Review: Wild Swans by Jessica Spotswood

I have such mixed feelings about this book. I ended up liking it lots, but I also had so many issues with it. Even so, it is a three star. It wasn't the best, but I liked it a whole lot. I wanted to read this book the moment I heard of it, despite this not being my genre at all. But I thought it seemed cute and interesting.

And so I had to have it. Got declined via Edelweiss, but then Netgalley accepted me. Which was awesome. I wish I had loved this one more, but I'm also happy with how I feel about it. Going to try my best to describe all of my feelings. Which might be hard. This was a short book, though, and pretty easy to read.

I must admit that I don't get the title reveal at all. There isn't a single swan in this book. Well, she one time makes a napkin swan. So I don't get the meaning behind it, sadly. Not the wild part either, as Ivy was so far from wild. But anyway. I do like the title, even so. And I think the cover is pretty gorgeous. I'm not sure what I expected from this book before I started it, but it was different from that, even so. It was an interesting book. And I'm glad I read it. Just a bit sad it wasn't perfect. But I did like the writing. I liked it a whole lot. It was awesome. I also adore the author. Jessica is awesome. Have been following her on twitter for years, hih. She's so kind. I haven't yet read her trilogy, but I own them, and so I will read them one day soon.

This story is told from the point of view of seventeen year old Ivy. She lives with her granddad in this small town. Well, I think it was a small town. I'm unsure. Everyone always knew everything about each other, anyway. I liked getting to know Ivy. I loved how she swam so much, how she was strong and such. And tall. And awesome. She seemed like a great person. Except when she didn't tell people what she really thought. That bothered me a bit. Felt like she should have been a lot more honest, more often.

This is a story about how her mom left her when she was just two years old. How Ivy's family have always been pretty talented, and how she feels she need to be awesome too. Except that she isn't. She isn't super talented at something, and so she's so disappointed. Which I didn't truly get. Because she was still so amazing and so good at everything, at least I thought so. I sort of liked her relationship with her granddad. He seemed like he didn't care much about her, yet I knew he loved her. I liked him, somewhat.

The plot is about her mom coming back, for the first time after fifteen years. And she has two other girls now. Grace, whom is just six. Isobel whom is fifteen. And oh. I'm not sure how I felt about it all. I adored getting to know the girls, Grace was so cute. And Isobel was okay. I guess. She could be a bit mean, but I liked her too. But their mom. Ivy's mom. Oh my god how I hated Erica. She was simply the worst. How she left Ivy. How she treated her. How she drank all the time. I couldn't stand this woman.

A few characters that I really loved, though, were Ivy's two best friends. They were so amazing. I loved Claire and Abby. They were both so cute and kind and supporting. I loved how great friends they all were. There is also a boy. Connor. And ah, I loved him lots. He was so cute. I loved how he loved poetry. I loved his tattoos. I loved how kind he was. And I adored reading about him and Ivy together. They were just so cute. And I love the kissing scenes, lol. There were just too little of them. Hmph. Wanted more.

Ivy also had another best friend in the beginning of this book. Alex. This is a reason for why this book is only a three star. I hated him the very most. He and Ivy were such great friends, for so many years, and then he ruined it. He wanted more. Ivy did not. She kisses someone else. He goes crazy. Talks shit to her. Don't speak to her for weeks. Treats her so crappy. I couldn't deal with it. It was awful. He simply sucked. I don't ever want them to be friends again. I want Alex forever out of her life. He was not kind.

There is some family drama in this book. But it is such a short book, and oh, I felt like I did not get to know nearly enough about everything. I loved reading about Ivy's family, how so many of them had died, and how they died. It was so interesting. But it was too little of it. Because I felt like this book was one hundred pages too short. And that still bothers me. It should have been longer. The ending was a bit abrupt. Could have been better. And I wanted more romance too. This book should have been longer :)

I'm not going to say more about this one. I just had so many mixed feelings about it. I mean. I liked Wild Swans a lot. But I did not love it. And I was disappointed about a few things. I wanted it to be longer. But I also liked it. I liked Ivy, most of the time. And I adored the romance. Just wish it had been longer. And I did like the plot, despite not much happening. I feel like lots of people will end up liking Wild Swans. It was a great book. Gorgeous writing. Interesting story. Not the best, but I liked it lots.

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