A Snake Among Swans

by Hannah Kaner

A dark and propulsive new epic fantasy from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of the Fallen Gods trilogy. An intricate tale of warring kingdoms, female rage and a wild magic that refuses to be tamed.

“Death is come to take you home, death of blood and thorn and bone…”

Tilde has always heard the whispers of the kithwood, the voices of her ancestors speaking through the mysterious forest of her homeland.

But now both the kithwood and her kingdom are in danger.

For Tilde is the only surviving heir of a conquered land. To unite the people and finally stop the bloodshed, she marries the aging warlord, King Liran. Her duty is to bind their nations and bear him a son.

But the swan king’s court is dangerous. Tilde is a threat to the claim of Liran’s older sons, who will do whatever it takes to remove her, to the princess Elise who has only ever known loyalty to her family, and to the priests who own them all.

Yet none of them know that Tilde is a snake in their midst, with allies on her side and dark, forbidden power of her own. She wants her kingdom back, and she will sacrifice everything to claim it.

For the queen to rise, the swans must fall.

Genres: Fantasy, Queer, Lesbian, Adult, LGBT, Fiction, Romantasy

464 pages, Paperback

Expected publication September 8, 2026

About the author

Hannah has her heart in Scotland and her roots in the north of England.

Hannah’s trade has always been story telling. From creating and unravelling mysteries in Northumberland with her mates, to annoying the hell out of her supervisors at the University of Cambridge by insisting on comparing Terry Pratchett to Charles Dickens, and studying narrative theory in video games.

 They grudgingly (or joyfully?) gave her a 1st Class degree in English.

​She puts the desire to communicate and challenge into her work in the technology sector, specialising in creating digital tools for hard to reach communities.

Hannah loves the histories and mythologies shared through our cultural histories, the stories we tell ourselves about being human. She also likes stabby swords and angry women.

​

Reviews

[katie 🌙]

didn’t even read the description before adding to tbr if nobody got me I know hannah kaner got me

[Zana]

DNF @ 65%

I want to love Hannah Kaner's books, but they feel very generic or beginner fantasy for someone who has been knee deep in the fantasy trenches since I was a child. I think if I wasn't well read in fantasy, then I might like her books a lot more.

I can see where the author was going with this novel, but every story beat and plot twist felt very predictable. I wish I could love the FMCs, but like the storyline itself, they just felt like they were fulling fantasy archetypes: the royal whose people were conquered and the oppressed daughter of a king.

The worldbuilding is your typical white European fantasy with a kingdom that upholds misogyny and is a proponent of organized religion. And of course, they're out here colonizing like nobody's business. There are other nations who are more accepting of queer folk and magic. Add in some Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon level of (pseudo?) incest and there you have it.

Sadly, the FMCs, the slowburn revenge plotline, the political intrigue, the forbidden magic, or the side characters (so many princes that they felt like one indistinguishable conglomerate) could sustain my interest.

Thank you to Harper Voyager and NetGalley for this arc.

[Patrycja]

3.5⭐️

"A Snake Among Swans" is a story of Tilde, the last heir of conquered kingdom. She is forced to marry a powerful Swan King. While living at his court, she must navigate politics and dangerous alliances. In the meanwhile she still desires to regain everything her people have lost.

I did enjoy the book, especially the characters. Tilde was my favourite as she had clear goals and knew what she wanted. She was portrayed as neither hero nor villain, which made her fell realistic. I liked how determined she was, even when she had to make difficult choices.

The relationship between the characters was also well written. They needed to choose between duty, loyalty and their own feelings. These conflicts made the story more engaging.

However, I feel like the pacing wasn't always great. Some parts, especially the middle, felt really slow. It focused more on alliances and politics, than on moving the plot forward. The world-building was good enough to support the plot, but was not very deep. I wanted to learn more about this world and its history.

That said, this was still an enjoyable read with strong characters. I've had a good time reading it and would consider continuing the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Marie]

New Hannah Kaner book this year??! 🥹😍

[Bailey Chadwick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really torn about this book. On one hand, I did like Hannah Kaner's writing style a lot. And I think this was a cool idea for a book. But I don't think the execution was there.

It started out really strong for me. Our FMC sacrifices herself into a political marriage with a truly awful man in order to bring down his kingdom from the inside. But she starts catching feelings for the King's daughter which is definitely not helping her plan to take out the entire bloodline of the family who killed her family.

First 20% of this book? I'm in. I'm sold. This is not a happy-go-lucky book. There's some serious shit happening. I'm preparing to be destroyed.

And then....it didn't do a whole lot.

First off, way too many characters. Tons and tons. And there is a dramatis persona at the beginning of the book. But I struggled with having to flip back and forth. If you do this on audio? Good luck! You're gonna be confused. Some characters had multiple names as well. Their real name, a nickname, and a court title. Not all of them were listed in the glossary. 3 times I flipped back to remind myself who someone was only to not have any info. Or if there was info, it's because this character was being referred to as a court title in this chapter but in other chapters, his real name. I could not keep ANYONE straight and really, really struggled with trying to understand who was betraying who.

The pacing was SLOW. Very slow. And at times nonsensical why our FMC was doing what she did. You know that scene in Doctor Who where the Doctor tells Prime Minster Harriet Jones he could end her political ambitions with six words? And then turns to an aide and says "Dont you think she looks tired?" And then it all comes crumbling down? That's what I was hoping for. Smart, conniving, vicious scheming. Instead we got an FMC who wants to keep certain people alive for no good reason with no real end goal sorted out. She keeps talking about how much power the princess holds....but we are constantly shown how little everyone thinks of the princess. She let's everyone around her scheme and does nothing to puppet master anything to reach her end goal.

Oh, and there's forest magic. A non quantified forest magic that is never explained well or flushed out.

Ultimately, I won't be reading book 2. Which is a shame. Cause the idea was there. I was a very willing participant. And then it disappointed me so much.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-ARC!

A Snake Among Swans is so good that I didn't even realise it was a fairytale retelling until the last chapter of the book. Hannah Kaner's Instagram promises HOTD season 1 meets Princess Monokoke, and it was blurbed by Samantha Shannon, so expectations were set very high, and this book does not disappoint. It is astonishingly different from Godkiller, and reads more like Game of Thrones, or Daughter of the Forest than anything else published recently. This is not a light read -it is unflinching, deliciously gory, and full of gorgeous medieval fashion. (God I love a cotehardie.) The myriad of characters and allegiances made my brain work hard to keep up with everything in the best way possible. I will be anxiously awaiting the next one.

[Vanessa Hermanns]

First and foremost, a huge thank you to Harper Voyager/Harper Collins for the ARC! Receiving one genuinely makes my entire day. I walk around buzzing with excitement like I’ve just been handed something precious. Which is exactly why it stings so much when a DNF happens.

All the cry face emojis. Every single one.

I DNF’d A Snake Among Swans at 36%, and I genuinely tried to push through, but it just wasn’t for me. The writing feels a little dry, which isn’t my usual vibe. I am also a girl who simply cannot function without a magic system. It’s a need. A requirement. Non-negotiable terms of my reading contract.

The world building is relatively robust, but the story leans heavily into politics, and that particular flavor of political intrigue just didn’t land for me. I love an arranged marriage trope, like, genuinely, give me all of it, but unfortunately this one fell flat.

The sapphic romance subplot had such a promising setup and I was rooting for it, but I wasn’t connected enough to the characters to really invest in where it was going. That disconnect was probably the final nail.

Also, there are a LOT of people to keep track of. Brothers, sisters, cousins, staff, priests, my head was spinning trying to sort out who was who and why I should care about any of them.

This one just wasn’t for me, but I hope it finds its readers, especially those who love politics-heavy fantasy and don’t require a magic system to feel at home in a world.

[Lea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Themes & Sparks: dark epic fantasy, sapphic fantasy, inspired by The Wild Swans by Hans Chrsitian Andersen, a feast of female rage and power, wonderful trans and queer rep, whispered alliances and unapologetic enmities, intrigues and betrayals hidden in every corner, beautiful and wonderfully detailed descriptions of the different regional styles and colours of garments

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Snake Among Swans by Hannah Kaner is the first book in an an epic dark sapphic adult fantasy trilogy that tasted like a grand feast of female rage and power.

Inspired by the literary fairytale “The Wild Swans” by Hans Christian Andersen, Hannah Kaner crafted a world in which women could be kings in one country, hunted for witchcraft in another, and used as a vessel in the eye of faith in yet another one.

All of which, creating the catalyst for a tragic, merciless and brutal story of revenge. Tilde’s story of revenge, to be precise, a princess turned queen, who had to make sacrifices that butchered one’s heart, but who still ruthlessly and cunningly slithered into a fragile court, its stolen stone halls echoing with both whispered alliances and unapologetic enmities.

Intertwined into this, whilst both contrasting and leaning into the Andersen fairytale, I loved how we explored the dark and twisted past of the Cynghal ruling family throughout the story and how the intrigues and betrayals, hidden in every corner, created moments that made me reminiscent of the family dynamics in House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones. On that note, I also adored how cleverly Hannah Kaner incorporated the fairytale into the religious foundation of the Cynghal family and government they represented by threading and forcing the faith of The Swan, through the daily life and every decision of its people. In contrast to that, there was the sentient wild forest, whose ancient magic never stopped stirring or choosing certain individuals to wield its brutal but demanding powers.

Additionally, something that particularly stood out to me in regard to the world building, was how important of a role clothing and its connection to the different regions and countries played. I believe many people forget how deeply clothing is rooted in our own lives, histories and cultures. So, to see an author taking their sweet time to give the reader beautiful and wonderfully detailed descriptions of the different regional styles and colours of garments as well as their adornments and fabrics, was just brilliant.

Lastly and unsurprisingly for a Hannah Kaner novel, A Snake Among Swans was steeped in beautiful prose that saturated every description and conversation in deep layers of anger, yearning, hatred, love, mercy and cruelty. This prose also wound its way into the heart-aching sapphic romance of this novel, which I won’t go into too deeply, so that you all can experience what it means to lose your guard and to welcome what you always knew would feel like one thing and one thing only…the fangs and poison of a snake.

Thank you so much to Harper Voyager or the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley for an Arc of A Snake Among Swans. I was very excited for his book, Hannah Kaner is an instant buy author for me.

My first thoughts are that I wish I could have had a physical copy so I could easily reference the map and dramatis personae. This book is very intricate and it really helped having those references on who is who and where territories are. It is difficult in the begining keeping track of how this world is built but if you push through it does get easier and you will be captivated. I also hope to use the audiobook to help pronounce some of the names because this world is intricate. Next I enjoyed how much the book references and pulls in aspects of The Wild Swans fairy tale. The religion, the mention of swan lines, the royal family and 13 children. The writing is beautiful and mesmerizing. The world is fantastic and there is a lot of political intrigue. A conquering nation who is bringing the world under one rule and our FMC Tilde is offered as a bride to form a truce and save her people. This book is very heavy because war is going on, but it pulls you in and you become immersed into the politics, the intrigue, and the rooting for a rebellion. But be warned in war there is always sacrifices that must be made and this book is not for the faint of heart. There is a lot of sabotage and so many political maneuverings that keep you on the edge of your seat.


Elise-

She is the daughter of the Swan King. Elise seems quiet and a caretaker for her brothers. She has been relegated to the side lines by her family and now is being pulled out to be a companion to her new stepmother. She has to bite her tongue in so many situations, but I can feel how much it costs her and when she erupts it will be glorious. Her brothers are ruthless and they underestimate Elise because she is a female and has been ignored by her father and not offered the same education and standing as her brothers.

Tilde- She is strong, brave, and has experienced much loss in her life. It has hardened her and made her headstrong into plotting against the King. Her anger is felt, but now that she is married to the Swan King she has to be strategic and cunning. She has to watch as her people continue to be mistreated and she is in the middle of a nest of hissing and biting swans. One wrong move and she will go down with her people.

The romance in this book to me was a small part compared to the plot and what else is going on in the book which I enjoyed and appreciated. It felt like a tease right now and hopefully in more books the romance will grow and blossom, but this was the perfect start to their story. Right now it is a forbidden teasing of want between Elise and Tilde. The attraction, small touches, and stolen moments make you want them to be together, but to overcome being married to a king and a kings daughter is going to be a challenge and I can’t wait to see what happens.

That ending!!! I have my mouth on the floor. What a cliff hanger and what is going to happen. I need book 2 now. Stunning, perfection, I loved it so much!

[tori · Rating 5 out of 5]

HANNAH KANER WHEN I CATCH YOU HANNAH KANER

This book was a true, bonafide tour de force.

If you love politicking and courtly maneuvering, A Snake Among Swans is the book for you. Kaner is an expert at crafting richly political worlds, and this new series is no different. This world and these characters do not operate within the dichotomous binary of "good" and "evil" - they cover every shade of morally Pantone grey in between, and the story was all the more complex and nuanced as a result.

This will not be a book for everyone, but it was CERTAINLY the one for me - it is slow-moving and there's a steady power creep that lurks beneath every interaction. There are very few grand "battle" scenes, and the romance is a VERY minor subplot. If I had to describe this book in any which way, it would be by drawing a parallel to a chessboard - every player is trying to outmaneuver and win one out over the others, consequences and fallout be damned. Each person is holding their cards close to their chest and donning their best poker-face lest they risk losing their hard-won power, which is the highest form of currency in such a regimented and hierarchical society.

Oh and lest I forget the sapphics - truly the icing on top of the gorgeous, decadent cake that is this book.

Please heed that this is a VERY heavy book in terms of content. Note (some) of the trigger warnings below. I have left some out due to concerns over story spoilers.

Sexual assault, extreme violence (including graphic deaths of children), misogyny, homophobia, parental and spousal abuse.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Harper Voyager for the eARC!

A Snake Among Swans was a tough read, often times very unflinching in its brutality, but it also was a really well built epic fantasy that has me super excited for the next book.

Think of Game of Thrones had sapphic lead characters and you’ll get a feel for this. There was a lot of political movement and drama, warring familial factions, and LOTS of betrayal. Kaner also creates two magic systems that are both very dangerous in different ways that impact the world. Tilde and Elise were fantastic FMCs and I loved the dual POV we got from both of them to see each side of their upbringing and perspective.

My main gripe is that the cast of character is pretty large, but luckily there is a guide at the beginning and with a physical copy I think that’ll allow people to flip back and forth more easily than I was able to on my kindle lol

Overall, this is a dark fantasy that really gets you in the heads of some morally questionable characters who are willing to do anything to secure the throne. I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs!

[Mac (bookwyrm_mac) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley, Avon, and Harper Voyager for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of this book!

A Snake Among Swans was a tough read for me for a few reasons. From the blurb I expected the kithwood and wild magic to have more of a place within this story, but there’s hardly any fantasy aspect to this at all. It’s very much about court politics, which I don’t usually enjoy. It’s hard for endless conversations and paranoia to keep my interest.

Unfortunately I didn’t find the main characters particularly likeable, which also contributed to my difficulty getting through this. There are very strong themes of misogyny and religious extremism. This story is also very graphically gory and over-the-top violent. I’m sure some people will enjoy this book, but for all of these reasons, this just wasn’t my cup of tea.

[Gabrielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I was past longing for death. I had chosen power. I was no martyr.”

Hannah Kaner is a master of her craft — this I already knew, yet time and time again, she proves that she can always outdo herself. A Snake Among Swans was an outcry of rage in a world so silenced; Kaner kicks off her newest trilogy with the suffocated fury of two young women: Tilde, and Elise.

Tilde is the heir to Merogia, the kingdom whose rich history has long been stifled in the aftermath of the Swan Kingdom’s forced conversion. And, the kingdom she needs to protect when she turns herself into the hands of her enemies. Tilde is sure of her ways. She is confident in who she is and what she believes in, but the tempest of her rival court is enough to fester even her resolve, and soon, she isn’t sure if the martyrdom she dreamed of is enough to conquer her enemy.

Elise is princess of the Swan Kingdom, the kingdom whose ways of imperative compliance have smothered the lives of women across its domain. Elise carries the pained naïveté of a young woman who has long been shut out by the ways of the world, she suffers in silence and dreams of a life of her own. As the tides of change turn her life upside down, she has to reckon with the growing sensation that her religion, her life, may not be as pure as she was made to believe.

Together, they forge paths to the freedom they both desire, but soon, they realize the lives they had been dreaming of might not leave their hands as clean as they had hoped.

It was not an easy journey, it was costing and cruel, but it made it all the more compelling to continue. Betrayals were strewed left and right, the corruption of power apparent in even the characters we root for. The complexity of this world will have you question the morality of not only the character’s lives, but our own as well.

If the Godkiller Trilogy was a battle cry, A Snake Among Swans is a cacophony of screams of women’s rage left so long silenced. Kaner’s writing in this is a beast of its own. She knows how to envelop the reader in the worlds she creates; the atmospheres she weaves feel so raw and real, and the emotions she evokes are so potent it almost feels as if you can grasp them. A Snake Among Swans tackles lots of difficult topics, but rather than them being briefly mentioned and cast off, Kaner lets their ragged edges shape the story and its characters, honing its fervor into something powerful and lethal.

While the religion of The Wing was a heavy hand, it also made for one of the most entrancing romances I’ve read. The constant weighing of religion and sin made Tilde and Elise’s shared moments addicting; it is a story of sapphic love in a world where it cannot be told, and it makes their bond even more beloved.

In a world so grand and vast as this, there is no doubt that with the continuation of this series, the already mighty story will be taken to a whole new level. A Snake Among Swans was the grand beginning to The Wing and the Ways series, with hard-bitten protagonists and a smoldering sapphic romance, it is certain to be on the shelves of many readers for years to come.

Huge thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager for the early copy!!

[Alexandria Newell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a complete chance when I applied for this ARC, and wow — what a payoff.

I tend to struggle with fantasy and romantasy, especially when it’s a newer world that isn’t already familiar, because I sometimes find heavy world-building difficult to settle into. But I’m so glad I pushed past that hesitation with A Snake Among Swans, because this story completely pulled me in.

Tilde of Ardwen has every reason to hate the royal family of Cynghal — the Swans. They conquered much of her family’s land and destroyed the life she once knew, taking people she loved along the way. So years later, when an opportunity arises for her to marry the king, revenge feels almost too perfect to ignore — especially with the possibility of reclaiming the old ways.

Court life quickly becomes a battlefield of its own. Between the king’s jealous sons, dangerous political dynamics, and slowly building trust with the women around her — including Princess Elise — Tilde has to navigate a world where every move matters.

The direction this story takes afterwards genuinely surprised me. There were moments that reminded me of Game of Thrones in the best way — expect the unexpected. Twists, tension, shifting loyalties… I never quite knew where things were heading.

This was my first Hannah Kaner book, but it definitely won’t be my last. I’ll absolutely be adding her other books to my TBR.

[Cher Van Der Woude · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC Review — Snake Among Swans
3.75 ⭐️

This book had some genuinely strong elements. The premise immediately grabbed me, a conquered territory, political tension, and a forced marriage setup. The beginning pulled me in quickly. The book is dark, but in a good way. I actually enjoyed the characters, even the cruel ones, because their cruelty made sense within the world. It all felt surprisingly realistic.

I also loved the scheming. Even though there isn’t much action early on, the tension is still there, and watching Tilde navigate the new court was genuinely interesting. The magic system was another highlight, dark, restrictive, and not something you can just use freely. It added a lot of depth to the world.

But the second half didn’t land as well for me. Elise felt like she was growing as a character, while Tilde seemed to move in the opposite direction. That was a shame, especially because I wanted more insight into her background, her family, the deaths, the political structure, why a queen is a king, all of it. Tilde is an interesting protagonist with clear motives, but her character didn’t always feel consistent.

At times it also felt like every man in the story was terrible (poor Hein), which flattened some of the dynamics. The world has so much potential, but I wanted a bit more balance and clarity in the character arcs.

Overall, Snake Among Swans was a good read with a strong premise, great tension, and a fascinating magic system. I just wish the second half had kept the same momentum as the beginning.

Thank you to Hannah Kaner, HarperCollins, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Mela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a dark and unsettling fantasy and I could not put it down.

Tilde is the princess of a fallen kingdom and she is set to marry Liran, her country’s conqueror king. The court is a mess of intrigue between Liran’s sons fighting with each other and trying to get rid of Tilde. Will Tilde be able to have a child herself and get revenge for her country? Or will she fail due to her impulsive personality?

This book took me by surprise. I generally have a very difficult time relating to grey characters, but thanks to Kaner’s writing I was able to understand Tilde’s actions and feel for her. The political intrigue was fun to follow, although the princes were a mess. Elise was also an interesting character, I did really like her growth through the story, but I did wish she had a different ending. Overall I did enjoy the ending though, it tied everything perfectly. I loved the author’s previous series and this one did not disappoint, this was entirely different from her previous works but so so good. This is definitely a super dark story so please check trigger warnings because some scenes are graphic. I feel like if you like “the poet empress” this story might be perfect for you.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review of advanced copy received from Netgalley

I was excited to receive this as an arc. I love political plot lines and the scheming. However, after the first couple of chapters I had to force myself to keep reading. Everyone loves “feminine rage” however, this type was nowhere near rage but actual abuse.

The chapters go between Tilde & Elise’s POV and while I enjoyed them in the beginning by the end, I felt less for them by all the choices they made. I liked Elise better as a character but over all I think this just wasn’t the read for me as the characters and political plot line fell flat.

Big thanks to Netgalley & the Author for providing this advanced reader copy in exchange for my review. All thoughts and honest opinions are my own.

[BookishKB]

👑💫 A Snake Among Swans 💫👑

📖 Bookish Thoughts

My full review will be shared closer to the publication date.

✨ What to Expect
• Epic Fantasy
• Political Intrigue
• Female Rage
• Forbidden Magic
• Revenge Quest
_ _ _ _

📅 Pub Date: September 8, 2026
Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[louise ʚଓ · Rating 4 out of 5]

| rating: 3.75 ★

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

✎ᝰ.ᐟ review

Full review to be posted on the day of publishing: September 08, 2026.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon/Harper Voyager for the e-ARC!

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

Start Date: June 14, 2026
Finish Date: June 18, 2026

[misfantasyfiction ☆ﾟ.*･ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* stars? Maybe? I need to think on this more

Full rtc <3

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute standout I am obsessed and devastated I will have to wait to jump into the next book.

After a devastating war tore apart her family and kingdom Tilde finds herself offered up to the enemy King as his new bride. Navigating a political atmosphere is a deadly game of chess where she can trust very few of the pieces and has much more to lose than any other player. With the King’s remaining daughter as a potential ally she offered friendship but Elise, so used to being lost to the background, is curious and from that finds the strength she needs to stand even when the world wishes to keep her on her knees.

Such a great book with the many layers of betrayal and walking on a tightrope of political shifts and uprisings. Tilde is a formidable enemy with a lot at stake playing her rule as dutiful queen and dancing around those who can recognize her as the snake she is and I loved every second. Elise is a perfect foil for her coming from a kingdom where women have less opportunity to do anything but produce heirs she is tempted to embrace the strength within her the closer she gets to the “sin” of Tilde. Together they are a well balanced pair but at odds I fear they may be each other’s worst enemy.

The romance in this is soft and an undercurrent to the rest of the plot. There is a lot of good moments between the two but for the most part they are two women standing side by side waiting to seize the opportunity to take their rightful place as the men around them fight amongst themselves. There are whispers in the trees as old magic is put against that of religion and those who twist gospel to their benefit and hunger for power but when the magic is unleashed you can’t help but fear what damage could be done if one is willing to pay the price.

I loved this series and I know there is so much that can happen as it continues and I am both nervous and excited to see the fallout of the choices made and what can happen when fighting for power matters more than fighting for love.

** special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.**

[laku · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this book blind, not having read Godkiller yet, and I was surprised by how dark a story it turned out to be.

This is a brutal book. The story is brutal and the characters are brutal, towards their friends as much as their enemies. The most horrific details are kept off-page, having happened in the past to the loved ones of both protagonists, but at times the implications of torture and abuse were almost worse for being left unspoken. The ending is quite violent, too. If you don’t already know what tale this story is vaguely inspired by (I didn’t), don’t look it up, or it may ruin the shock of the final scenes.

Tilde, the last surviving daughter of the King of a colonized land (a female King, as it happens, her culture doesn’t discriminate between genders), marries the much-older warlord who subjugated her people in the name of his oppressive patriarchal religion. She volunteers for the role, with the intention of murdering her new husband, Liran, on their wedding night, but soon realizes how pointless it would be: her own people have been defeated so soundly they are not willing to fight back anymore, and the culture and religion of the invaders are starting to take over their more mystical cult of the ancestors and forest magic. Unsure if she’s still willing to die for a world so different, she is forced to play the long game of politics to survive the warlord’s ambitious sons, who would be set aside in favour of her future son.

Elise is Liran’s remaining daughter, living in disgrace before her father selects her as a companion for his new young wife. She’s a firm believer in the religion of the Wing, even if its tenets relegate women to the lowest place in society, but from the beginning we see past glimpses of a bolder Elise who fought alongside her brothers and was adored by her father.

The two are almost foils of one another. Tilde is brash at the beginning, but becomes more ruthless and aloof as she's forced to make compromise after compromise to survive. Elise starts subdued, having become a shadow of her former self through grief and abuse by her family and by trying to adhere to the Wing’s ideals of femininity, but she finds her courage again by witnessing Tilde's resiliency and realizing how little her family truly cares for one another.

If you’ve read this far and are thinking, “Elise is going to fall in love with Tilde and realize that her family doesn’t care for her, that their power was brought about by genocide, and they will burn it all down together and run happily toward the sunset”, with an appropriate dose of drama and obstacles in between, yeah, me too. But that’s not quite what happens. I can’t say what direction the trilogy as a whole is going to take, if they will end up together or not, triumphant or not, but at least in this book, the ups and downs of their relationship veer off the beaten path.

Neither of them is willing to put their growing attraction above their duties. And when things start to change, it’s completely one-sided. This is something that happens often in real-life relationships but almost never on the page, a character overstepping, assuming their relationship is in a place it’s not, and getting their heart broken because of it. It was painful to read, but I much prefer it to the instant ride or die of most literary couples. As I said, the book is dark, and the romance is no exception. There’s no happy ending for these two for now.

This bleakness is what makes this story stand out from other books with a similar premise, alongside the complexity of the worldbuilding. The plot runs on tension – you feel the helplessness of the characters and see them make questionable choices, but know they don’t have other options. The first half is slower-paced but still edge-of-your-seat as the characters learn how high the deck is stacked against them. In the second half, the precarious balance between factions breaks down and it’s almost non-stop action that slows down only long enough for its consequences to sink in.

My favourite part was the worldbuilding. Both religions were fascinating, the Wing with its bird imagery and the Ways with its ancient forests speaking with the voices of the dead. We are also dealing with three different cultures, not two, and each has its own unique way of approaching hierarchy, women’s roles, and every other aspect of daily life. Most relevant for the plot, the Cynghal from Liran’s homeland usually split the land between all the children, but the Galen who converted them and financed their conquest want a single male heir. The newly conquered Merogian won’t accept a ruler not of their blood, which is where Tilde comes into play. The push and pull between these sides, not to mention the different factions loyal to each of the five adult sons, added a layer of complexity that really elevated the story for me and made me feel like I was reading A Song of Ice and Fire, with so many characters and allegiances to keep track of.

I actually wouldn’t be surprised if the author was inspired, at least in part, by House of the Dragon, for its themes and tone (and also for a certain content warning). Tilde also reminded me at times of Wei in The Poet Empress, another powerless woman who sacrifices her conscience and allies until she’s no better than the people she’s fighting against. We’ll see if the trilogy ends up being worthy of these comparisons, but this was a great start!

My thanks to Netgalley UK and HarperVoyager for a review copy. My opinions are my own.

[juniper (juni) · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐ 4.5 stars ⭐
"I had already let the princess get close enough to plant a knife in my chest. And my body told me that I wanted to do it again."

This review will contain slight spoilers as I provide my honest feedback.

An extra special thank you to Sam Larrabee, Avon Books, and Harper Voyager for allowing me to read this e-ARC. This book has been on my radar for a little while now, once I read the synopsis, and I was so ecstatic when I received approval to read this. This is my first time reading and reviewing an ARC, so again, thank you so much for the opportunity!

Now, onto my review... as you can tell by the star rating, I clearly loved this book. It was so gripping; I could not put it down at certain times. The story is fast-paced and consistently keeps you on the edge of your seat as you struggle to keep your eyes from darting all over the page (if you're anything like me, that is.) I had to frequently realign myself by taking a deep breath and backtracking a few paragraphs so that I could slowly read and process each line, rather than skim just to find out what happens next. Yep, definitely an enthralling read. I cannot recommend it enough.

Let's get into some things I did and did not like about this book...

What I loved most about this book was the complexity of the characters. Each character was well-developed and multifaceted. They were all intriguing and captivating, and complex enough to contribute to the plot (i.e. Merovin, Muirenn.) I especially loved the reoccurring theme of deceased characters haunting the narrative. But what I loved most was the stark contrast between our two protagonists, Tilde and Elise. Two complex characters, with different histories and beliefs, living entirely different lives despite being within the same palace. The rotating POV chapters provide insight into both of their minds and hearts, and allowed me to learn more about both of these incredible women -- their innermost secrets, their shameful desires, their ambitions. I loved seeing the way both of these women change as the story progress, and how the end of the story leaves us with a new version of Elise and Tilde.

With that said, I did not care for the deliberate choice to make Tilde's chapters in 1st person POV and Elise's chapters in 3rd person POV. I have not looked into this, but I am sure that there was a good reason for it. It was very unexpected and jarring because I noticed right away (I am an avid 3rd person connoisseur) and it briefly took me out of the story because I flipped back to the previous chapter to go ??? Regardless... you do get used to it after a while. However, this is one reason I did not rate this 5 stars.

Another reason I did not rate this 5 stars does circle back to Tilde and Elise. While I was foaming at the mouth for any moments of intimacy or desire between the two of them, I was expecting this to be a slow burn. Stolen glances, lingering eyes, the brushing of fingertips -- that kind of thing. I was shocked by how quickly the romance builds up in this novel, considering it's only book 1 of 3. I was hoping for a slower build-up and found myself a little disappointed when things started to snowball. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fool. I still screamed and kicked my feet in queer joy at that scene (iykyk). However, those were my lingering thoughts and I would be doing a disservice to you and myself if I didn't state it here.

Despite that, I enjoyed their dynamic and their struggle to figure out their relationship (are we... friends? relatives? lovers? enemies?) Another relationship dynamic worth noting here is the one between Tilde, Marolyn, and Hadiah. Oh my god, do I love these three. They are bonded, not just by blood and duty, but love and loyalty and nationality. I loved how different and defined each one of these ladies were, how well they meshed together, and how gut-wrenching it was when they clashed. Truly one of the biggest, if not the top, highlight of this novel.

Another aspect of the story I enjoyed was the political intrigue, and with that, the worldbuilding. The story progresses at a steady pace and information is fed to us slowly, gradually, as Tilde leaves her home and enters the Swan Court, and it's done so well. I love the way the story is slowly woven together as we meet all these different political figures and learn about their nationalities, their political ties, their interests and ambitions, etc. I especially loved seeing it through Tilde's eyes as she discovers exactly how rotten this court is, and how it's not just the king, but his sons and their political allies as well. And the Faith, oh who could forget about them... Watching Tilde slither her way down to the root so she can take all of them out is so immensely satisfying. She's great, she's absolutely so much fun.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the kithwood, the Ways, the ancestors, the magic. Brilliant, chaotic, intriguing, fascinating. I won't say more in fear of spoiling it. It truly is something you need to experience for yourself.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope I answered any questions you may have had about A Snake Among Swans. This is one you'll be thinking about long after you've finished it. Trust me, I would know! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Snake Among Swans is a complex and bloody tale, and, in my opinion, a very strong start to Hannah Kaner’s new trilogy. This is an epic fantasy filled with twisting political landscapes, unclear loyalties, and feminine rage. The book pulled me in from the very start with its high stakes and gripping plotlines, and with characters that are not always easy to love but are always deeply compelling. I really enjoyed this book, and am already excited for the next book in the series.

The story follows two main characters: Tilde is the heir to a fallen land who promises herself in marriage to Liram, the conquering king who holds both political and, to a large degree, religious power in the highly patriarchal worship of The Wing. Liram, though he has adult children already, refuses to make any of his sons his heir, instead deciding that a child from Tilde with succeed him—immediately making Tilde a target of the princes and all the members of their factions. In the royal family, Tilde meets Elise, daughter of Liram and former lady’s maid of the now-deceased queen Isabella. Elise is powerless, pushed aside within her family; though she raised many of her brothers, she is barred from power and influence by a society that doesn’t give women a voice. As Tilde seeks both safety and power to protect her people, Elise finds herself enthralled by the new queen, and, for the first time, questioning her own place within the king’s family.

Personally, I often find the super complicated webs of loyalty and factions amidst political fantasy novels to be, at best, boring and, at worst, impossible to follow. Despite that, and despite A Snake Among Swans featuring a huge array of characters and factions and proper nouns and power structures, I found it pretty easy to keep up with this book, even in the midst of travel and moving halfway across the country. Yes, there were a good number of people to keep track of, but I felt that the story did a good job at giving the important information when it was relevant and, this, making even a very complicated story something I could follow. That being said, it’s the sort of fantasy story that would be a bit challenging to recommend to readers who don’t generally read that kind of epic or heavily political fantasy book. Personally, I found the way the Tilde and Elise have to navigate such a twisting social landscape absolutely fascinating and very compelling—the challenge to determine who is a threat and who can be trusted, to suffer an abuse but to figure out how to protect oneself and how to bring the issue into the open, and especially the way each person much vie for power under the aged king. For me, this worked really well as the primary plot of the book.

The book’s other greatest strength is the challenging moral questions it raises. Tilde must become part of the ruling family to seek her revenge; she must gain their trust so she can take action, but, at the same time, gaining their trust at all requires betraying her own home and people. Watching Tilde attempt to navigate many very complicated situations where there simply is no good answer was something I really found myself enjoying; especially as she encounters others who are either more duplicitous or more idealistic than she is. I felt that many of the questions the book raises as part of its overall themes were super interesting, especially tied in with the book’s fairy tale inspiration—I cannot wait to see where these ideas go in the next book!

I will say that, at times, I did find the characters to be a bit of a weaker part of the book. Both Elise and Tilde can be hard to like, though I always was rooting for them even amidst their many challenges. I just felt that the book had a bit too much of a habit of sidelining interesting characters, making the side cast a bit lackluster in comparison. For example, Tilde travels to court with two women—who are extremely compelling at the beginning of the book but seem a bit forgotten by the end. While I think this is, in part, a result of Tilde’s overall plot arc, I did wish that the book was a bit less of the Tilde-and-Elise show. I wanted more depth to the plot by getting to know more characters and focusing a bit more on their perspectives.

All in all, I’m rating this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed it and can recommend it to readers interested in a dark political fantasy full of feminine rage. I can’t wait for the next book to come out, though am a bit cautious about even that—I really enjoyed Godkiller, but felt that the following two books in Hannah Kaner’s previous series never reached the same levels as the first book, leaving the series as a whole falling a bit flat for me. I am hopeful that the books following A Snake Among Swans will live up to this first book!

Thank you to Harper Voyager for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Heather Pacella · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

The clans of Merogia are under siege by the conquering Cynghal king, who will stop at nothing to claim their lands, slaughtering and burning and pillaging all that stands between him and growing his empire. Tuathilde, last remaining child of the King of Ardwen, knows the danger of this king more than most - he has killed her siblings and her father, and will now stop at nothing to claim her lands and raze the sacred and powerful kithwood that houses the spirits of her people’s ancestors. Desperate to save her mother and her lands, she agrees to marry the king and bear him a son and successor, whose mixed lineage will ensure that all of Merola will fall in line under the Swan King’s rule.

Tilde’s plans to kill the king and avenge her people are quickly thwarted when she realizes the might of the empire she is up against. However, waiting for revenge has its own dangers - the Swan King has a violent temper and an ailing mind, and his sons will stop at nothing to eliminate Tilde before she can give birth to an heir to supplant them. Even more dangerous is Tilde’s attraction to the king’s loyal and faithful daughter Elise. As her scheming begins to take shape, Tilde soon realizes that to seize power and be the snake that destroys the swan, she may be forced to sacrifice more than she bargained for.

A Snake Among Swans is a fantastic start to a new epic fantasy trilogy by Hannah Kaner. My thoughts on various aspects of the story are given below.

*World-building/Plot: The world-building here was *extensive*. In addition to each unique region of Merogia, there are also the Galen and Cynghal nations, as well as additional territories beyond that are hinted at (pro tip: the map at the beginning of the book is super useful!). The author did a great job here at making each of these places feel different, developing various customs and cultures for each while also detailing their extensive histories, especially with each other. Because of this, the plot feels especially rich - the reader understands exactly how dangerous Tilde’s situation is when she becomes queen, as well as the extensive perils she must navigate as she becomes further involved in the court and its various machinations. The magic systems in the book (both the Cynghal blood magic and the Merogian Ways) are incredibly interesting and original. Though they were used sparingly throughout the story, it was often with devastating effect, and I am really excited to see them expanded upon in the next book in the series.

*Character Development: The characters in this story are truly special. The weaving of both Tilde and Elise’s POVs did a fantastic job at displaying two women caught on opposite sides of an oppressive, patriarchal regime that seeks to exploit women for all they’re worth while treating them like dirt. The dual POVs also allowed these themes (colonization, misogyny, religious persecution, etc.) to be explored with a deftness that is often missing in other books that explore these topics. The romance between Tilde and Elise is tragic, as both realize that, no matter what their feelings are for each other, each will continue to prioritize outcomes that will damage their relationship with each other. Outside of the central romance, the explorations of each of the different sons within Elise’s family (and their relationships with the women in their lives) was also fantastic - it really showed how young boys are also failed by a patriarchal society.

*Pacing/Writing Style: The pacing is definitely slow - though Tilde initially imagines herself killing the king right after their wedding ceremony, going out in a blaze of glory and freeing her people, she quickly realizes that that will never come to be. Instead, she must play the long game to bring down the Cynghal empire, replacing her dreams of bloody revenge with fraught political schemings and machinations. Because of that, her plans unfold gradually and carefully. However, this results in an absolutely explosive ending, and it seems like the action and pacing will definitely pick up in the next book. Hannah Kaner’s writing here was beautiful, and really added an emotional depth to the political events that made the slow buildup more than worth it.

I highly recommend A Snake Among Swans for anyone looking for an epic fantasy chock-full of political intrigue and feminine rage. I could definitely see this series being adapted into a prestige cable television show a la Game of Thrones - so if that’s your vibe, definitely check it out!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Siobhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

5⭐️

Sometimes books hit you, make an impact, more than words can ever express. I experienced this with Hannah Kaner's first trilogy, which soothed and brought such hope and light to my queer, disabled heart, and this book brought that deep feeling once again, as I'm sure it will to many queer women like myself, who desperately try to fight for change and hope that seems to be so often ripped from us.

Hannah Kaner is truly a master of her craft, a leading and so deeply compelling voice in epic fantasy. I knew as much after reading the Godkiller trilogy, but her latest masterpiece has only further cemented this. A Snake Among Swans was one of my most anticipated releases of 2026, and I genuinely squealed when this E-ARC landed in my email inbox. And I knew I was right about what this book would be, what this book would do to me, and from the very opening chapter, the very prologue, I was consumed once again by Kaner's mastery of craft. Dark and epic, twisting and political, hard-hitting and deeply emotional, A Snake Among Swans is a heavy and harrowing journey that deserves more praise than I can ever put into words.

This book took everything I adore about epic fantasy and presented it to me anew and diversely. From dark, gritty war; complex and nuanced inter-personal relationships familial and otherwise; scheming royals and intense court politics; lush worldbuilding, and a mysterious and rich sentient forest, alight with folklore and intrigue; a tale of desperate vengeance and dark plotting; and a delicious helping of sapphic yearning, this was a book that feels as if it was made for me. Kaner's worldbuilding was exquisite, conjuring a new, vast land that was sprawling and complex and yet never felt inaccessible/hard to keep track of, with complex conflicts, opposing sides, the tension between monarchy and religion, and a quiet yet powerful thread of bubbling rebellion and hope all coming together to create a world that immediately drew me in. The contrast of this rigidity of patriarchal monarchy and oppressive religion sat excellently in opposition to the dark and folkloric magic of the kithwood, bringing to life a war of land and ideals that felt so vividly alive.

One of the strongest elements of Kaner's writing that strikes me so deeply every time is her exploration of humanity, and the things we will do, the monsters we will become, in order to survive. This is in many ways a story about vengeance, about a need for reparation, and how such a quest can twist a person into the very person they swore to destroy. Tilde was such a fascinating and excellently written protagonist for this very reason, a character who was hurting and determined and darkly ruthless when she needed to me, a character who I rooted for and criticised for her actions in equal measure. So many male protagonists get to be complicated and messy and morally grey without retort, and I was so happy to finally see a nuanced female lead written with such power. Elise was an equally strong protagonist in her own way, again hurting and yet still deeply hopeful, picking up the lost pieces of herself to reclaim her identity and the strength that patriarchy had sought to steal from her. The romance in this book is very much a subplot, but it was excellent, and I was enraptured by Tilde and Elise's yearning, their desires and the complexities of their bond, and Kaner has left such excellent potential for where this bond may go in the coming books. And these complexities extended beyond just our POV leads, with excellently crafted side characters who were just as nuanced as Tilde and Elise, lending an extra layer of complexity, intrigue, and emotion to this dark tale of shifting alliances, sisterhood, and mad grabs for power.

There is not much else I can say, I simply do not have the words, but I must urge everyone to get this wonder of a book preordered, and join me in desperately awaiting book 2. A Snake Among Swans has become one of my all time favourite books, a masterpiece of epic fantasy, dark and folkloric, political and nuanced, sapphic and secretly hopeful, that I truly cannot recommend enough. This is a book about women, about queer people, about those who have been pushed to the margins and forced into submission, and it is also a story about fighting back, about finding yourself and your power, about letting the darker, more secret side of your soul dance, and for me and our time we live in, this was a book I needed to read, an inspiring story that has carved out a place in my heart for evermore.

[ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free digital ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I struggled with this book, and for quite a while I struggled to name why I struggled. But I have now concluded, quite confidently, that the characters are the reason.

Let me explain. This book was billed as sapphic epic fantasy, about "warring kingdoms" and "wild magic", plus the recently ever-present "female rage". I found none of this.
Let's start with the first part of that sentence. Sapphic, okay. There's women having sex with each other in this book. Theoretically a check mark, but I did not enjoy it at all. Tilde and Elise, the two main characters, are probably supposed to be some kind of starcrossed-lover-situation, but ... there was absolutely no chemistry. They hated each other, nothing really happened to change that, and then suddenly Elise was proclaiming her love for Tilde (her father's wife, btw.).
Okay, next part. "Warring kingdoms." Nope. Not really! While Tilda's mother is technically called a king, the kingdom she rules has been well and truly colonized. There's no war here, there is takeover by a Christian-coded nation under a Christian-coded religion, and what Tilde is doing during the plot is more akin to rebellion than a war. She is married to the aging king, who now rules the land that should've been hers. They are not warring! She's trying to get it back, but the war is over.
Let's go look at "wild magic". As above, technically a check mark, but so much less so than I was hoping. Tilde has some sort of connection to the kithwood, a kind of holy place that is the ultimate resting place of the souls of her people, able to trade pain and memories for magic. She uses this magic twice in this book. Sure, the wood talks to her sometimes, but Tilde tries to deny this magic most of the time, both because she doesn't really know how it works and to avoid being branded as a witch.

Good, let's look at the characters.
The only one we kinda get to know is Elise. Of course, Tilde has the majority of the POV chapters, and hers are narrated in first person, while Elise's POV chapters are told in third person (a choice I found kind of puzzling), which is funny, because Elise's chapters offer a more intimate look of her character and enable the reader to see her make a lot more sense than Tilde does.
I hated Tilde. I'm sorry, but I really did. She's supposed to be this great schemer, but the choices she makes in 90% of the book are pretty stupid. It's only at the end, when she finally looks to that wild magic, that she gets interesting. Before, she's trying to manipulate and maneuver the court, and we are TOLD she's being incredibly clever about it, but she isn't, really. She's constantly being accused of being a witch, she underestimates ALL of her opponents; she says she is trying to beat them at their own game, but she isn't even playing the same game, and she's already losing, due to her own shortsightedness.
Then, the princes, the supposed opponents in this "game," were just confusing. There's so many of them, like ... five or six? I could not, for the life of me, remember their names and their personalities and why, for some reason, they all had colors assigned to them, and I also didn't quite get why the hell the king even needed that many sons if he had to divide his kingdom among them when he died?? That makes no sense, and I am sure I somehow misunderstood this, but what the hell? Why does one man need so many children, and why does a man with that many surviving adult sons need another one from a new queen?
That's another thing: The rules of this court seemed arbitrary, put together to make a very confusing plot make sense, and it didn't even work. There's so little world-building for this start of what is billed as an epic-fantasy trilogy. Sure, the people and countries have ridiculous fantasy names, but what do those nations really stand for? How are the governments organized, what is the history, where did their faith even come from, what exactly are the rules of succession, what even is the goddamn CLIMATE like? I don't know! I have no clue! There's a forest, I guess?

So yeah. I debated between 2 and 3 stars, and I have only bumped it up to a 3 because I quite enjoyed the chaos of that ending, but otherwise? Big disappointment.

[ValkyrieRuna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where to even start, I absolutely loved this book! Trust me when I say I do not compare A Snake Among Swans to Game of Thrones lightly, but between the political machinations, court intrigue, religious oppression, deadly battles for line of succession, and royal houses with animals as their sigils, this had me feeling super nostalgic and absolutely salivating. If you loved ASOIAF, The Poet Empress, or Daughter of the Empire this will be right up your alley!

"Do not cut off the swan's head and call it vengeance while its poison seeps out. Pluck out its feathers, silence its beak, destroy its nest and set a snake on its young. This is not a hunt, Tilde. This must be a massacre."

Tilde is the last daughter of King Rivani and the conquered kingdom of Merogia. She willing offers herself up as a prospective bride to The infamous Swan King Liran, her kingdom's enemy and conqueror (also a man three times her age). Elise, King Liran's last daughter, is not prepared for enigmatic Tilde to come into her life - a woman who embodies everything she is not: bold, proud, outspoken and a heathen descendant of the kithwood's clans that once harnessed the blasphemous wild magic.

"True victory does not rest on a win or a loss. True victory is to be able to play again."

I am an absolute glutton for political fantasy, but to find out this also had sapphic representation? SAY LESS. If you're not one for a heavy dose of romance, know that the romance here is a subplot and far from the main focus. This world you're about to dive into is brutal, and we have characters that will do anything to claw their way into staying alive. This is definitely one of those stories that pushes each character to the "how far are you willing to go?" territory, and I love the chance of watching them make those sometimes heart wrenching decisions. The pacing kept me eagerly flipping through the pages. I could not put this one down, and when I did have to put it down I was thinking about what was going to happen next.

I loved the magic system. Too often I find fantasy stories opt for soft magic systems that don't have a cost for using magic, which makes everything seem incredible easy / low stakes. Not so in ASAS, the magic here has a devastating cost - one that makes the users second guess if the payoff is worth it.

The cast of characters is quite large, but we only get two POVs - Elise and Tilde. I found myself wishing we had a more POVs like in Game of Thrones just so I could keep everyone straight. The first several chapters I found myself rereading paragraphs to try and make sure I fully understood what was happening and who everyone was because Kaner does not hold your hand when it comes to this. There are also several unnecessarily similar character / place names (ie: Cynghal, Cynefel) that I definitely had to pay attention to. The Swan King has a ton of sons from his late wife, but sometimes I had a hard time remembering who was who. Each son has his own coat of arms / color, but I wish there had either been less sons to keep track of or we spent more time seeing each one apart from his brothers.

I was woman enough to be their figurehead, but too much a girl to merit their respect.

Last but not least, the amount of feminine pain and rage this explores is enough for any reader to feast on. It was incredible to follow two POVs from opposite sides, completely different personalities, as they both slowly unraveled all they thought they knew. I loved watching as both of them worked to find their strength and power while fighting all the ways the world wants to grind them into dust just for being a woman.

But this was where Cynghal noblewomen existed, behind closed doors they could not hold against visitors, in rooms they did not own.

It's been two days since I've finished this, and I am mourning the loss of this world already. I will absolutely be keeping my eyes peeled for any details on Book 2 and eagerly devouring it as soon as it's available!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for this ARC! Opinions, as always, are my own.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Snake Among Swans is the first in a new fantasy trilogy from Hannah Kaner. I adored Godkiller, and despite that trilogy have a stronger start than a finish, Kissen still remains a favourite protagonist/heroine and I think of the story and its world often. I was so excited to hear of a new series and to be granted an advanced reader copy. I was so sure that this novel was an auto-buy for me. Sadly I never enjoyed this novel past the first two or three chapters once it became clear that 'feminine rage' actually meant 'female abuse and oppression and rape all the time'. There was no joy in this novel. There was no one heroic like Kissen, there was no found family to bring kindness and warmth into a cruel world. There was just cruelty. It felt like watching Game Of Thrones if someone had removed all the scenes about men, and all the powerful or finding-their-own-power women, and just left all the scenes were women are beaten, humiliated, raped, and living under constant looming threat of every single man around them. For me, this wound up being a depressing and exhausting read.

In the last two chapters, it becomes apparent that this is a fairytale retelling. I also wish that hadn't been kept such a secret either, because it's a massive genre change right at the end and if you know the fairytale in question, you know everything has to flip at this point and became a very different type of story and no longer about the main protagonist of book one. I also have absolutely no desire for the 'new' protagonist of the fairytale to succeed, so. That's a choice.

This novel is technically well written. The worldbuilding is detailed and well thought-out -- it's great, apart from how I hate the major chosen aspects of it (normalised oppression of women; evil Church rules all and forcibly encourages the colonisation of more and more 'heathen' kingdoms). The author does a fantastic job at building the overwhelming, ever-present threat of normalised, unpunished violence against women. That's just not anything I want to read for such a long time (~95% of the book)--and if the blurb had been more honest about that, I would have avoided the book or at least known after the first quarter (when I failed to emotionally attach to either protagonist) that I wasn't going to find anything to keep me invested and could have put it down early.

It also never felt like the author was making any kind of point about violence or oppression or colonisers, unlike several other fantasy novels with 'dark' themes and violence (like this year's amazing The Poet Empress, or last year's coloniser rebellion To Bargain With Mortals). The invading king and his family are just pure war-mongering, backstabbing evil, the Church is evil, colonisers are sort-of evil but maybe a very few of them are okay, and sometimes it's fine to work with known backstabbers you despise if you have a greater common enemy. I wasn't left feeling like any interesting points had been made or thought-provoking questions had been asked by the novel and it's hyper-violence. Just 'royal family bad, oppression culture bad, becoming even worse in order to beat them is ok'.

I'm sure many readers will like this. It's going to depend greatly on your personal comfort level with violence against women. Also slightly on how long you can tolerate a reactive protagonist with no real agency who keeps failing so badly at 'playing the long game'. (Bish has never heard of the long game, or of politics, or of not constantly breaking the laws of her oppressors 😭 It takes her over half the book to realise that she shouldn't keep interrupting the men, after being told in chapter 1 or 3 that women in her new husband's kingdom are expected to hold their tongues and not speak unless asked. Advice? Laws? What are those? 😭 )

You might be able to tell I didn't wind up liking the characters. There's not a lot to grab onto. Most characters are still one-note tropes by the end. Tilde and Elise are the only ones allowed to change, but their changes aren't necessarily good. I liked both of them more at the start and then lost good feelings for them as they both continued to choose stupid actions for too long, Elise more wilfully so than Tilde.

I'm glad for everyone who liked the book, and I'm glad for the author to keep publishing, but I'll be skipping the rest of this trilogy and waiting to see if her next offering veers closer back to Godkiller, which had fun, joy, female and queer empowerment, a LGBTQ+ positive world, and more complex, interesting characters. I miss having a world and characters that feel worth fighting for.


Rating: 3 stars -- Technically high quality, but the constant oppression and hyper-violence were not for me.

[Linnéa Lange · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Snake Among Swans is a lovely, dark, nature tried epic fantasy with parts of sapphic romance, high levels of violence and intricate political machinations. All in all, a good read, especially for those who, like me, love a dark forest with a mind of its own.

Tilde is the son a of a king of Merogian. It’s a people who serve the old ways under the surface, while remaining pious but rebellious above the surface. The continent is at war, the conquering force having allied itself with the Wing, which is a religion kind of like Christianity. This is contrasted to the religion of the Kithwood, where druidims can listen to the trees, who have a mind of their own. See any parallels to actual history? I don’t think they’re accidental 😊

Tilde gets married off to the Cynghal King Liran, in order to have his heir and unite the kingdoms. This is not a happy marriage, and there is no happiness in sight for Tilde. The King’s sons are scheming to take power, and she is a hindrance to it, and very much not welcome. The King himself is old and unpleasant, with a terrible temper on him. The only bright spot in all of this is the princess, Elise, whom Tilde shares a deep attraction to. But if you’re a romance reader first, be aware that the romance is crucial to plot, and not something that exists because it’s fun. People fall in love sometimes.

There are many things I like with A Snake Among Swans. As I’ve mentioned, I am a big fan of nature based magic systems, and the Kithwood is one of the more interesting parts of this book. The book is highly political, with very much scheming and plotting, and the magic lightens that up a bit, although political plotting is fun in itself so no complaints from me!

Kaner does not hold her punches when it comes to depicting how women’s lives look in a patriarchal religious monarchy. It’s not easy to read, but it is necessary. It will, however, rattle some readers so make sure you understand the trigger warnings before diving into this book. I, for one, appreciate when books are more realistic leaning in their depictions. The book is set in a time that is more like the dark ages than anything medieval, and time wasn’t great for women then. That the book attempts to show just how dark times were for women makes the stakes even higher, and the choices of our two narrators — Elise and Tilde — make more sense.

Set up in a great premise, I still think the execution is missing vital parts of what makes epic fantasy great. Kaner writes a book that is mostly about political games, very little about strategy or war, and yet doesn’t quite go all the way with the layering. In books with a high level of court intrigue, things don’t always tend to go exactly according to plan. No matter how skillful a plotter or schemer you are, there’s always an old priest or something who has been at the game longer than a 24ish year old and will be able to thwart your plans. This element is missing, because all of our bad guys are mostly just bad — not conniving, not foxlike, and not skilled schemers and plotters. I’m not claiming Tilde has it easy — she certainly doesn’t — but the layering is missing.

Because the plotting and scheming mostly goes on in Tilde’s head, this makes the book drag occasionally. I didn’t feel like it picked up until after the halfway mark. But beware, it’s not a high speed twists and turns kind of book. Epic fantasy usually isn’t, it builds and builds and builds, but since marketing is romantasy-leaning, I feel like I need to say this.

I think you may like this is you also enjoy books based on Arthurian or Celtic historical fiction or dark folklore-adjacent fantasy.

Thank you to HarperVoyager, who granted me an eARC to review!