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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
I decided to reread this before reading The Camelot Betrayal and I'm glad that I did. I had forgotten so many little details that I think are going to be important in the sequel. And it was also nice to know that I still really enjoyed it.
White does retellings spectacularly. And it's mostly because she doesn't just retell the same story we all know, she always adds some interesting twist. This is what keeps me interested and excited to continue reading. We all know the story of King Arthur and Excalibur - I mean, I watched the Sword and the Stone many times when I was younger. But we never really heard from Guinevere. And since it's White, it's not the Guinevere you'd exect.
This book was so rich in characters and I loved them all. From sweet Guinevere herself to honorable Arthur even charming Modred and gallant Lancelot. I adored reading about all of them. And they all felt fully formed which is something that often lacks in side characters.
This book set in motion so many plot points that I'm excited to see where White takes it.
White does retellings spectacularly. And it's mostly because she doesn't just retell the same story we all know, she always adds some interesting twist. This is what keeps me interested and excited to continue reading. We all know the story of King Arthur and Excalibur - I mean, I watched the Sword and the Stone many times when I was younger. But we never really heard from Guinevere. And since it's White, it's not the Guinevere you'd exect.
This book was so rich in characters and I loved them all. From sweet Guinevere herself to honorable Arthur even charming Modred and gallant Lancelot. I adored reading about all of them. And they all felt fully formed which is something that often lacks in side characters.
This book set in motion so many plot points that I'm excited to see where White takes it.
I’m being generous by giving this book 3 stars. It was slow until page 150. The only reason I did give it a 3 star was because I really liked the ending.
Fun fact about me, I'm actually a bit of a King Arthur geek. I've read countless retellings of the legend, as well as Morte d'Arthur, and even pretty extensively studied Sir Gawain and The Green Knight in college. So I was not only pretty excited when a new retelling was out, but also psyched that it focused on Guinevere. And for once, Guinevere seemed to be a strong female character, and not just a helpless queen. What's even better is that in The Guinevere Deception, Guinevere is not actually a sheltered princess raised for a political marriage to King Arthur, but is actually an imposter who marries King Arthur to protect him from magical threats after the banishment of Merlin from Camelot. I really loved all the unique spins on the classic legend in The Guinevere Deception, and found myself tearing through the book. Despite these interesting twists and a love for the characters and Arthurian legend as a whole, I found that the writing, world-building, and magical systems left a lot to be desired.
I really loved author Keirsten White's interesting take on the tried and true Arthurian legend. I was fascinated that The Guinevere Deception's false Guinevere's is the daughter of Merlin! So of course she's not without her own brand of magic. Unfortunately, Guinevere's knot magic, formed by knots made from her hair, blood, or iron thread isn't very well explained, nor is the rest of the magic in the world of Camelot. One can assume that this lack of explanation is due in part to the fact that magic has been outlawed in Camelot, with the threat of banishment or death looming for practitioners. That means anyone practicing magic, is highly secretive, including Guinevere, but I really wished the novel had taken more time to explain how it works—where one learns magic, how one gets the skills or the energy to practice, and where all these magic practices came from. In fact, Guinevere herself doesn't even know where she learned her abilities.
All the readers really know about magic is that it is illegal because of the mysterious threat of an unnamed Dark Queen, who thrives on chaos, which The Guinevere Deception explains simply as being magic itself. There's not a whole lot of explanation of why it's believed to be so dangerous, but The Guinevere Deception frequently tells the reader that Camelot is order, and the chaos of magic will destroy that order somehow. This lack of knowledge is somewhat explained by Guinevere not having all of her memories. In all honesty, however, I think The Guinevere Deception assumes it's readers are familiar enough with Arthurian legend that Merlin can just be stated as a powerful wizard without any further explanation other than vague notions that he can see all possibilities throughout time. As magic is such an integral part of Arthurian legend, touching everything from Arthur's birth to his knighthood, to his kinghood, I really struggled with the lack of explanation of how magic worked in this universe. It was especially difficult to believe Guinevere as Merlin's daughter and a powerful sorceress in her own right, as she had so little understanding of magic and the world around her.
Despite my disappointment in the description of the magic system, I was thrilled to find that I actually felt Guinevere was sympathetic for perhaps the first time in Arthurian legend, and I believe the author White's more feminist take is to thank for that. In most iterations of Arthurian legend, I can't stand the woman and find her to be weak-willed at most, and at least, a very poor decision maker. In The Guinevere Deception, Guinevere worries about not being a burden, protecting Arthur, and shows a lot of tenacity and level headedness, despite her naïveté. She's also very human and suffers from the inattention of her very famous and busy husband, who is more King than actual husband. I liked her portrayal as a strong heroine, not as damsel in constant distress, a lot. Whether this is because her true identity is not really Guinevere, I didn't care! It worked for me and it's clear that the author wanted to give more dimension and focus to Guinevere and these other women of legend. I loved to see it.
Though I really liked Guinevere's portrayal and found it such a fresh take on her classic portrayal, I'm going to be honest and say that the standout of this novel for me was the portrayal of Morderd. I absolutely love his characterization, which is charming and sympathetic. Mordred is portrayed as a liberal, a feminist, and the only one who understands Guinevere's troubles and sees her as person. His quick wit, sense of humor, respect of women as powerful creatures in their own right, stands in stark contrast to Arthur's rather bland characterization. I was excited every time Mordred appeared on the page. I was thrilled when Mordred became Guinevere's confidant, despite her reservations and reluctant attraction to him.
I really love a good anti-hero and Mordred definitely fulfilled this need. His relationship with Guinevere was very nurturing too, and I rooted for these two wholeheartedly. Not only could I not help shipping these characters, classical legend and well-being of Camelot be damned, but I also really loved the Guinevere Deception's unique way of showing Arthur-Guinevere-Mordred as the prominent love triangle of the legend, and that the focus wasn't all on the typical Lancelot-Guinevere-Arthur plot, until Mordred shows up at the end of the legend to ruin the peace of Camelot. Instead, Guinevere met and married Arthur and is protected by Mordred as a trusted member of the Knights, before anyone even knows Lancelot exists. Even better, in another twist,
My biggest issue with The Guinevere Deception, other than the lack of explanation of the magic system, was that most of the novel had a ton of telling and not showing. This way of writing really lessened my enjoyment of the novel and even sometimes bordered on ridiculous. At one pivotal moment in the book, Guinevere and her lady in waiting were running from a wild boar. she tells us not once but twice, that she chose to run in the opposite direction of her servant. I already inferred from the context and Guinevere's character that she wanted to protect her friend, and that was clearly why she chose to run in the opposite direction, as the boar was fixated on her. But the author felt it was necessary to spell it out a second time in even more blunt terms that it was due to her concerns for the well-being of her servant.
This is the kind of telling that happens a lot in The Guinevere Deception and it frustrated me to no end. It took me right out of the action of the moment to make me think, "okay, I got it already." The writing in the The Guinevere Deception was indeed a weird mix, as the author felt the need to spell things out repeatedly for readers, but also assumed that her audience knew enough about Arthurian legend to not really explain her magical systems or lore. Fans of other fantasy novels and Arthurian will surely find this disappointing and fans who aren't familiar with Arthurian legend might find this lack of detail confusing.
Honestly, I feel if I weren't such a big King Arthur fan, I probably wouldn't have loved The Guinevere Deception quite so much due to the lack of magical explanation, and the constant telling and not showing. For me the enjoyment really came from knowing the characters and the legend and seeing it all in more of a modern context, with such fresh and exciting spins. Despite my own disappointment with these writing choices, I still really enjoyed The Guinevere Deception due to this interesting new twists on a familiar legend, the strong heroine, and the portrayals of both Mordred and Guinevere. I even pre-ordered the next book in the series, despite not being able to give the novel a higher rating, so I think that speaks to how much fun I had reading it, even with what it was lacking. I think other fans of young adult fantasy books, especially those that like strong female characters, magic, and love triangles will also enjoy this book.
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“You are Merlin’s daughter. And that makes you far more valuable than any princess."
I really loved author Keirsten White's interesting take on the tried and true Arthurian legend. I was fascinated that The Guinevere Deception's false Guinevere's is the daughter of Merlin! So of course she's not without her own brand of magic. Unfortunately, Guinevere's knot magic, formed by knots made from her hair, blood, or iron thread isn't very well explained, nor is the rest of the magic in the world of Camelot. One can assume that this lack of explanation is due in part to the fact that magic has been outlawed in Camelot, with the threat of banishment or death looming for practitioners. That means anyone practicing magic, is highly secretive, including Guinevere, but I really wished the novel had taken more time to explain how it works—where one learns magic, how one gets the skills or the energy to practice, and where all these magic practices came from. In fact, Guinevere herself doesn't even know where she learned her abilities.
"It was for the best. Magic and Camelot cannot exist in the same space. Magic—even good magic—thrives on sacrifice and chaos. Pain."
All the readers really know about magic is that it is illegal because of the mysterious threat of an unnamed Dark Queen, who thrives on chaos, which The Guinevere Deception explains simply as being magic itself. There's not a whole lot of explanation of why it's believed to be so dangerous, but The Guinevere Deception frequently tells the reader that Camelot is order, and the chaos of magic will destroy that order somehow. This lack of knowledge is somewhat explained by Guinevere not having all of her memories. In all honesty, however, I think The Guinevere Deception assumes it's readers are familiar enough with Arthurian legend that Merlin can just be stated as a powerful wizard without any further explanation other than vague notions that he can see all possibilities throughout time. As magic is such an integral part of Arthurian legend, touching everything from Arthur's birth to his knighthood, to his kinghood, I really struggled with the lack of explanation of how magic worked in this universe. It was especially difficult to believe Guinevere as Merlin's daughter and a powerful sorceress in her own right, as she had so little understanding of magic and the world around her.
"He is like the sun. When he is focused on you, everything is bright and warm. Everything is possible. But the problem with knowing the warmth of the sun is how keenly you feel its absence when it shines elsewhere. And a king must always shine elsewhere.”
Despite my disappointment in the description of the magic system, I was thrilled to find that I actually felt Guinevere was sympathetic for perhaps the first time in Arthurian legend, and I believe the author White's more feminist take is to thank for that. In most iterations of Arthurian legend, I can't stand the woman and find her to be weak-willed at most, and at least, a very poor decision maker. In The Guinevere Deception, Guinevere worries about not being a burden, protecting Arthur, and shows a lot of tenacity and level headedness, despite her naïveté. She's also very human and suffers from the inattention of her very famous and busy husband, who is more King than actual husband. I liked her portrayal as a strong heroine, not as damsel in constant distress, a lot. Whether this is because her true identity is not really Guinevere, I didn't care! It worked for me and it's clear that the author wanted to give more dimension and focus to Guinevere and these other women of legend. I loved to see it.
Though I really liked Guinevere's portrayal and found it such a fresh take on her classic portrayal, I'm going to be honest and say that the standout of this novel for me was the portrayal of Morderd. I absolutely love his characterization, which is charming and sympathetic. Mordred is portrayed as a liberal, a feminist, and the only one who understands Guinevere's troubles and sees her as person. His quick wit, sense of humor, respect of women as powerful creatures in their own right, stands in stark contrast to Arthur's rather bland characterization. I was excited every time Mordred appeared on the page. I was thrilled when Mordred became Guinevere's confidant, despite her reservations and reluctant attraction to him.
I really love a good anti-hero and Mordred definitely fulfilled this need. His relationship with Guinevere was very nurturing too, and I rooted for these two wholeheartedly. Not only could I not help shipping these characters, classical legend and well-being of Camelot be damned, but I also really loved the Guinevere Deception's unique way of showing Arthur-Guinevere-Mordred as the prominent love triangle of the legend, and that the focus wasn't all on the typical Lancelot-Guinevere-Arthur plot, until Mordred shows up at the end of the legend to ruin the peace of Camelot. Instead, Guinevere met and married Arthur and is protected by Mordred as a trusted member of the Knights, before anyone even knows Lancelot exists. Even better, in another twist,
Spoiler
Lancelot is revealed to be a woman, so I'm really excited to see how the follow up novel, The Camelot Betrayal, handles this development. Perhaps Guinevere will have to compete with Lancelot for Arthur's affections, or will even enter a romantic relationship with Lancelot, in yet another spin on the classic legend.My biggest issue with The Guinevere Deception, other than the lack of explanation of the magic system, was that most of the novel had a ton of telling and not showing. This way of writing really lessened my enjoyment of the novel and even sometimes bordered on ridiculous. At one pivotal moment in the book, Guinevere and her lady in waiting were running from a wild boar. she tells us not once but twice, that she chose to run in the opposite direction of her servant. I already inferred from the context and Guinevere's character that she wanted to protect her friend, and that was clearly why she chose to run in the opposite direction, as the boar was fixated on her. But the author felt it was necessary to spell it out a second time in even more blunt terms that it was due to her concerns for the well-being of her servant.
This is the kind of telling that happens a lot in The Guinevere Deception and it frustrated me to no end. It took me right out of the action of the moment to make me think, "okay, I got it already." The writing in the The Guinevere Deception was indeed a weird mix, as the author felt the need to spell things out repeatedly for readers, but also assumed that her audience knew enough about Arthurian legend to not really explain her magical systems or lore. Fans of other fantasy novels and Arthurian will surely find this disappointing and fans who aren't familiar with Arthurian legend might find this lack of detail confusing.
Honestly, I feel if I weren't such a big King Arthur fan, I probably wouldn't have loved The Guinevere Deception quite so much due to the lack of magical explanation, and the constant telling and not showing. For me the enjoyment really came from knowing the characters and the legend and seeing it all in more of a modern context, with such fresh and exciting spins. Despite my own disappointment with these writing choices, I still really enjoyed The Guinevere Deception due to this interesting new twists on a familiar legend, the strong heroine, and the portrayals of both Mordred and Guinevere. I even pre-ordered the next book in the series, despite not being able to give the novel a higher rating, so I think that speaks to how much fun I had reading it, even with what it was lacking. I think other fans of young adult fantasy books, especially those that like strong female characters, magic, and love triangles will also enjoy this book.
Bloggingwithdragons.com
My Book Review Policy
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This was a good start to the series, although I did find it slow and that not a lot actually happened. I am, however, excited to continue on with the series!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is mostly setup for the rest of the trilogy, which really brings down the pace. But the last third of this book makes up for that in terms of plot and intrigue. Definitely excited to read the next one.
es de los mejores libros q lei en serio; el mundo magico, la trama y L O S P E R S O N A J E S son una masterpiece realmente. los plot twists cada dos paginas hicieron q me caiga de culo y nunca había dudado tanto de mi capacidad para elegir a un hombre en un triángulo amoroso como en los últimos capítulos. además la manera en que las mujeres siempre tienen el poder en este retelling es sencillamente hermosa.
en fin leanlo ya necesito el resto de la trilogía
en fin leanlo ya necesito el resto de la trilogía
adventurous
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A