Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

3 reviews

schnaucl's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I enjoyed it.  

Especially in the beginning Arthur seems a lot more like an ideal than a person, and it's never really clear why order is inherently better than chaos.   Yes, magic can do terrible things, but as demonstrated in the book, people with non magical power can do some pretty awful things to people without any magic involved at all, and magic can also accomplish good things.    

It seems like the great magical beings (for the most part) have decided the time of magic is over for reasons that are never really explained other than "order is better than chaos."  It's not that magic is fading so much as that powerful magic users are choosing to fade away. 

Low level magic users continue to want to use magic, even if that means they can't be part of Camelot.  

It's a little frustrating because aside from sanitation (yay!), the idea of Camelot seems to be the ruler should behave like a decent person and there's also some amount of meritocracy, although that only goes so far since Lancelot is not allowed to become one of Arthur's knights due to her gender.  But monarchy is still a thing.   The current arrangement isn't going to produce an heir unless things change.  There's doesn't seem to be any sort of succession plan even though Arthur lives a dangerous life. 


I appreciated that the the book dealt with the fact that Arthur can be a good king and a good person and also a bad husband.   I think it would be very difficult to be in a relationship where you felt you could never be the first priority.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Guinevere has come to Camelot to marry King Arthur. Merlin has been exiled along with all other forms of magic. But Guinevere is not Guinevere, and the marriage is a ruse so that not-Guinevere can protect Arthur from a magical attack Merlin warned them of. But magic lives on in secret in Camelot, and Guinevere must determine what—or who—is a threat to the kingdom without her own powers being exposed.

Wow, I loved this book! I initially picked it up because I have always loved myths and legends, and the Arthurian stories hold a special place in my heart because my grandmother (and favorite person!) is named Guinevere. White's writing style was engaging and the magical world-building was fascinating. I really loved the characters; Arthur reminded me of Gansey from The Raven Cycle, and we know I love that archetype, and don't even get me started on Lancelot!! I usually don't care for love triangles, and the one in this book was okay, but the one I foresee (based on what I know of Arthurian legends) coming up in the next book(s) is going to be a tough one (which is to say, not a clear superior choice)!

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just my judgement of how happy the ending is because I always wish someone would tell me that before I read books):
Happy-ish, but pretty cliffhanger-y too! I have to wait 3 weeks for the next book, pray that I don't go crazy (or cave and buy the book in the meantime)!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jai_martin's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-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? Yes

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...