Reviews with content warning for Death - The Camelot Betrayal

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White

11 reviews

martin27's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious fast-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

4.5

In some ways a lot stronger than the first book and in some ways weaker, this was a good second book that keeps what I liked about the characters and builds upon it. I especially love Lancelot’s character. Sir Gawain isn’t a major character but I love this version of him (I am slightly biased though; he’s been my favorite member of the Round Table for a while). The plot line with Guinevere’s sister was probably the weakest point of the book, and while the ending cliffhanger isn’t a huge surprise it wasn’t my favorite. As much as I love Guinevere, I hate how she consistently undermines Lancelot. The backstory elements are extremely interesting and are presented as little mini-stories with titles, which I thought was very fun.

I’m hoping that the third book provides a satisfying conclusion for all of the different relationships Guinevere has. The interactions between the characters is definitely the highlight of the series.

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not_another_ana's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

How could she be a person when so much of who she was... was not? Not spoken. Not remembered. Not true.

Everything seems to have settled in Camelot after Mordred's betrayal and the Dark Queen rising once more. Guinevere is still conflicted about her place in court and in life in general, since it seems that existence might be a lie, a trick of magic. Things get even worse when the real Guinevere's little sister shows up, putting everything in danger.

This was ass. First one was okayish for me, but when I realized that this was a trilogy I immediately was concerned for book 2 and that's because the author has no idea what pacing is nor does she seem to have an editor who cares about it. This was all over the place, jumping from plot point to plot point with no end goal in sight but, worse of all, it was so fucking boring. Nothing happens in this book. The mysterious big bad Dark Queen? Mentioned maybe once in passing. Mordred's betrayal? Not really discussed that much. Merlin's disappearance and the Lady of the Lake's tie to Guinevere? Nope! And the big confrontation with actual Guinevere's sister who might be the undoing of her deception? MEANINGLESS. Instead they avoid that by leaving on a random side quest unrelated to the main plot that takes ages.

And the romance? At this point I don't care who ends up together because the author does the most to either keep Guinevere away from love interests (Arthur and Mordred) or for her to be completely oblivious to their affections (Lancelot). Is this even going to be queer in some way or did Kiersten White gender swap Lancelot for a laugh and representation points? Arthur comes across as dismissive, untrustworthy and even a tyrant. His reasons for denying Guinevere intimacy and communication had me rolling my eyes, plus he never gets any chance to grow or endear himself to the reader because the plot keeps sending him away. Lancelot is pathetically pining for a woman who has her head in the clouds and shows her no care

except for that moment at the end when Guinevere randomly says I love you??? Which came out of nowhere and made zero sense, what are you even talking about???

. Her personality is also missing as she exists only to be around Guinevere. Mordred, the only sane man in this, is the only one able to mantain some sort of romantic tension with the main character despite interacting less with her than the two others combined and yet the plot keeps trying to tell us he's not a viable love interest. I'm so confused.

And can we talk about the plot.

How are you going to build this whole book around the sister showing up and potentially blowing up the status quo only to barely feature her until the end and have it mean nothing. At no point did I believe that she was working with the Dark Queen nor that any of her actions mattered. That could have been very interesting to read about but no, let's go on a wild side quest to rescue this woman we have never met, only for it to go terribly wrong and then THEY DIDN'T EVEN CHANGE ISOLDE'S NAME OR TRIED TO IDK COLOR HER HAIR??? Instead of reading about the Dark Queen's incursions into their territory or plans we had to sit there and ponder Dindrane's wedding or Guinevere's anxious rants. What was the point. We could have skipped this book entirely. Don't get me started on the ending, it's so dumb I won't even be commenting on it.

HOT MESS. Where was the editor, where was the writer, where was the storyline.

I will only be reading the third one cause I made it this far, but there's a high chance of DNFing it. Heed my words, read something else.

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becca99's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book does not suffer from second book syndrome. I enjoyed every sentence that I've read. The twists keep twisting, the turns keep turning, the revelations keep getting revealed. The characters are getting even more fleshed out in this one and I couldn't put the book down.

The female relationships and the clear love that Brangien, Dindrane, Guinevere, Lancelot have for each other is something that brought tears to my eyes.

I truly cannot recommend this series enough.

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drlove2018's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mpbookreviews's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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claudiamacpherson's review

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adventurous inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Guinevere is back in Camelot with Arthur, but threats approach from all sides: the Dark Queen has returned and her wild magic is encroaching on Camelot, and the first Guinevere's sister, Guinevach, has arrived in the city and could reveal Guinevere as a fraud. Again, Guinevere must navigate her forbidden magic, her role as queen, and her desire to be useful for Camelot and those she cares about.

It's always a different experience to read a book (as I did with this one) than to listen to it (as I did with The Guinevere Deception—great reader, by the way) so I'm not sure how that changed my experience with this sequel. I still loved the characters (though sometimes I wanted to shake Guinevere for doubting herself!), and the love triangle (square??) still made me frustrated because I like all of them, damn it, how am I supposed to choose? The plot felt a little irregular, though—not necessarily in a bad way, but there were several ups and downs and mini rising action-climax-falling action sequences rather than one big one at the ending. I still enjoyed it a lot and am now very frustrated that I have to wait for the third book to come out later this year!

Okay, more on the love triangle/square because I'm genuinely so conflicted!! First of all, I love Arthur, I really do. I fall for the king trope every time: the James Potters and Peter Pevensies and Richard Ganseys who are just so noble and loyal and good all. the. time. And I loved the scene between Arthur and Guinevere in the greenhouse room and how she contrasts Arthur with Mordred by saying that Arthur would never take what isn't his (we love a respectful man!). But White did a really good job writing Mordred because even after the betrayal at the end of The Guinevere Deception, I still loved the scenes with him and Guinevere! Granted, White gave him a pretty good redemption arc in this book, but I'm usually tough to please with those. As if those two weren't enough, I'm still waiting for a Lancelot/Guinevere romance because that's what's in the original myth! And I'm obsessed with White's Lancelot! There were a few moments in this book where I thought maybe White was preparing for that eventuality, but they were fairly subtle except for the final scene, and even those declarations of love could potentially be read as platonic. This is why I hate love triangles!! If it's not a clear choice I get stressed and feel bad for whoever ultimately doesn't get chosen. Hopefully book 3 will make the decision easier... we'll see!

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):

Cliffhanger! Definitely not happy (but not sad either, just tense). I need the next book!!!

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melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I could seriously read nothing but King Arthur retellings for the rest of my days and would probably be content.

This book is such an epic sequel to The Guinevere Deception. There are even more twists and mysteries surrounding who Guinevere is and why Merlin messed with her memories! I love the new characters that were added and the new development of familiar characters.

Guinevere's love interests are a decently large part of the story and I diagnose Guinevere with: Chaotic Pansexual. I know it doesn't say anywhere, but that's my diagnosis. I know who I want her to end up with, but even so I can't help but feel an attachment to all the characters she loves.

That ending was brutal! I didn't expect it at all and now I'm so sad I have to wait so long for the next book. Oh well, guess in the meantime I'll just have to reread the rest of Kiersten White's books...

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