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A review by hannahellen
The Excalibur Curse by Kiersten White
2.0
My hunger for anything Arthurian sometimes leads me to very meh places.
This was so tiresome to read. I read the first 2 books 3 years ago and I remember feeling disappointed and that the characters and the whole story was very forgettable. This book did not change that. I finished it out of spite more than anything lol.
None of the characters felt real. Way too many things felt too easy and convenient. Guinevere was SO annoying. Sometimes a character is so “good” that it makes them DULL. We have to read their self-deprecation and guilt every other page and it just ends up feeling much more narcissistic than wholesome and kind. The love triangle made it worse. I wasn’t rooting for any “ships” because I just couldn’t care. Lancelot’s blind devotion to Guinevere felt forced and way too intense. Arthur had no personality at all beyond the whole, "I will do whatever is best for Camelot and also I am compassionate and strong and The Chosen One" trope. The whining and waffling from Guinevere was boring. All the ruminating was exhausting. I just wanted it to end so badly. I could see the ending from the beginning and the stakes and danger were way too high for the end to be so happy and tidy.
Sometimes I think maybe I should stop reading about teenagers now that it’s been nearly 10 years since I was one. I mean, I was also whiny and inconstant and self-centered as a teenager. But then I remember that there are so many fictional teenagers that I absolutely love and connect with. This trilogy was just not great and the protagonist was the worst part.
I appreciate the attempt at a feminist spin, but it fell extremely flat for me.
This was so tiresome to read. I read the first 2 books 3 years ago and I remember feeling disappointed and that the characters and the whole story was very forgettable. This book did not change that. I finished it out of spite more than anything lol.
None of the characters felt real. Way too many things felt too easy and convenient. Guinevere was SO annoying. Sometimes a character is so “good” that it makes them DULL. We have to read their self-deprecation and guilt every other page and it just ends up feeling much more narcissistic than wholesome and kind. The love triangle made it worse. I wasn’t rooting for any “ships” because I just couldn’t care. Lancelot’s blind devotion to Guinevere felt forced and way too intense. Arthur had no personality at all beyond the whole, "I will do whatever is best for Camelot and also I am compassionate and strong and The Chosen One" trope. The whining and waffling from Guinevere was boring. All the ruminating was exhausting. I just wanted it to end so badly. I could see the ending from the beginning and the stakes and danger were way too high for the end to be so happy and tidy.
Sometimes I think maybe I should stop reading about teenagers now that it’s been nearly 10 years since I was one. I mean, I was also whiny and inconstant and self-centered as a teenager. But then I remember that there are so many fictional teenagers that I absolutely love and connect with. This trilogy was just not great and the protagonist was the worst part.
I appreciate the attempt at a feminist spin, but it fell extremely flat for me.