Swan and Shadow

by Kaki Olsen

[sstaley]

I have liked many of the fairy tale re-tellings that have been written the past several years. I was looking forward to reading this one too. It started off exciting, but a bit confusing, I couldn't always tell who the POV was from. The story is being told from the POV of twins sisters Aislin and Maeve, the problem is you aren't sure which is which. You go through several chapters before the characters are truly introduced and you find out what is happening.

Twin, Aislin, who has become a victim of the ancient family curse, turns into a swan during the day and back into a human at night. She needs true love to break the curse. Her whole family supports her by coming to her rescue when she gets into trouble or is hurt because of the curse.The twin sisters, despite everything that is happening, have a very close relationship. I loved the way that they were so loyal to each other. I only wish that the magic of the curse had played a bigger part of the story. The plot has so much potential that was wasted.The bulk of the story is about things normal teens worry about: boyfriends, make-up, clothes, hanging out with friends and going to school. I think that teens will like the story and be able to relate to much of the story and the normal teen-age angst running throughout the story. Adults will be less patient with the story and the ending where Aislin finally spills the beans about the curse to her boyfriend,but there is no true resolution,which in turn leads towards a sequel. I hope that the sequel explores more of the magical side of the curse.