Court of Swans by Melanie Dickerson

Court of Swans by Melanie Dickerson ISBN-13: 9780785234012 Hardcover: 336 pages Publisher: Thomas Nelson Released: January 5th 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
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 stepmother and falsely arrested. With the 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 sewing woman specializing in embroidery 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 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.

In a court where everyone is eager to backstab anyone else to get what they want, how will Geoffrey help Delia and her brothers?


My Review:
Court of Swans is a romance set in 1381 in England and loosely based on the fairytale. I had thought that this was a young adult story, but the writing was more at a middle grade level. The characters were not complex or very well-developed. Delia was basically told what to do by wise adults, and at least she had the wisdom to (mostly) follow their good advice. It was the adults who investigated the mystery and proved that the brothers were innocent and who was guilty. She just had to go where she was told to go and do what she was told to do.

So the focus of the story was mainly which handsome and seemingly kind soldier should Delia trust: Sir Geoffrey, who treats her with respect and helps her with supplies for her brothers. Or Sir Elliot, who seems so taken by her beauty that he immediately offers to help her brothers escape...but who likes to grab at her and try to kiss her. Delia's main challenge was avoiding being raped by Sir Elliot. I did not find that a particularly interesting story. There was no sex or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.