The Song of the Swan, by Karah Sutton

The Song of the Swan, by Karah Sutton, illustrated by Pauliina Hannuniemi (middle grade, Oct 24, 2013, Knopf Books for Young Readers), is a magical, fairytale inspired mystery. The fairytales in this case are Swan Lake and Giselle, but there are undertones of other tales as well. 

It's the story of a young girl, Olga, who was taken in by a swindling crook after her mother's death.  She uses her strands of magic to craft illusions that make items of shoddy workmanship appear (to a small number of people) worth buying.  A strong and steadfast young man, Pavel, travels with them, and is Olga's only friend, although she is so hardened by her unpleasant upbringing that she takes him for granted.

When Olga hears of a mysterious castle, avoided by anyone with sense, that is home to an immensely valuable gem, she becomes determined to go looking for it.  And she and Pavel find it, and much to their surprise instead of being the ruin they were expecting it is full of light, with guests enjoying the ballroom dancing every night and all creature comforts readily available.  The lord of the castle is a gracious host.  

Olga is suspicious, but not quite suspicious enough at first; there's a magic at work, urging complacency, and Pavel falls almost completely under its spell. But still Olga, driven by the desperate need to find the gem, and achieve a comfortable independent life, persists in her hunt, following the strands of her magic through a twisted maze of evil.  Not only does she risk her friendship with Pavel, but she almost loses herself to the horribly dark magic of her host and the curse that has trapped all the other guests.  

Fortunately, she has help from the magical spider queen, who was the original grantor of threads of magic to mortals.  And fortunately, as well, she discovers she still has the ability to care for others.  (nb--although there are indeed spiders in the story, arachnophobes should be able to cope--they aren't monstrous). And although I predicted many of the twists, this did not make me less interested in see how things played out.

I really enjoyed seeing the plot unfold, and glad to see Olga become less ruthless and start to develop a moral compass, seeing beyond her own immediate desires.  If you like cursed castles (with lots of rooms full of stuff, which I personally like lots) and plucky youngsters unravelling curses, you will, like me, enjoy this one lots!

disclaimer: review copy received from the publisher.