Was completely surprised by this YA fantasy. Lately YA has been a miss for me, but I was enraptured in Shiori and her brother's story. It did start off quite slow, and took a bit to get into. However, once past the first 70 pages or so, the pace really picked up. Lim's writing also helped with the fast pace, her writing style is whimsical and so easy to read.

I loved the Studio Ghibli vibes I was getting and there were also a few fairytales mixed in with the original fairytale of the six swans. 

The character development with our main character Shaori is wonderful. To watch her grow from this spoiled princess to a young determined women was a wonderful journey. I loved her relationship with her brothers and father. Also that little bit of "found family" thrown in was even better.

I guess my only complaint is the lack of diversity between the characters - especially the brothers and love interest. You really couldn't distinguish one from the other. Also, most of the time I couldn't picture what they looked like because we never given a complete description of them. They felt very 2-D and didn't have much dimension character-wise. Even Shiori didn't get much of a description. 

However, even with that and the few moments of the plot being slow (I could only take so much food talk) I still can't wait to pick up the sequel!