A Throne of Swans is the first book in Katharine and Elizabeth Corr’s new marvelous YA fantasy duology inspired by Swan Lake, but with its own incredible world building, intrigues and amazing characters. I’m so in love with this book! I couldn’t agree more with the quote on the cover, that this is “A dark and glittering fairytale to make your heart take flight”. This amazing fantasy tale is full to the brim with mysteries, royal and political intrigues, love, friendship and betrayal, trauma, loss and hope. It draws you in from the very first page and is completely unputdownable until the very end.

The world building in this book is so rich, detailed and unique. I love the whole concept of the royal descendants and nobility being able to transform into birds of their heritage, and the wonderful and well-written characters. I immediately rooted for the compelling protagonist, Alderyn. Still suffering from the trauma after witnessing the death of her mother she hasn’t been able to transform into her swan shape for many years. When also her father dies just before her eighteenth birthday, she inherits the throne and role as Protector of Atratys. To protect her kingdom and keep her subjects safe, she must keep her flightless status a secret, and fight for her right at the corrupt royal court. The only advice she has to guide her in the new and secretive world full of hidden agendas, whispers and rumors, is from her clerk, Lucien, to “not trust anyone”. Not even him. An advice harder to follow than could be expected… Every time Alderyn was on her own without Lucien I was so nervous for the consequences of her decisions. Katharine and Elizabeth Corr sure put Alderyn through so much hardship, sorrows and tough choices! My heart ached for her so many times. But her character development was amazing; from an innocent, sheltered and naive teen, to a strong, mature and thoughtful ruler willing to make sacrifices for her subjects and for finding out the truth of her mother’s death. I also loved Alderyn’s compassion and empathy for the flightless and the way her relationships with her clerk Lucien and her cousins Odette and Aron developed into friendship and mutal respect (and something more for one person…) during the story.

This story is wonderfully dark, much more than I first expected, and does not shy away from difficult topics such as trauma, abuse, betrayal and grief, but always in a hopeful and compassionate way. It’s such a suspenseful story, with layer upon layer of deceit and unexpected twists and turns, that everything felt on a knife edge from start to finish. On the same time, it’s a fast paced and humorous story with a sweet, lovely romance that gets you so invested. I cannot wait to find out how the story thickens and what happens to Aderyn, Odette, Lucien and Aron, but at the same time I’m so scared to get my heart broken and what hardship the authors have in mind for my favorite OTP…

All in all, this is a breathtakingly wonderful YA fantasy book, with strong and loveable characters, a unique world building, intrigues, secrets and betrayals, and forbidden love, that I recommend with all my heart!
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Find out more about the book and the authors here: The Corr Sisters

The Witch’s Blood is the third and final book in the cute YA trilogy about sixteen-year-old Merry, who is trying to be a normal teenager, while also being a witch and the problems that comes with that. The second book ended with Ronan revealing his evil self and taking Leo to another reality, trying to force Leo to surrender to him and give up his own will. Now, Merry has to find a way to fee her brother before Ronan succeeds.

This book is the perfect ending to the wonderful The Witch’s Kiss trilogy. It’s dark, vivid, emotional and nerv-wracking. You can really feel Merry’s despair and how she’s willing to do anything to free her brother, including magic that’s forbidden by her coven. I love Merry and Leo’s incredible bond, they must be the cutest siblings ever and it adds so much to this series. I know I said it before, but Leo is my favorite book-brother of all times! And Merry is such a great main character. She’s fierce, strong and smart.

Another thing I love about this book is the humor and the references to fantasy genre clichés. Comments like these, from when Merry and Finn break into the evil wizard’s fortress, really made you laugh and lightened the dark and intense story:

“What, no menacing creek?” Finn murmured.
“Guess Gwydion and Ronan skipped the ‘Evil Villainy for Beginners’ class.”

This series has a unique way of combining ancient and contemporary world buildings, the writing is so well-done and slips cleverly between the different times. There are also twists and unexpected turns that kept you on the edge throughout all three books. I don’t want to make any spoilers, but Katherine and Elizabeth Corr have such a clever way of wrapping things up, and making the past and present come together. The Witch’s Blood is filled with unexpected twists and turns, adventure, emotions that are running high and unconditional love.

All in all, The Witch’s Kiss Trilogy is an enchanting YA series, with magic, adventure, love, evil wizards and old curses wrapped up in an amazing reading experience that I highly recommend!

Find out more about the book and the authors here: The Corr Sisters

The Witch’s Tears is the second book in the cute YA trilogy about sixteeen-year-old Merry, who is trying to be a normal teenager, while also being a witch and the problems that comes with that. The book starts off three months after where The Witch’s Kiss left off, with Merry and Leo still grieving what happened in the first book.

This second book is much darker and sadder than the first one. It’s also my favorite book in the series. I love how the story evolves, creating an intricate weave of dual times (modern and Anglo-Saxon) and deepening the characters. The plot felt more in-depth than the first, and there was even more action and magic in this book. When Merry’s and Leo’s grandmother, and leader of the coven mysteriously vanishes, the two of them must team up to get her back. Which is not an easy task, with Merry still being untrained and inexperienced when it comes to her witch craft, and with the coven distrusting her. And on top of that, Leo is still being consumed by his grief.

Oh, poor Leo! It was painful to see him suffer so much in this book. Really painful. Especially in the parts where he thought that he’d found someone else to love, but you as a reader can feel it in your guts that it will not end well… But still, I love that Leo got to be a bigger part of the story and the extra layers of depth that was added to his personality. He’s definitely my favorite book-brother of all times!

Just like the first book, this book is so well-written and full of action that you can’t stop yourself from flying through the pages. I was so eager and nervous to find out what would happen to the characters and how they would survive all dangerous situation they ended up in that I read this in one sitting. The suspense if they would succeed in finding the grandmother and if the newcomers Ronan and Finn were to be trusted, was killing me!

This is an enchanting YA series that I highly recommend! It is full with magic, adventure, love, evil wizards and old curses wrapped up in an amazing reading experience.

​Find out more about the book and the authors here: The Corr Sisters

The Witch’s Kiss is the first book in the cute YA trilogy about sixteen-year-old Merry, who is trying to be a normal teenager, while also being a witch and the problems that comes with that. This is such an enchanting story, full of magic, adventure, love, evil wizards and old curses that will draw you in from the very first page!

I love the setting in present days and the combination of witchcraft in modern times (like how Merry’s grandmother contacts her witch-friends via Facebook...). It gives this series a unique touch. And the characters are so realistic and loveable. I love that Merry is allowed to be a normal teenager with teenager problem while also being a witch and struggling with understanding her powers (which is extra hard since her mother has prohibited her from using them). Merry is such a great main character. She’s fierce, strong and smart. And the relationship with her older brother, Leo, is adorable.

Merry and Leo must be the cutest siblings in history! I love their strong bond. Leo was overall one of my favorite characters in this series. He was so kind and protective of his sister, even though he sure had his own shares of problems to deal with. His struggle with being in love with his best friend and trying to find a good way to come out of the closet to tell him was so well described and made my heart ache for him.

The book is very fast-paced, with a lot of action as Merry has to defeat and ancient curse when the King of Hearts, who has been hunting Merry’s bloodline for ages, once again rises. When the boy she’s been dreaming about suddenly materializes himself, Merry faces another problem. How can she fight the curse if she’s attracted to the boy under its spell?

I love how the story evolves to be told in parallel timelines, with a fairytale explaining the origin of the King of Hearts by the heartbroken Gwydion in Anglo-Saxan times. And how the love story between Merry and Jack has been a long time coming, over generations.
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The ending was a bit of a surprise though. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I had thought that the title of this book would have some meaning that would have made the book end in a different way. But it sure made you eager to continue the series...

All in all, this is an absolutely wonderful YA fantasy book, with strong and loveable characters, magic, adventure, ancient curses and forbidden love that I highly recommend!

Find out more about the book and the authors here: The Corr Sisters