I didn’t enjoy The Savage and the Swan as much as I thought I would for several reasons.
First, I found the writing very disjointed. I kept having to re-read sentences because they didn’t make sense the first time.
Second, there were so many plot holes that had me questioning the story. The plot was so drawn out. Too much remained unanswered by the end of the book, and that’s always annoying.
The third reason was the heroine. Opal is not a proactive heroine. She’s been coddled and sheltered and is simply reacting to things happening all the time. Her naïveté got very dull. She never asked the questions that needed answers.
Dade acts with questionable morality, but I don’t have a problem with anti-heroes. From his POV the need for vengeance overrode everything else. I did, however, like his gentle courtship, which was laced with moments of possessive, alpha-male behaviour. He’d been raised as a soldier, violent and determined to seek vengeance against Opal’s family and protect his people. Yet, Opal sees him as violent without reason. In a typical blind and naive heroine style, she views the war as the fault of his people and she’s doggedly blind to any alternatives.
The way this book’s written makes it very hard to gain an understanding of why the characters are behaving the way they do. Consequently, it’s difficult to build any empathy for them and get behind them. I felt while the author was trying to build intrigue by withholding information, too much was withheld and revealed too late. By the time we found out why the characters behaved in such a way, I didn’t care and just wanted the plot to move on. The reasons that were given were far from compelling and rather pathetic, to be honest. By this point, I’d got to 88% and it felt stupid not to finish.
The only thing that salvaged this story for me was the heat. Once they accepted their bond, the relationship between Dade and Opal was the only thing that kept me reading. In true slow-burn style, the heat built with intensity at each encounter.
Plot: ⭐️⭐️
Feels: ⭐️⭐️
Heat : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
