A review by plumpaperbacks
The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White

mysterious slow-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Though intriguing at first, this book ended up being quite boring. Very few characters actually interested me, and my favorite wasn’t properly introduced until the last quarter of the book. The magic system seemed cool, but it wasn’t given enough attention for me to make a final decision. I saw the love triangle coming a mile away and ultimately didn’t care for either of the guys on Guinevere’s radar. And speaking of Guinevere, I don’t think she was developed enough, which is sad considering she had the potential to be such a fascinating morally grey protagonist. I didn’t see the final twist coming, but I wasn’t invested enough to really care. Also, one character made an incredibly asinine decision at the end of the book, based on feelings rather than logic. I have a feeling the sequel is going to be everyone panicking and trying to deal with the New Evil, while I’m over here like, “Bro, you did it to yourself.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I won’t know, though, because I’m not planning to read any further in the series. I think it’s time to admit that White’s novels aren’t my cup of tea.

If you like Arthurian stories and classic YA clichés, maybe you’ll like this. It had a lot of potential, but personally, I think all the wrong elements were given too much page time.

Representation:
  • Sapphic side character
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