From New York Times bestselling author Melanie Dickerson comes a reimagining of the Wild Swans–the first book in a new series of fairy-tale retellings set in medieval England! Delia lives a quiet life as the daughter of an earl in late 14th-century England, but that peace is shattered when her seven brothers are betrayed by their father and falsely arrested. Meanwhile, with the Peasants’ Revolt … Peasants’ Revolt threatening the peace of the kingdom, the king is executing anyone who had anything to do with the uprising. Delia is terrified her brothers will be next, the youngest of whom is only ten years old.
Delia infiltrates the palace as a lady-in-waiting for the new queen so she can be near her brothers in the Tower of London and help them escape. When she runs into Sir Geoffrey, the guard captain who arrested her brothers, she hates him–until she discovers he has been secretly carrying food to her brothers in their prison cell.
Trapped into obeying the orders of his king, Sir Geoffrey is the oldest son of an earl whose estate has been seized by the king and his treacherous advisers. His first mission as captain was to arrest seven brothers for treason, but he had no idea that the brothers were so young or that their sister would be so feisty and beautiful.
In a court where everyone is eager to backstab anyone else to get what they want, Geoffrey must right this wrong for Delia and her brothers–and keep them all from losing their heads to this execution-prone king.
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I requested this book some time ago already on Netgalley and the moment my request was granted I was so looking forward to reading this book. But life happened and the right moment didn’t really come, but this week, the calm week before Christmas, I really felt like reading a nice, sweet, soft and heartwarming fairytale retelling. And I knew, since I’ve read a few more books by this author, that this book would be absolutely perfect.
The book was exactly what I had expected it to be. I really love how Dickerson manages to write a contemporary fairytale. There is no magic in this story and yet it captures the essence of the original tale and keeps the important elements making up the core of this story. And it all fitted perfectly into the historical world of London. This book really showed England as it was. Not so much the beauty, but the ugly side of backstabbing, politics, greed and the fight of innocent people trying to find justice.
However, even though the theme of this book seems heavy and dark, it somehow feels like I’ve been reading a story of hope. That’s partly because of the Christian influence and as I had already noticed before, the way Dickerson writes her characters’ faith in God is a lot like mine. I recognized myself, my doubts and worries in the questions our main character asked herself and God. And it was nice to see her faith and prayers and hope rewarded in the end.
Because Dickerson really managed to write characters we could root for. All of them found a way into my heart and I really started caring about them and their fate. I’m pretty sure that this is the start of a new series and that we will get to know the other brothers in future books, but I’ve already seen that, just like their sister and her soldier, they’re all amazing people. I can’t wait to witness them finding their true love, written in such a way that it’s impossible to ever imagine those characters with someone else.
This book was just ok for me. Not bad, but not amazing. I think it may be geared towards a younger audience. I think if I were a young teen I would love this book. It was a clean book though so I liked that.
Just two weeks after Delia’s father, the Earl of Dericott, dies under questionable circumstances, her seven brothers are falsely accused of treason against the king and taken away to The Tower of London. Their only hope to live is that Delia will be able to prove her brother’s innocence before they are executed… but in order to do that, she may need the help of the captain who arrested her brothers in the first place. But can she trust him?
I LOVE Melanie Dickerson’s books so much and since it has been a while since I last read one, my thoughts while reading this one was “It feels so good to be back into a Melanie Dickerson book!”
I knew nothing about the fairytale this book is based on, “The Wild Swans”, so I went into this story not knowing what to expect… except for the expectation of liking it because it’s Melanie Dickerson. And I’m so happy to say, I did!
The story gets to the action at the very beginning which I really liked. I was drawn in only a few pages in and had a hard time putting it down after that.
There were a lot of characters in here as you can imagine since there are seven brothers. I’ll start off by saying, I loved the brothers and I cannot wait to get their stories!! I get excited just thinking about it. Since this story is about Delia, their sister, there wasn’t a whole lot of characterization given to them so that makes me even more excited to get to know them in the coming books!
Delia was a great main character. She was seriously determined and didn’t give up. Her love for her brothers and their love for her was so sweet. I loved it!
Geoffrey was a pretty great character too. He’s conflicted by what his duty as a knight of the king is and what he is knows in his heart is right. His desire to do right and do as God would have him do was really admirable and that’s what made him a great hero.
Besides our main characters, the bad guys were definitely easy to dislike. I was so cautious of everyone Delia came in contact with that I was giving her serious talks in my head not to trust anyone.
The plot was fast-paced and kept my interest the entire time. Since everything seemed impossibly doomed, I had no idea how things were ever going to make it out alive. Needless to say, the suspense in here was great and kept me turning the pages.
The faith content in here was something I loved a lot. I love how Delia and Geoffrey pray and put their trust in God, even when they can’t understand why things are happening as they are.
The romance was completely sweet and clean, nothing but a kiss. I appreciate that so much!
In the end, I really enjoyed this book. It had a lot of suspense, a sweet romance, and a plenty of action. I’m beyond excited for the rest of this series, especially Edwin’s story in the next book!
A unique, inspirational fairy tale retelling from Melanie Dickerson! Court of Swans is an intriguing introduction to Dickerson’s new Dericott Tales series, and I’m very excited for the brothers’ stories. I had a bit of a hard time connecting with Delia and Geoffrey, as the focus was more on plot than character, and some of the story was a bit shallow. Dickerson does have a talent for taking an age-old fairy tale and creating a fresh, exciting version, and for that reason alone I sincerely recommend this story! 3/5 stars
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
So excited for this new series from Melanie Dickerson. She is one of my favorite authors and this book Court of Swans, is a winner. Reimagined from the fairytale, The Seven Swans. The story takes place in medieval England, with plenty of knights, ladies, swords, battles, castles and villains. Well written, the plot keeps you turning page after page, and keeps you up all night, to see if justice prevails. The characters are well defined and you will love the Hero’s and Heroines and despise the villains. As any fairytale should be. The last thing I really enjoyed about this book and all of her books is – relying on their faith in God to get through tough times and gratitude to him for their blessings. Just the right amount of Christian beliefs, battle/sword fights and sweet romance for a PG rating. There are many characters that i look forward to a wonderful series.
Melanie Dickerson never fails to entertain with her retelling of classic fairy tales with her unique inspirational bent. I have thoroughly enjoyed each one. Don’t miss this one.
My thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishers for a copy of this book via Net Galley. I received no compensation and the opinion in this review is my own
4.5* This was a clever fairytale retelling which sets up a plethora of possibilities for more stories to be told. I enjoyed the allusions to The Six Swans and The Wild Swans by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, and appreciated that Melanie Dickerson did not strictly follow those plots, but incorporated allusions and references to them. The romance in the story was sweet, the characters’ journey of faith and trust in God was inspiring, and the story was engaging – it kept me on my toes, wondering how things would turn out in the end.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Court of Swans by Melanie Dickerson is an excellent historical fiction that is set in the 14th century England and is the first in a new series of books from this amazing author.
I have been a fan of Ms. Dickerson for quite some time and truly loved her series of 11 books under the titled Hagenheim. As soon as I found that she was to have another book (and series!!!!!) out, I knew I had to read this. And boy am I glad I did.
I loved this story so much. It weaved true historical figures such as: Anne of Bohemia, the Peasant’s Riots of 1381, and king Richard II with a fairy tale that I had never heard of (and of course then had to read for myself) The Six Swans, with a wonderful tale full of bravery, suspense, good vs evil, and faith. It truly was a dream.
I loved following along with Delia, her brothers, Sir Geoffrey, Larissa, and the full cast of characters. I loved seeing Delia and Geoffrey fall in love, learn, grow, mature, and succeed. I enjoyed the plot, pacing, the interweaving of the fairy tale, and of course the ending! I also loved the lessons placed within: having faith in yourself, your loved ones, and in God. There will be hardships and adversities in life and how one chooses to react and live secondary to those experiences is what sets one person from the next. Life is hard and not always fair, but one has the power to control what they choose to think and do in response.
Wonderful life lessons to include in a wonderfully written and enjoyable story. I can’t wait to read more!
5/5 stars
Thank you EW and Thomas Nelson for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.