The Guinevere Deception: Camelot Rising, Book 1

**Disclaimer: I was given a free e-book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.**Title The Guinevere DeceptionAuthor Kiersten WhiteRelease Date November 5, 2019Description from AmazonPrincess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land.Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?Initial ThoughtsI love King Arthur retellings. And, I actually recently had a long discussion with author Jordan Ifueko (of the upcoming, Raybearer) about how so many of the best Arthurian retellings are fundamentally flawed. Some of them are extremely sexist or others stray too much from the original story. I have read some really good retellings that change the story quite a bit (and loved them), but I really wanted this book to be close to the myth.Some Things I LikedMordred. I loved his role in this book. Mordred is usually somewhat of a background character so I liked that we got to see him play a bigger part (but not too big).Lancelot. No spoilers, but I really liked the Lancelot character in this book. I got all kinds of vibes from a certain Game of Thrones character (who will remain nameless because of spoilers).Tristan and Isolde retelling. I love that this was baked into the plot and I hope we get to see more of that.Some Things I Didn’t LikeSlow burn. There was a maybe kinda love triangle and then a super slow burning romance thing going on that I just wasn’t a fan of. I know this is a trilogy, but let’s pick up the pace people!Merlin – the anti-hero? You want to root for Merlin but pretty much every chance she got, Kiersten White made me want to dislike him.Series ValueI would continue with this series. Several interesting storylines are started in this book and I would be interested in seeing where they go. There are some things that I don’t care for the direction they appear to be taking, but I just hope I’m wrong about those things.Final ThoughtsThis book was an excellent retelling of the Legend of King Arthur. It had the full cast of characters in their typical roles. I enjoyed the changes made from the original as well as the elements that were kept the same.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Recommendations for Further ReadingKingdom Cold by Brittni Chenelle – if you like King Arthur retellings – give this series a read. It’s the perfect blend of the characters you love and a fresh storyline.Darkness Sleeping by Jen Pretty – again, if you’re looking for a fresh take on King Arthur, give this series by Jen Pretty a try.Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta – if you like the Arthurian element but are looking for a more futuristic / sci-fi setting, give this book a try.

That was not a finite or controlled magic. It was a wild and dark and dangerous magic. It was a violent magic, undoing the record of a life and giving it to someone else.Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife...and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.Kiersten White won me over with her retelling of Vlad the Impaler...as a woman in And I Darken. So when I found out she was writing an Arthurian retelling--usually a miss for me--I was intrigued enough to pre-order it (at the least, even if I hated it, I'd have a pretty cover).If you came to get a powerful, gritty, dark Arthurian tale, pass this one by. White takes a more...younger? lighter? approach on this one. And unlike her Conquerer's Saga, there was very little to capture the feeling of the time and place...aside from the fact that she has a handmaiden. While I had been hoping for a more mature and gritty read, I didn't come in with any real expectations (and I've never been a huge stickler if it deviates from the period) so those were non-issues. I can definitely see them being a problem for other White fans, however.The problem with being a lady was that a lady had a lady’s maid, and a lady’s maid never left.Guinevere is wholesome and kind. While I had to suspend belief that she could fit in as well as she could, having been raised in a cottage in the forest with only Merlin for company, she was a likable character. She was devoted entirely to finding ways to protect Arthur and I liked that the magic required real physical cost that taxed her.Brangian, her handmaiden, is also a likable character and they pair well together (which is good, since a majority of the book is through their interactions).Merlin is a conundrum. His presence is mostly felt through his interactions with others and it's a confusing question of whether he is good or whether he falls too far into the morally grey area the further the story progresses.The majority of the book is fairly even-paced, but requires a patient reader as I think it keeps us in the dark for way too long. While this usually does nothing but frustrate me (and will definitely frustrate others), I think it worked in this case because it ties in so strongly with Guinevere's development as being an unknown. There are holes in the why because those are the holes that need to be discovered about who Guinevere is herself.I think my two largest issues were that Arthur is bland and boring and I didn't feel a lot of tension with the plot. We're not told the when the supposed big bad is going to come, so it's a lot of poking in different directions without a ticking clock to discover the next step in how to protect Arthur from something.Despite that, I still rather enjoyed it. While this certainly isn't a huge re-imagining, it's a nice, light read with familiar concepts that was well-written. Don't think too hard about it, just let it unfold, and you'll do okay.Recommended for the patient reader that loves a light, if somewhat circuitous, read.

I grew up devouring stories about King Arthur and his knights, of Guinevere and Lancelot—holding TH White's Once and Future King as my Holy Grail of fantasy literature. So I was concerned that Ms White's retelling would somehow tarnish my personal Camelot, and the characters I grew to love.⁠⁠I needn't have worried.⁠⁠In this novel as in her earlier series, The Conqueror's Saga, and her stand-alone novel, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein, Ms White does what she does so well. She's mastered the "what if" scenario. ⁠⁠What if Guinevere were a changeling completely engineered by Merlin? What if she were to possess powers over natural forces? What if Excalibur...? What if the Lady of the Lake...? What if Lancelot...?⁠⁠Ms White proposes alternate explanations and back stories that are believable, stories that present the legend from a different point of view. Yet she manages to stay true to each original character; she just presents their behaviors under a different light. ⁠⁠I can't really say much more here without revealing too much of the plot. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it. It's a lightning-quick read, once you get to chapter 4. Chapters 1 through 3 are a wee bit slow: too much exposition for my taste. But it definitely picks up, and I ripped through it in one day. Another character-driven, legend-bending, mystery-filled novel from Ms White—excellent!⁠

Everything about this book is just... Wow. After watching and loving the BBC Merlin series, I was curious when I came across this book. From the title and synopsis alone, I was intrigued. I like everything about this book. The characters, the mystery, the fantasy. The a whole story was well paced and balanced with the perfect combination of action, mystery, fantasy and romance, and it left me on the edge of my seat until the very end. It was refreshing to read a YA without a love triangle as the central focus of the novel, as the storytelling itself was enough to drive the plot. I finished this in a day and cannot wait for the next book! Would recommend for 15-22 year olds.

This is not the retelling i was expecting!But i loved it!And now i need to read the sequel!This story was so unexpected, i could feel the girl power in it and for once it wasn't a King Arthur novel that did not feature Merlin as a key character. I was pleasantly surprised. I love all retellings of this story and like the recent movie retelling this takes a different path.Honestly just read it. You will love it i promise. Then go and buy the sequel.It is a quick and easy read.

Couldn’t get into this book. Storyline not great.

A little slow for me, but I'm hooked and ready for the next book! More action please.

I read this book alongside the author’s book club on Instagram. We read two chapters a day and then she had live pieces on Instagram (about 20mins each) talking about the two chapters. I’m so glad I read it this way because it made each section more meaningful and I enjoyed hearing about the author’s favourite moments, characters, and motivations. I really wanted to love this book but at the end of the day it was average for me. I do hope there will be more book club readalongs though because that would convince me to finish reading the trilogy. I do love King Arthur and Merlin mythology so that encourages me as well.