Review: Swan Song by Katy Regnery (A Modern Fairytale #9)

April 13, 2025

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author via 1852 Media.

As readers, we all have our favorite authors, and in turn, we have favorite books that they've written--the ones that stay with us and we love a wee bit more than the others. In the case of Katy Regnery, an author whose work I have long adored, it's her Modern Fairytale series that remains at the top of my list. More than four years after the release of the last book, Regnery returns to the series with the ninth novel AND three more modern-day fairy tale retellings scheduled for release in July, October, and December this year.

Swan Song, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Ugly Duckling, is the story of Ivan Stepanov, who was only four when he was taken while vacationing with his family in Washington, D.C. Over the next two decades, he lives a life far from the privileged one he has nearly no memory of. He is now Vaughn Cigno, a janitor at the Kennedy Center, and it's here that he crosses paths with Alexandra Collins, a twenty-one-year-old ballerina with the Washington Ballet. Sasha shows him kindness and gives him a reason to live and the realization that he's worthy of love--her love. But when his family finally finds their Ivan, will Sasha end up losing her Vaughn forever?

Ivan/Vaughn and Sasha's romance is told in three parts, not including the prologue and epilogues. There's a lot of angsty goodness here, and I'm all for it. Don't mistake angst for drama; these main characters go through a lot on their way to their happily-ever-after, making it a very much deserved one. There's a lot of growth, particularly on Ivan/Vaughn's end, and seeing him figuring out who he really is--and I'm not talking about learning he comes from an immensely wealthy Russian family--and wanting to be the kind of man Sasha deserves was wholly satisfying. I loved having a front-row seat to these two coming into their own and how the story was about falling in love, the meaning of family, and embracing the truest version of you. Swan Song lives up to the standard set by its predecessors and receives five stars.

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Read my reviews for the A Modern Fairytale collection: