Scan barcode
schnaucl's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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.
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Violence
Minor: Violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Torture, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
zoemorana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Sexual assault and Death
duda_ferreira's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexism
jai_martin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood and Violence
Moderate: Sexual assault, Animal death, Death of parent, and Death
sarahmreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Guinevere is off to be married to King Arthur, ruler of the legendary Camelot and wielder of Excalibur. It's the medieval tale we all know and love. However, there's just one catch: Guinevere isn't the person she says she is.
The world-building is simple in the sense that a lot of people already know about the King Arthur stories, so it was really quick to pick up on. Another minor caveat of the King Arthur stories is that we already know a lot of it, so it has to be done in a way that is still nice and refreshing for the readers. And honestly I thought it was done really well! There were twists I wasn't expecting that had me gasping at the end of chapters. One of them I did guess but I'm here for it regardless. All I will say is that I shipped Guinevere with everyone and I will stick with that statement.
Also the magic was so good! I liked that it had a cost with everything you wanted to do. Want to do blindness and confusion? Cool, but prepare to be confused and be blind yourself. It's stuff like that that limits our main character and makes the author find other ways to make her powerful in her own right.
I'm a sucker for King Arthur stories and this book is no exception. The Guinevere Deception is an underrated, decently paced novel and I cannot wait for the next installment!
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexism
typedtruths's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Moderate: Kidnapping and Sexual assault
angelareads's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Vomit
Minor: Death and Suicidal thoughts
There is some cutting in this book, not for the purposes of self harm but as part of the magic system. This could be triggering for some readers.gattolinos_nerdy_nook's review against another edition
- 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
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!
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Death, Violence, War, and Sexual assault