This is exactly the kind of historical fiction that I love to read – I could not put this book down. Each chapter has a header section with a tick mark for the day in prison with what was currently happening, the rest of the chapter is her time prior to imprisonment until they merge. I found that I liked this format – waiting until the gap between times merged together to see how Hélène had ended up imprisoned during the French Revolution. While the story is told from Hélène’s perspective and she is considered royalty I believe that she encompasses both sides of the French Revolution fairly well. Just because she’s of royalty does not mean she was treated as an equal nor was she allowed to do as she wished.

"There are wars between King’s and countries, churches and states, heads and hearts, hearts and souls. War is nothing but a desperation, a time when it suddenly becomes necessary and maybe even right to do something wrong. Sometimes you must kill to save, destroy to build, take to give. Sometimes it takes one wrong to make everything else right. Sometimes lines shift, at least a little. Maybe even a lot."

I did have a fairly accurate hunch regarding Hélène’s family mystery but a few details were still quite surprising. I did not suspect the person behind Hélène’s imprisonment. There were many, many characters to love for different reasons in this book, and at its core, it is a book about the lengths people will go through for what they feel passionate about – whether it is love, the Revolution, or something else entirely. I am not a lover of jewelry and I tend to lean towards Hélène’s opinions on it but I did enjoy the descriptions of the pieces that were featured in the book. The purpose behind the eye brooches makes sense but that still doesn’t take away their shudder factor.

I would highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy young adult, historical fiction, France, and romance. Even though Nemesis and the Swan is categorized with YA I believe fans of historical fiction would also appreciate it – I just happen to be a fan of both. A BIG thank you to Favourite Pages Book Club, Blackstone Publishing and Lindsay K. Bandy to read this amazing YA historical fiction – all opinions are my own. ( )