In 10th century Ireland, Sorcha is the youngest of seven, and with six older brothers she has always felt loved and protected. But Sorcha's world changes when her father remarries and introduces Oonagh to the household - who is actually a wicked sorceress. Gone are Sorcha's days wandering in the woods and using her gift of healing to help others, and instead she finds herself on a terrible quest to save her brothers whom Oonagh has turned into swans.

God, I just loved this book. It's the exact time of fantasy I love - historically based with a beautiful mixture of originality and folklore, female led with a character who portrays the perfect mix of feminine and masculine qualities - soft but strong, fierce yet delicate at times - and detailed, beautiful writing full of nature and magic.

The writing in this was exquisite. I immediately felt pulled into the magic of Sevenwaters and the surrounding forest. The nature of life there living off the land, and living in tandem with the magical creatures that exist in the forest and may appear at any time. I also loved Sorcha's relationship with her brothers and how the first few chapters really built on the siblings' life in Sevenwaters, how important it was to them, and what they all meant to each other.

The story is slow-paced but I loved it. I felt immersed in Sorcha's world and really felt everything she felt with her cruel, and painful quest. There were a lot of moments in this book that were genuinely quite heartbreaking for me, and I found myself welling up with emotion, thus confirming the connection I felt with the story.

I thought the romance in this book was slow and lovely, and really builds upon itself to become strong and believable. There's nothing fast or rushed in this story. Just like Sorcha has to be as she painfully creates each shirt for her brothers, the reader also has to be patient and watch the story come together like a weaved item of clothing.

There are traumatic moments in this book; the worst being a rape committed on Sorcha that is slightly on the graphic side and quite upsetting to read. Sorcha's trauma and PTSD after this incident is never forgotten and I appreciated how Juliet Marillier continued to remember Sorcha's pain and fear - even at the very end, and how she eventually was able to overcome but not without a lot of time and patience on her and her lover's behalf.

I did think Oonagh and Richard were very black and white characters when it came to their villainy. There wasn't a lot of nuance to them, they were just bad almost for the sake of being bad. I also didn't really appreciate Simon blaming Sorcha for some things near the end that weren't her fault.

The book has a bittersweet ending as it's not a fairytale, and not everything can be happy ever after. I felt for a lot of the characters and what they went through, and in some cases, are still going through near the end.

I loved this so much though, and I can't wait to read more about Sorcha and her family.