Once there was a boy, who lived in a honeysuckle house.
Once there was a man, who became a soldier.
Opening lines of Sweet Nightingale
Sweet Nightingale is a Cinderella retelling by Robin Swift with a trans twist. Char, the main lead, has had a hard life slaving away for his stepmother. But then comes news of a ball for the princess, and with strange fairies in the forest, a threat looming from within the castle itself, and stepsisters not as bad as one might think, Char soon finds himself in a story a little more unfamiliar than you'd expect.
This book provides examples of:
- Ambiguously Bi: Char dances with both men and women at the ball, and sympathises with Elaine when she's outed as bi herself, but never really mentions his own sexuality.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: No one but the main villains are even close to ugly
- But Not Too Bi: For all her stated sexuality Elaine doesn't seem to spend much time flirting with anyone who isn't Char.
- Cinderella Plot: Naturally
- Dance of Romance: Elaine more or less dances with Char first to tease him, but as their relationship develops so does this trope.
- Dances and Balls: Three of them!
- Deal with the Devil: Char accepting the fairies' help smacks of this
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: A war hero for a father and a mother with mysterious ties to the Fair Folk means Char has a very unusual upbringing.
- Disappeared Dad: Went off to war and never came back.
- Domestic Abuse: of the psychological, transphobic kind
- Doomed New Clothes: Char's seamstress friend makes him a beautiful suit for the ball. Shame it gets stolen.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: it takes a lot more than Char fitting a shoe in this tale
- The Fair Folk: Replace the Fairy Godmother in this story.
- Forced Out of the Closet: Arguable when Stefan finds lifts in Char's boot. That's more about proving Char is a human though, and he apologises for it later.
- Glass Slipper: Or rather, a nice boot.
- The Girl Who Fits This Slipper: Averted. Char's boot is left behind but revealing him as a trans man – instead of one of the Fair Folk – is more important than actually using it to find him
- The Good King: Elaine's parents are both reasonable, decent people.
- Laser-Guided Karma: His stepmother makes Char do all the chores including looking after his two sisters, and then is surprised when they turn on her
- Love at First Sight: It takes three days for them to admit it, but Char and Elaine are pretty much smitten from the first dance.
- The Makeover: Char is delighted by what decent clothing and a magical binder can do
- Meaningful Name: Char, as in Charcoal.
- Noble Fugitive: When Char ends up on the run.
- Non-Heteronormative Society: A kingdom where the princess is bi, Char is trans, and the only one who cares is the Evil Stepmother
- Non-Human Non-Binary: The blossoms don't get exact pronouns.
- Out of the Closet, Into the Fire: Averted. Char being revealed as trans stops Elaine's parents seeing him as a supernatural threat.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Elaine, a new one each night. Char also gets some nice outfits.
- Preserve Your Gays: The author admits they started this series to do this.
- Rags to Royalty: Char's king by the epilogue
- Rule of Three: Three balls for Elaine to find someone to marry.
- Save the Princess: There are a surprising number of assassination attempts for a Cinderella retelling.
- Secret Identity: All the way up to the climax of the last ball.
- Trans Tribulations: Char is actually fairly content with his identity, and has a network of supportive friends. It's his stepmother that's the problem.
- When the Clock Strikes Twelve: Char still gets the midnight deadline.
- Wicked Stepmother: Of course.
