In pre-Celtic Ireland, Fionnuala was a fae princess, born to a life of luxury. She knew her duty and loved her family. She missed her mother, who died in childbirth when Fionnuala was but ten years old. Still, she had hopes and dreams of love and a full life.All her dreams were stolen from her, ripped away in a torrent of envy and magic.Now she must care for her three brothers while learning to … while learning to live under an evil curse. Will she find a way to break the spell, or would they remain swans, tethered to three places for nine hundred years?
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This book starts out in pre-Celtic Ireland in 460 BCE which is approximately 2,500 years ago.
This book is broken into four parts and twenty-three chapters, with just under 195 ebook pages.
This book is about Fionnuala, also known as Nuala, and her three siblings, Aed, Fiachra, and Conn. These children have had a terrible childhood and an even more unfortunate life.
The children’s mom dies in childbirth with the twins, Fiachra and Conn. The father eventually remarries and the children’s new stepmom is pure evil. Think Cinderella, but way worse! Their stepmom curses the children and turns them into swans for 900 years.
This book tells the story of the children, their family, their life as swans, and their continued search to find a way to have the curse removed.
A top reason I love reading fairytales is because I want to be whisked away and taken to another world. More importantly, a better, happier, peaceful world where dreams come true and happy endings not only exist, but is the norm. Sadly, I didn’t really get any of that with this book.
This book is not a happy fairytale book – not even close. This book is dark and sad filled with sorrow, loss, heartache, torment, and tragedy.
The author’s writing is so detailed it was easy to picture the story in my head, as if it were a movie that was playing.
The research is top-notch and it is clear that the author knows Ireland, it’s culture, heritage, and customs.
This author shows great promise with such an intriguing and fascinating imagination and a true passion for storytelling!
So, I, like most reviewers on here, cried – a lot! I was emotionally invested in this story and the characters.
You don’t really relate to the characters as I’m sure not many of us are royalty or have ever been turned into a swan lol. However, you connect and sympathize with the children and have hope, love, and courage for them and their chance to return back into human form.
There are a lot of raw emotions in this book. I’m glad I read this book at home since I don’t really enjoy crying in public.
I loved that at the beginning of the book there was a map of Ireland. It was nice to be able to see where the locations were in this book and see the distance between the spots.
I also loved that at the end of the book there was a glossary of Irish terms and pronunciations. There were names, places, and such included in this glossary. This was very helpful and overly utilized as the Irish lore and heavy Irish and Scottish Gaelic names were difficult to pronounce. Maybe it was just me, but I definitely kept flipping to the back and googling terms I didn’t quite recognize or understand. However, I am not very familiar with Irish terms in the first place so perhaps I had to rely on these helpful tools more so.
In addition, at the end of this book, there is an author notes section that provides more insight into Irish lore and background info. It was interesting to read and provided understanding to the author’s writing style.
Another helpful and unique feature in this book is that at the beginning of a new chapter the year featured is listed. This definitely helps for following and understanding the story and the timeline.
All in all, I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend this book to readers that like fairytales, Irish lore, and fantasy books. Just beware – you might need a box of tissues on hand!
**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**
This was a interesting story. Four siblings are cursed to be swans by a jealous woman. Throughout the years they try to discover a way to break the curse.
I liked this story. Keep it up.
Being of Irish hertiage I thought I might recognize this story as I read it. It did not match up to any of my childhood it is based on the “Children of Lir” The author
has well researched the tales. The story begins in 460 BCE and is the tale of the last days of the Tuatha De’ Dannan. Very well written, well researcher just a very sad tale.
New author for me and I really liked the blurb and was excited to read it. It wasnt that far into it when I thought uh oh. I plugged on though and it didnt get better. It was a truly sad story and well it was so very slow and I was bored. So bored. The time jumps didnt make it easier but confusing sometimes. I couldnt connect with the characters. I really tried though! I know we’re supposed to be surprised but this was just a sad story and the end wasnt a HEA I dont think anyways. It depressed me. These siblings just had a horrible childhood and adulthood was just sad. I keep repeating that but thats just what it is. I tried but it wasnt an enjoyable read for me.
I really enjoyed the story, the characters and the imagination of the author, however the ending sucked. After following these characters and loving them, the unthinkably tragic ending was upsetting. I regret reading the book.
Fionnuala, a fae princess, was born to loving parents, but her life changed forever when her beloved mother died giving birth to her twin brothers. After a long grieving period, her father married her mother’s sister, but there was no love between them. When her step-mother/aunt curses her and her three brothers, they must live as swans for the next 900 years.
I was excited to read this book, but it wasn’t what I expected. It was an incredibly sad tale full of lost opportunities and I didn’t care for the ending at all. The writing was top-notch, but I found the story just meanders through the 900 years of the curse without much action. There are a few attacks and attempts to reverse the curse, but I found myself skipping lots of text just to get to the end. Why all the suffering if there wasn’t some relief at the end? I realize not every tale has a happy ending, but I would have preferred a much different ending.
Characters lost their lives with little point.