The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi

Book Review

Mikaela Silk

From the moment she hatched, it was clear that Demelza was different from her sisters. She didn’t have wings, and her singing voice, although powerful as a truth spell, sounded absolutely terrible. One by one, her sisters are sent out into the world to seduce and conquer and bring their father power and wealth beyond imagining. All Demelza wishes is to be useful like her sisters, but when her father finally finds a use for her, it is not quite what she imagined.

From the moment he was born, heir to the throne, everyone knew that Arris was destined to be killed by his bride. In generations only his father had escaped that fate, and it certainly wasn’t from his mother’s lack of trying. To delay the inevitable, and because his taste in women is usually terrible, Arris decides to host a competition to choose his bride. But as the gathered beauties scheme and simper to win his hand, Arris slowly realises that he might care who wins after all.

Magic is woven into the very fabric of the book, used to entice and enchant the reader with its beauty instead of as a tool to punch through the plot. The curses are complex, twisting things which never seem to be quite what you expect. But the darkness in the curses comes only from the character’s own use and interpretations of them, not from the magic itself.

The characters are all presented as different species, but their only conflict comes from the competition itself. Other than the veritas swans being described as mythical, none of the species are presented as greater or lesser to the others. Even a necromancer is presented as someone who is very quirky and slightly intimidating, without the usual connotations of evil. This adds a utopic undertone to the book, which made is especially pleasant to read.

As is often the case, it is the relationships between the characters that bring this book to life: sibling love and rivalry, tentative friendship blossoming into new love, rivals growing gradually into friends, parental love in all its dysfunctional glory, the deep complexity and challenges of lifelong love. Even the buildings themselves form relationships with the main characters, serving their needs as a fond servant would serve a master they had watched grow from a child.

The distant-observer, fairy-tale narration of this book meant that it took me a little longer than usual to warm to the characters, and I predicted the ending very early on. Yet, I am glad that I persevered with this book as I found it a heart-warming and charming read. In particular, it is a refreshing change to read a book with such varied characters and magic where the author has not felt the need to force them into a spectacular magical battle.