This is a take on the Wild Swans fairytale in which heroine Shiori, only daughter of the emperor, sees her brothers cursed into the shape of cranes by her magic-wielding stepmother. To cement the curse, her stepmother magics a bowl onto her head to hide her face, and threatens her brothers with death if she makes even the slightest sound. The only silver lining is that these events stave off Shiori’s unwanted arranged marriage. Naturally, things get even more complicated (almost too overly complicated) as she discovers that her stepmother may not even be the greatest threat to her father’s kingdom. Shiori is a fun heroine to read, brave and defiant despite everything working against her, and although the characterization of practically all the characters is a little one-sided, that’s par for the course in the relatively simplistic world of YA fantasy. First in a series.