Title: The Guinevere Deception
Author: Kiersten White
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Year: Nov 2019
Pages: 337
ISBN: 9780525581680
Series: Camelot Rising #1
Genre: YA Fantasy/ Retellings
Reading Time: 9 - 12 Jan
Binding: Owlcrate Hardback
Stars:
★★★☆☆
Blurb:
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 that 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.
Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long, knotted black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when you're whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?
Review:
I love Arthurian legend, it's one that I will always be happy to give a go, I watched the Merlin series for about the hundredth time just before Christmas. I received this book in my Owlcrate subscription, so it was not one I was aware of to pick out.
As I think about retellings, they really do limit the author a bit. We know the characters that should appear, we know there are certain arcs that will always be made. For that reason a lot of the twists in the adaptation just don't land, I spotted them early on. There are twists that become quite obvious through the book but don't get to be fully revealed, I didn't find them intriguing so much as annoying, I'm not entirely sure if I'll seek out the next books.
From the blurb we know Guinevere is not the real Guinevere, I have several questions leading from this. What happened to the real Guinevere and how has no one noticed she is missing? Who is this girl in her place? The blurb says a changeling and through the book we see that Guinevere truly knows nothing about herself or women in general. With the first few chapters it seems like she is aware, there as a kind of stealth sorceress. It doesn't take long to see she's not really got a clue, I didn't find her likeable because of this. The further through I got the more questions I had and they just didn't get answered.
Other characters from the legend are present but they don't play a very big role at all, I struggle to really say what went on or what any of them really did in this book. The pacing was slow and that didn't help me trying to get into it. Lancelot was a bit obvious for me, a slight twist I didn't see but still clear. Guinevere sees threats everywhere except the obvious and dead ends are obvious to us far before anyone else. Very little romance which I honestly expected there to be more of.
A character I truly couldn't stand was Dindrane, a lower lady of the court. I can't fathom why Guinevere like her, she only tried to insult her and then became nicer when she knew of the standing she could gain with Guinevere's favour. So manipulative and yet Guinevere genuinely liked her! I'm sure there would have been other ladies of court that would have been genuinely grateful for the attention and actually tried to engage with Guinevere. At least we have Brangien.
I was a bit bored by the magic in this book, I do not ever want to read about knot magic again. Give me something more tangible! The little snippets of dark magic between chapters was lovely, I want a book from THAT perspective.
I think there were a few things in the first chapters which put me in a critical mind when I started this. On the first page there is a reference to the sun and moon revolving around the Earth. Whilst this would be the accurate belief in a more historical setting, just don't. No. So subtle but I immediately didn't like it. Later began comments from the men towards Guinevere, comments on her being alone with Arthur before being wed and how women's 'passionate natures' would put his virtue under threat. What utter tripe. Again, I accept this may have been believed historically but I just don't think it needs to be written. It made my blood boil.
Not great, I think the only reason it gets 3 stars is the mythology it's based off which is not even the authors work! If I get offered the next books I might pick them up for some easy reading in a world I like, but I won't be searching for them.
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 that 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.
Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long, knotted black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when you're whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?
Review:
I love Arthurian legend, it's one that I will always be happy to give a go, I watched the Merlin series for about the hundredth time just before Christmas. I received this book in my Owlcrate subscription, so it was not one I was aware of to pick out.
As I think about retellings, they really do limit the author a bit. We know the characters that should appear, we know there are certain arcs that will always be made. For that reason a lot of the twists in the adaptation just don't land, I spotted them early on. There are twists that become quite obvious through the book but don't get to be fully revealed, I didn't find them intriguing so much as annoying, I'm not entirely sure if I'll seek out the next books.
From the blurb we know Guinevere is not the real Guinevere, I have several questions leading from this. What happened to the real Guinevere and how has no one noticed she is missing? Who is this girl in her place? The blurb says a changeling and through the book we see that Guinevere truly knows nothing about herself or women in general. With the first few chapters it seems like she is aware, there as a kind of stealth sorceress. It doesn't take long to see she's not really got a clue, I didn't find her likeable because of this. The further through I got the more questions I had and they just didn't get answered.
Other characters from the legend are present but they don't play a very big role at all, I struggle to really say what went on or what any of them really did in this book. The pacing was slow and that didn't help me trying to get into it. Lancelot was a bit obvious for me, a slight twist I didn't see but still clear. Guinevere sees threats everywhere except the obvious and dead ends are obvious to us far before anyone else. Very little romance which I honestly expected there to be more of.
A character I truly couldn't stand was Dindrane, a lower lady of the court. I can't fathom why Guinevere like her, she only tried to insult her and then became nicer when she knew of the standing she could gain with Guinevere's favour. So manipulative and yet Guinevere genuinely liked her! I'm sure there would have been other ladies of court that would have been genuinely grateful for the attention and actually tried to engage with Guinevere. At least we have Brangien.
I was a bit bored by the magic in this book, I do not ever want to read about knot magic again. Give me something more tangible! The little snippets of dark magic between chapters was lovely, I want a book from THAT perspective.
I think there were a few things in the first chapters which put me in a critical mind when I started this. On the first page there is a reference to the sun and moon revolving around the Earth. Whilst this would be the accurate belief in a more historical setting, just don't. No. So subtle but I immediately didn't like it. Later began comments from the men towards Guinevere, comments on her being alone with Arthur before being wed and how women's 'passionate natures' would put his virtue under threat. What utter tripe. Again, I accept this may have been believed historically but I just don't think it needs to be written. It made my blood boil.
Not great, I think the only reason it gets 3 stars is the mythology it's based off which is not even the authors work! If I get offered the next books I might pick them up for some easy reading in a world I like, but I won't be searching for them.
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