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j_olip's review against another edition
5.0
Found families. Queer Romance. Female friendships. So. Much. Mystery. <3
Q: Am I the only one who thinks Arthur might be bad? His unquestioning belief in Merlin is a little suspicious....
Q: Am I the only one who thinks Arthur might be bad? His unquestioning belief in Merlin is a little suspicious....
cathyatratedreads's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
I enjoyed this continuing adventure with Queen Guinevere and her associates. My only quibble is that the plot didn’t seem to be going anywhere in particular; it just felt like they were doing things and then doing other things and Guinevere was questioning herself and trying to learn more about herself. By the end, it mostly came together, though. I’ll look forward to the next (and, I assume, last) book in the series.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/camelot-betrayal-young-adult-book-review/
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I enjoyed this continuing adventure with Queen Guinevere and her associates. My only quibble is that the plot didn’t seem to be going anywhere in particular; it just felt like they were doing things and then doing other things and Guinevere was questioning herself and trying to learn more about herself. By the end, it mostly came together, though. I’ll look forward to the next (and, I assume, last) book in the series.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/camelot-betrayal-young-adult-book-review/
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
pantsreads's review against another edition
4.0
Stellar sequel to The Guinevere Deception, but was a bit slow until the end.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
Check out my full review at Forever Young Adult.
rachelbookdragon's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, this book took me forever to finish, but about halfway through, I couldn’t put it down and I thought the pacing was great. The first third was slow for me, hence the taking a month to finish a book issue.
To preface this review, The Guinevere Deception was only a three star book for me (personal preference in tropes was the main factor), which normally means I don’t continue with the series, but because I received an ARC and this book has a stunning cover, and I love the author, I read on and I’m glad I did! I love Camelot stories. I went through a phase where I read only Camelot stories including the Once and Future King. I think this series is wholly inventive in changing up expectations of the story I’m familiar with, yet also subtly sliding in characters and plot twists I should have seen coming, yet never do. This makes this series fresh and fun.
Telling the story from Guinevere’s perspective is a strength as well. There are so many hidden parts of history, but in historical fiction daily life, city functions, and women’s work can finally be seen, not just the glamor of quests. There are so many hidden nuggets of wisdom about women written in the story, like how they use their wits to be seen and respected. Arthur even comments on how the existence of witchcraft excuses crimes against women when they are blamed for the unexplained, which I thought was a smart assertion by the character/author.
There are far more external factors and politics playing into this story than I’m used to in Camelot tales. Arthur’s reign is known to be a golden age and peaceful, but the author skillfully weaves in oppositional groups like the Picts, Saxons, and other groups who want money and power, which present many obstacles, in addition to magic, to face in the story.
I’m still having trouble connecting to the characters, which weighs down my star rating for the book. I typically dislike books where the main character has lots of secrets from themself and this series falls into that trope, but the book does well in showing Guinevere’s thoughts, feelings, and character as she makes mistakes, tries to fix them, and then makes more. She is humanized by her compassion for others, guilt at the consequences of her actions, and confusion about who she is as she tries to figure out her past, yet remains present in being who she wants to be and internalizes the needs of her trusted friends (p.118 and p.194). She has much more agency in this book, which improves her character, but I am still bothered by the idea that she figures out who her mother is early in the book and then doesn’t do anything about it. I still don’t feel like any of the other characters are as fleshed out as I’d like. The romance doesn’t have a memorable foundation from the previous book, but I am falling into familiar patterns with this book because of familiarity of how it should be.
In terms of formatting, I don’t know what they’ll look like in the final book, but I love the italicized tidbits from the Lady and the short chapters of stories told by various characters. It’s very like the source material to title these sections thusly and present them akin to the original text.
Kiersten White’s writing is fantastic as always, despite my small critiques and personal preferences when it comes to storytelling. I marked 10 passages for beautiful writing and smart observations as I was reading. One for example is when she points out how you never see what happens to people after the quest and that as humans, trauma lingers (p.201) or how men, scared of their own weakness choose to hate anything weaker than them (p.246).
Overall, I’d say this is a strong entry in the series that makes me want to read the third book and finish off the series, even if I’ll have no idea what happened in the previous two books by the time the third releases. Please make summaries in the front of books in a series a thing, publishing industry.
To preface this review, The Guinevere Deception was only a three star book for me (personal preference in tropes was the main factor), which normally means I don’t continue with the series, but because I received an ARC and this book has a stunning cover, and I love the author, I read on and I’m glad I did! I love Camelot stories. I went through a phase where I read only Camelot stories including the Once and Future King. I think this series is wholly inventive in changing up expectations of the story I’m familiar with, yet also subtly sliding in characters and plot twists I should have seen coming, yet never do. This makes this series fresh and fun.
Telling the story from Guinevere’s perspective is a strength as well. There are so many hidden parts of history, but in historical fiction daily life, city functions, and women’s work can finally be seen, not just the glamor of quests. There are so many hidden nuggets of wisdom about women written in the story, like how they use their wits to be seen and respected. Arthur even comments on how the existence of witchcraft excuses crimes against women when they are blamed for the unexplained, which I thought was a smart assertion by the character/author.
There are far more external factors and politics playing into this story than I’m used to in Camelot tales. Arthur’s reign is known to be a golden age and peaceful, but the author skillfully weaves in oppositional groups like the Picts, Saxons, and other groups who want money and power, which present many obstacles, in addition to magic, to face in the story.
I’m still having trouble connecting to the characters, which weighs down my star rating for the book. I typically dislike books where the main character has lots of secrets from themself and this series falls into that trope, but the book does well in showing Guinevere’s thoughts, feelings, and character as she makes mistakes, tries to fix them, and then makes more. She is humanized by her compassion for others, guilt at the consequences of her actions, and confusion about who she is as she tries to figure out her past, yet remains present in being who she wants to be and internalizes the needs of her trusted friends (p.118 and p.194). She has much more agency in this book, which improves her character, but I am still bothered by the idea that she figures out who her mother is early in the book and then doesn’t do anything about it. I still don’t feel like any of the other characters are as fleshed out as I’d like. The romance doesn’t have a memorable foundation from the previous book, but I am falling into familiar patterns with this book because of familiarity of how it should be.
In terms of formatting, I don’t know what they’ll look like in the final book, but I love the italicized tidbits from the Lady and the short chapters of stories told by various characters. It’s very like the source material to title these sections thusly and present them akin to the original text.
Kiersten White’s writing is fantastic as always, despite my small critiques and personal preferences when it comes to storytelling. I marked 10 passages for beautiful writing and smart observations as I was reading. One for example is when she points out how you never see what happens to people after the quest and that as humans, trauma lingers (p.201) or how men, scared of their own weakness choose to hate anything weaker than them (p.246).
Overall, I’d say this is a strong entry in the series that makes me want to read the third book and finish off the series, even if I’ll have no idea what happened in the previous two books by the time the third releases. Please make summaries in the front of books in a series a thing, publishing industry.
whitneymouse's review against another edition
4.0
**Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children/Delacorte Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed my rating**
I really enjoyed book one, so I was excited to continue Guinevere's story in book two of this series. Unfortunately, I think this one suffered a bit from "second book syndrome."
The Guinevere Deception felt very fast-paced to me. There was a lot of plotting and planning and then they were dealing with threats and kidnappings. This one felt very slow until the last 30 or 40 pages. There's a long plot with family drama when Guinevach, the real Guinevere's sister, shows up and almost blows her cover. However, it's just petty "girl fight" type things where the guys think she's overreacting but it's clear to the girls exactly what's going on. In the middle of the book, it picks up pace a little bit with a rescue mission, but that only lasts a few chapters, so it goes back to the family drama. The ending was amazing, though! Those last 30 to 40 pages definitely made up for the middle of the book.
The new characters introduced were a nice added dynamic, although I'll add that one of them in particular felt a little flat. Guinevere's identity was again a large part of the story, but you felt her struggling with her choices and weighing what sort of friend, person, and queen she wants to be. I did enjoy watching her grow stronger, even though she manages to be kidnapped once again. I'm hoping that is something that doesn't happen in book three because three kidnappings is too much.
The last big twist in the story made me SUPER excited for book three! I can't wait to see how this saga ends. So while this was a slower book than the first one, it is well worth the read to get to that ending!
3.5/5 stars, rounded to 4 for Goodreads.
I really enjoyed book one, so I was excited to continue Guinevere's story in book two of this series. Unfortunately, I think this one suffered a bit from "second book syndrome."
The Guinevere Deception felt very fast-paced to me. There was a lot of plotting and planning and then they were dealing with threats and kidnappings. This one felt very slow until the last 30 or 40 pages. There's a long plot with family drama when Guinevach, the real Guinevere's sister, shows up and almost blows her cover. However, it's just petty "girl fight" type things where the guys think she's overreacting but it's clear to the girls exactly what's going on. In the middle of the book, it picks up pace a little bit with a rescue mission, but that only lasts a few chapters, so it goes back to the family drama. The ending was amazing, though! Those last 30 to 40 pages definitely made up for the middle of the book.
The new characters introduced were a nice added dynamic, although I'll add that one of them in particular felt a little flat. Guinevere's identity was again a large part of the story, but you felt her struggling with her choices and weighing what sort of friend, person, and queen she wants to be. I did enjoy watching her grow stronger, even though she manages to be kidnapped once again. I'm hoping that is something that doesn't happen in book three because three kidnappings is too much.
The last big twist in the story made me SUPER excited for book three! I can't wait to see how this saga ends. So while this was a slower book than the first one, it is well worth the read to get to that ending!
3.5/5 stars, rounded to 4 for Goodreads.
bsmorris's review against another edition
4.0
Once again, a fast paced story with compelling character development. I’m really enjoying Guinevere’s growth and can’t wait to start the third book - this one ends on quite a cliffhanger!
flor_hyggecorner's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book as much as the first one!
I will read the next following to this because I want to know what happens!
One would think that secrets would be revealed in book 2! Wrong! Think again. There are actually more questions. More mystery… more things we, as the MC, do not understand.
We need answers!!
But the book get you to that state, that need of knowledge!
The action, the betrayal, both play a crucial part of that tension. Would she finally be with Arthur, our would her heart ended up with his enemy?
Sorry here, I need to go to read the rest.
I will read the next following to this because I want to know what happens!
One would think that secrets would be revealed in book 2! Wrong! Think again. There are actually more questions. More mystery… more things we, as the MC, do not understand.
We need answers!!
But the book get you to that state, that need of knowledge!
The action, the betrayal, both play a crucial part of that tension. Would she finally be with Arthur, our would her heart ended up with his enemy?
Sorry here, I need to go to read the rest.
nightowl13's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
litwithlauren's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
A stunning sequel that raises the stakes even higher, The Camelot Betrayal took all of the characters I came to love in The Guinevere Deception and expanded on who they are and who they want to be. Primarily a character-driven series, you can't help but root for Guinevere, her friends, and even some of the supposed antagonists as they rediscover love, themselves, and what it means to be human. What it means to choose. I do feel as though, slow character development aside, nothing much happened in this sequel, but I am definitely excited to see what happens next.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
A stunning sequel that raises the stakes even higher, The Camelot Betrayal took all of the characters I came to love in The Guinevere Deception and expanded on who they are and who they want to be. Primarily a character-driven series, you can't help but root for Guinevere, her friends, and even some of the supposed antagonists as they rediscover love, themselves, and what it means to be human. What it means to choose. I do feel as though, slow character development aside, nothing much happened in this sequel, but I am definitely excited to see what happens next.