it learns that the very thing that attracts it is the thing that will see it burned?”
Although they have had feelings for each other since they were children, things between Marie and Odile aren’t easy. Odile doesn’t always choose Marie, just as she doesn’t always make the heroic choice. But it is Marie who slowly pulls her from the confines of Regnault’s cage. Even a gilded cage is still a cage, and Marie helps Odile see what Regnault’s promises truly are, just another cage.
With Marie, Odile learns affection, learns to nurture the parts of her that are good. The parts of her that were always there, that withered away when Damien left, that were stamped out and ground to dust under the forceful heel of Regnault’s boot. Odile is many things. A thief, liar, villain. But that doesn’t mean she can’t also be a hero, under the gentle touch of the person who loves her as all of these things, even the bad.
So perhaps there is no spice in A Treachery of Swans, but the romance within it is filled with so many other things. Through love, Odile learns how to hope, and with that power she is able to save herself and all of Auréal.
My final thoughts
A Treachery of Swans is a book I would recommend to anyone who loves books with a meaningful romance with an excellent plot full of surprises and secrets.
I wouldn’t consider A Treachery of Swans a dark fantasy, but it feels dark in the details. The nature of Odile and Regnault’s relationship makes me feel mildly ill, tainting the otherwise magical story every time he successfully manipulates her. The balance between light and airy, fantastical magic (befitting of a ballet) and the dark nature of the characters and some of their relationships is done exceptionally well. The story has depth and the existence of the horrors gives the relationship between Odile and Marie more meaning.
I really enjoyed my read of A Treachery of Swans, especially as someone who loves a romance with lots of yearning, when the boundaries between love and hate blur, leading to misunderstood feelings and a rivalry that only serves to fuel such feelings. If that’s also something you like, then you definitely have to add this to your TBR.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster’s Children Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. A Treachery of Swans is published on June 24th, 2025.
