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thewillowwood's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book was fun to read! I don’t think it took it in a completely revolutionary direction for the source material, as it fell into the expected beats of Arthurian legend, but a reader who likes Arthuriana and wants something a bit easier than middle english literature would enjoy this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, Animal death, and Self harm
Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Rape, War, Excrement, and Sexism
renereadsthings's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
The Deception of Guinevere is an Arthurian telling of life after the sword in the stone. We meeting Guinevere who is a changeling and capable of magic. Sent to protect Arthur and Camelot, but at the price of being a wife and being kept secret due to magic being banned throughout. This retelling doesn't require prior knowledge of Arthur and legends of him which makes it less intimidating.
As you progress throughout this book, its a third person POV from Guinevere in how she deals with the relationships, politics, and society around her while trying to protect Arthur. She as the MC is always on alert and tries to navigate the circles around her. This read is a slow burn, but focuses on how she defines herself, her role, and her battle to know who she is and the secrets of herself, Merlin her wizard teacher, and Camelot.
As you progress throughout this book, its a third person POV from Guinevere in how she deals with the relationships, politics, and society around her while trying to protect Arthur. She as the MC is always on alert and tries to navigate the circles around her. This read is a slow burn, but focuses on how she defines herself, her role, and her battle to know who she is and the secrets of herself, Merlin her wizard teacher, and Camelot.
I believe the this Arthurian retelling is a great perspective from a Women in Power. As legends are often told through the perspective of the winners and through men. As this series progresses, I urge the author to open up either more POV's to include more detail of secondary characters and how they have impacted the story. Such as Mordred and even more detail of Brangien. The twist were amazing, yet it left me wanting. I am hopeful and excited for more world building in the next book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: War and Violence
Minor: Sexual violence, Vomit, and Kidnapping
ashleereadsbooks692's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, War, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Torture
Minor: Rape
frantically's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
300pgs of me not knowing what the fuck is going, guinevere having ust with every single character, i also have new ideas for plottwists every single page, still love it a lot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry and Sexism
Moderate: Violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, War, and Gaslighting
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Can confirm that this is still a 5 star read for me. It has some of my favourite tropes and plot points. I really hope that the series continues to follow through with these ideas.
The main characters we follow are fun and for the most part, very interesting and complex. You might be forgiven if you forget that these characters are meant to be 16-18 years old. I feel like this book was written with 20-30 year olds in mind, but targeted to a YA audience hence the age drop. This didn't really pull me out of the story as age is so rarely mentioned, so this was not a huge issue for me.
I also really enjoy the different ways that the lore was given to readers. There is a mixture of shown and told through discussion, which just made it a lot better than huge explanation dumps.
I recommend this book for those looking for a something little different with their YA fantasy and retellings. There isn't much out there with Arthurian retellings, and the ones that are are usually set in morden times.
Now onto the next book for another reread!
The main characters we follow are fun and for the most part, very interesting and complex. You might be forgiven if you forget that these characters are meant to be 16-18 years old. I feel like this book was written with 20-30 year olds in mind, but targeted to a YA audience hence the age drop. This didn't really pull me out of the story as age is so rarely mentioned, so this was not a huge issue for me.
I also really enjoy the different ways that the lore was given to readers. There is a mixture of shown and told through discussion, which just made it a lot better than huge explanation dumps.
I recommend this book for those looking for a something little different with their YA fantasy and retellings. There isn't much out there with Arthurian retellings, and the ones that are are usually set in morden times.
Now onto the next book for another reread!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death, Violence, War, and Sexual assault
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