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readnerd234's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
dasha_jesus_reading's review
fast-paced
4.5
It was okay, not as good as her older publications but still enjoyable.
ranee_samaniego's review
2.0
2 / 5 stars
I think 2/5 stars is generous. Melanie Dickerson's stereotypical characters demonstrates a limited view of masculinity, femininity, and romance.
The protagonist - Delia - is a stereotypical female in a romance book and a copy-and-pasted version of Melanie Dickerson's other female leads. Delia is thin, is petite, has flowing hair that perfectly curls without effort, is white, and has blue eyes. Beyond her physical appearance, she cries in nearly every scene in the book and has to be rescued by the male lead.
This depiction of an "ideal" and "desirable" female can be dangerous. It teaches young women that, in order to be desirable, you have to look and act as Delia does. Instead, we females are so much more diverse than this stereotype - we can be thin, petite, tall, curvy, and of all skin and hair types; we can demonstrate our abundant emotions in a healthy manner or have fewer emotions to work through; we can be physically strong or less so. In spite of all these varieties of personality and appearance, we are all beautiful, lovable, strong, and capable.
Similarly, the male lead - Sir Geoffrey - is a stereotypical romance novel male. He is tall, handsome, muscular, and driven by an inexplicable desire to protect the female lead. Males, too, are diverse and come in a variety of personalities, shapes, and sizes - all of which are valuable.
Finally, the romance was unfounded and unrealistic. Delia and Geoffrey speak only a handful of times (most of which was Geoffrey trying to comfort Delia while she cried). Geoffrey constantly is fighting the inexplicable urge to take Delia into his arms. Of course, there is a also second, less-wholesome suitor who temporarily gets in the way. Delia and Geoffrey's romance has no true foundation that would last in the real world and is instead founded on a damsel-in-distress / white-knight dynamic that is unhealthy.
Overall, I found this Court of Swans to be full of silly tropes, unrealistic, stereotypical, and disappointing.
I think 2/5 stars is generous. Melanie Dickerson's stereotypical characters demonstrates a limited view of masculinity, femininity, and romance.
The protagonist - Delia - is a stereotypical female in a romance book and a copy-and-pasted version of Melanie Dickerson's other female leads. Delia is thin, is petite, has flowing hair that perfectly curls without effort, is white, and has blue eyes. Beyond her physical appearance, she cries in nearly every scene in the book and has to be rescued by the male lead.
This depiction of an "ideal" and "desirable" female can be dangerous. It teaches young women that, in order to be desirable, you have to look and act as Delia does. Instead, we females are so much more diverse than this stereotype - we can be thin, petite, tall, curvy, and of all skin and hair types; we can demonstrate our abundant emotions in a healthy manner or have fewer emotions to work through; we can be physically strong or less so. In spite of all these varieties of personality and appearance, we are all beautiful, lovable, strong, and capable.
Similarly, the male lead - Sir Geoffrey - is a stereotypical romance novel male. He is tall, handsome, muscular, and driven by an inexplicable desire to protect the female lead. Males, too, are diverse and come in a variety of personalities, shapes, and sizes - all of which are valuable.
Finally, the romance was unfounded and unrealistic. Delia and Geoffrey speak only a handful of times (most of which was Geoffrey trying to comfort Delia while she cried). Geoffrey constantly is fighting the inexplicable urge to take Delia into his arms. Of course, there is a also second, less-wholesome suitor who temporarily gets in the way. Delia and Geoffrey's romance has no true foundation that would last in the real world and is instead founded on a damsel-in-distress / white-knight dynamic that is unhealthy.
Overall, I found this Court of Swans to be full of silly tropes, unrealistic, stereotypical, and disappointing.
forestidylls's review
3.0
I always appreciate retellings of underappreciated fairy tales, but wish this one had delivered more. The fairy tale itself seemed to be thrown in just for a setting, and if I wasn't familiar with the fairy tale, I would probably be very confused about what the deal with the sweaters was or why swans were mentioned. This book was sweet and unassuming, but therein was the problem. I know it is written for Christian teens, but even so the characters were pretty one-dimensional, always good, always honorable, always doing the right thing with never a stray thought - or at least a long monologue about doing the right thing after an accidental thought about being angry. Which kind of made the story slow and simplistic, and often preachy. Easy to put down and forget about. But if you are looking for an innocent romance focused only on honor and goodness, you'll enjoy it.
illusie's review
3.0
I thought this might be a retelling of the Wild Swans, and it was. It wasn't clear, but there were a few references. I like that the plot was different from other historical romances I've read. Delia is a lovely character, though a bit naive. I'd have preferred it if she took the time to get to know Geoffrey better, but thought the romance was cute anyway.
english_lady03's review
3.0
OK, I'm gonna be generous and give this 3 stars because I think the ending was better than most of the rest of the story.
I'm not familiar with the fairy tale this is bases on at all, but even then I just didn't connect with most of the characters. Just not at all. Delia was bland, the Sir Elliot degenerated into cartoonish. To the point that he's described as having sharp fang-like teeth.
Oh, and Delia bases her decisions to trust people and her view of their character on whether or not they have a kind or nice face. A "sincere look". Really? How superficial is that.
Its leaning so far towards the goodies= beautiful, baddies = ugly stereotype that it really rankled me.
The writing felt rushed, with a lot of telling rather than showing, and was also very repetitive in places.
This historical details. No. Just no. I'm sorry. Just to state it right off. I'm British, so I tend to hold novels set in my country to a higher standard than those set in other countries whose history, geography, culture and customs I'm unfamiliar with. I do get protective of my country's history. I'll confess it.
There were just so many inaccuracies in this one. Major ones. The Wardrobe Tower in the Tower of London wasn't used as a prison at this time- and here's the thing. The biggie. Even the parts of the Tower where prisoners were incarcerated were not the way we imagine them.
Noble prisoners were usually lodged in comfort. They sometimes even had servants tending them. Thomas More wrote letters during his time as a prisoner in the Tower, he was allowed books etc. Some were allowed to exercise in the grounds, there's even records of "prisoners" composing poetry, gambling, and entertaining female visitors.
The point is that these people were generally not kept in cells or "dungeons". This is probably due to the fact that the Tower was not built as a prison. It was not intended to be a prison. It was a fortress and royal Palace first and foremost for the first several centuries of its history.
There was also the curious scene in which Sir Geoffrey could hear what was going on in one part of the Tower from outside? Really? The walls are like several feet thick, I can't see that somehow, and where were the boats?
I mean seriously the Tower is famously abutted by the River Thames on one side, and during Medieval times, there were a couple of "gates" that actually opened onto the river which people entered into by barges or riverboats. There was even a moat.Yet everyone seems to walk in and out here. Not a boat or water in sight.
I also don't know of any law or custom even in Medieval England by which a 10 year old son of an Earl could be executed for treason. I mean boys weren't even counted as coming of age until 21, and whilst there were a few cases of 19 year olds, even 16 year olds being executed for "treason". A 10 year old? Pushing the boundaries of credibility. The legal proceedings? Where was the trial before the Lords, before their peers? Proper witnesses? Convicted on the basis of the testimony of commoners?
Richard II didn't gain his reputation for clashing with the nobles and executing them until closer to the end of his reign, not the beginning.
Also, one other point here. If one wanted to get access to a Medieval English King, without having to deal with his courtiers it would have made more sense to wait until he was on a hunting expedition or going on his way to church or something. They did do things like that. Some even put aside time to hear "petitions". Going to see him at dinner. Yeah, there were better ways.
Now there were a few details which were done well the ones about seamstresses working in the entourage of the Queen was for example, but to me there were just too many mistakes and inconsistencies in the important details. The minor details right, but the important ones not, yeah that kinda frustrates me.
The religion. Oh my. Well. It is a Christian romance, but the treatment and attitude to religion seemed very, very modern. The attempt at a discussion of why bad things happen to good people lacked nuance and depth as did many of the characters sentiments. Delia was basically "oh well he seems like a selfless and kind person, so he couldn't possibly do anything wrong".
Yeah sorry, but this is the real world. Good people do bad things, sometimes just to survive, sometimes with good and noble intentions.
Not everyone who does bad things is an evil, Satanic villain. Few people are totally and entirely evil.
I've heard that this is going to be a trilogy, but the number of Delia's siblings makes me suspect this is building to a much longer series, like the Hagenhiem series. There's a part of me that's excited at the prospect of it being set in England, but this one could have been so much better. Better characterization, better writing etc.
Also, I'm not saying that Mrs Dickerson needs to personally visit England, but there are guidebooks to the Tower of London out there. I do hope this series improves, I really do as I want to read more.
I'm not familiar with the fairy tale this is bases on at all, but even then I just didn't connect with most of the characters. Just not at all. Delia was bland, the Sir Elliot degenerated into cartoonish. To the point that he's described as having sharp fang-like teeth.
Oh, and Delia bases her decisions to trust people and her view of their character on whether or not they have a kind or nice face. A "sincere look". Really? How superficial is that.
Its leaning so far towards the goodies= beautiful, baddies = ugly stereotype that it really rankled me.
The writing felt rushed, with a lot of telling rather than showing, and was also very repetitive in places.
This historical details. No. Just no. I'm sorry. Just to state it right off. I'm British, so I tend to hold novels set in my country to a higher standard than those set in other countries whose history, geography, culture and customs I'm unfamiliar with. I do get protective of my country's history. I'll confess it.
There were just so many inaccuracies in this one. Major ones. The Wardrobe Tower in the Tower of London wasn't used as a prison at this time- and here's the thing. The biggie. Even the parts of the Tower where prisoners were incarcerated were not the way we imagine them.
Noble prisoners were usually lodged in comfort. They sometimes even had servants tending them. Thomas More wrote letters during his time as a prisoner in the Tower, he was allowed books etc. Some were allowed to exercise in the grounds, there's even records of "prisoners" composing poetry, gambling, and entertaining female visitors.
The point is that these people were generally not kept in cells or "dungeons". This is probably due to the fact that the Tower was not built as a prison. It was not intended to be a prison. It was a fortress and royal Palace first and foremost for the first several centuries of its history.
There was also the curious scene in which Sir Geoffrey could hear what was going on in one part of the Tower from outside? Really? The walls are like several feet thick, I can't see that somehow, and where were the boats?
I mean seriously the Tower is famously abutted by the River Thames on one side, and during Medieval times, there were a couple of "gates" that actually opened onto the river which people entered into by barges or riverboats. There was even a moat.Yet everyone seems to walk in and out here. Not a boat or water in sight.
I also don't know of any law or custom even in Medieval England by which a 10 year old son of an Earl could be executed for treason. I mean boys weren't even counted as coming of age until 21, and whilst there were a few cases of 19 year olds, even 16 year olds being executed for "treason". A 10 year old? Pushing the boundaries of credibility. The legal proceedings? Where was the trial before the Lords, before their peers? Proper witnesses? Convicted on the basis of the testimony of commoners?
Richard II didn't gain his reputation for clashing with the nobles and executing them until closer to the end of his reign, not the beginning.
Also, one other point here. If one wanted to get access to a Medieval English King, without having to deal with his courtiers it would have made more sense to wait until he was on a hunting expedition or going on his way to church or something. They did do things like that. Some even put aside time to hear "petitions". Going to see him at dinner. Yeah, there were better ways.
Now there were a few details which were done well the ones about seamstresses working in the entourage of the Queen was for example, but to me there were just too many mistakes and inconsistencies in the important details. The minor details right, but the important ones not, yeah that kinda frustrates me.
The religion. Oh my. Well. It is a Christian romance, but the treatment and attitude to religion seemed very, very modern. The attempt at a discussion of why bad things happen to good people lacked nuance and depth as did many of the characters sentiments. Delia was basically "oh well he seems like a selfless and kind person, so he couldn't possibly do anything wrong".
Yeah sorry, but this is the real world. Good people do bad things, sometimes just to survive, sometimes with good and noble intentions.
Not everyone who does bad things is an evil, Satanic villain. Few people are totally and entirely evil.
I've heard that this is going to be a trilogy, but the number of Delia's siblings makes me suspect this is building to a much longer series, like the Hagenhiem series. There's a part of me that's excited at the prospect of it being set in England, but this one could have been so much better. Better characterization, better writing etc.
Also, I'm not saying that Mrs Dickerson needs to personally visit England, but there are guidebooks to the Tower of London out there. I do hope this series improves, I really do as I want to read more.
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
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.
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.
emlickliter's review
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
4.0
Court of Swans (The Dericott Tales #1) by Melanie Dickerson – This is a historical retelling of the Children of Lyr or The Seven Swans set in medieval England. Clearly, that is right up my alley! I love how Melanie Dickerson blends faith and fairy tale, and I’m so excited to have a whole new series to inhale! Happy Reading!
jennlongb's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0