Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and feelings are my own.

This King Arthur inspired retelling was just what my fantasy loving heart needed. I’ve never read a King Arthur retelling, so it was great to have something different!

Guinevere was mysterious and strong. She knew what she was brought to Camelot to do, and she was going to protect her King at all costs. Of course, there were setbacks, the Dark Queen, and surprise enemies and betrayals.

The ending was so surprising. I didn’t see it coming. I’m pretty sure I let out an audible gasp. I can’t wait for the next installment to see how this all turns out.

At times, I thought the dialogue seemed childish. I can’t put my finger in exactly why. It might have just been the way I was reading it in my head. I’ve read Kiersten’s other work, and didn’t have the same feelings, so I’m blaming this on me. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Rating: 4.75/5 Stars


I’m so excited that I got to read this book. I’m a big fan of retellings and when I heard that Kiersten White was doing a spin on the legends of King Arthur I knew I had to get my hands on it! This story takes the traditional tales of King Arthur and places Guinevere front and center.

The story begins as Princess Guinevere is heading for Camelot for the first time, only she isn’t the real Guinevere. She has been placed in Camelot by Merlin to protect King Arthur and his people from an unknown threat. Magic has been banned from Camelot and anyone found practicing it is exiled from the kingdom.

I absolutely loved Guinevere! Most of the book is spent following her as she learns to navigate her new position as queen and attempt to protect Arthur from magical attacks (without anyone knowing that she is using magic). I loved that Guinevere is not the damsel in distress. Though most of her backstory is a mystery, Guinevere is an incredibly dynamic character that you latch onto right away. The friendship between Guinevere and Brangien made me smile multiple times through the story. It is so nice to see two female characters who have a friendship built on mutual respect and trust for one another.

A lot of this book is focused on court life, which I’ve heard some people complain about but I found it interesting to learn the ropes along with Guinevere. I also thought the magic system used in this book was unique and I’m eager to learn more about it in the books to come. There is also some pretty interesting lore surrounding the traditional King Arthur stories that add mystery to this retelling.

King Arthur doesn’t play a huge role in this story which I was a little surprised about, but I do think it works for this story. Another character that I adored (but was completely different from what I was expecting) is Lancelot. I loved how Kiersten White took these iconic characters and shook up everything we know about them. It makes for an incredibly enjoyable read that is one of my favorites of the year!

If you are a fan of the legends of King Arthur then you will definitely want to give this one a try. I loved seeing Camelot through an entirely new lens and I can honestly say White made this story completely her own! I love series that leave you with more questions than answers and I am eager to see where the rest of the series goes. If this isn’t on your TBR list already, do yourself a favor and add it immediately.

The King Arthur stories are so numerous and varied that they offer a lot of opportunity for reworking. This appealing re-telling of the legend for young adults adds diversity, a coming-of-age aspect, and unexpected romance and gender reversals. Most significantly, the focus in this version of the legend is on Guinevere, Arthur’s bride, rather than on Arthur. As the author writes in her Acknowledgments at the end, she wanted to emphasize “the girls and women overlooked in stories and in life, who still find ways to create magic and grow in power and truth.”

Princess Guinevere, 16, comes to Camelot because she has been matched in marriage with 18-year-old Arthur, the King of Camelot. Arthur was anointed after he was able to remove the sword called Excalibur which was deeply embedded in a stone, and which held fast against all other attempts to extract it. The great wizard Merlin, Arthur’s mentor, had declared that only the “true king” of Camelot could remove the sword from the stone. Arthur, thus recognized as King of Camelot, vowed to bring goodness to the Kingdom. In order to do so, he had to push back the forces of the Dark Queen and magic. And this also meant banishing Merlin from the land.

Merlin believed in Arthur, and refused to leave him unprotected. Thus he sent his daughter to claim she was Guinevere, the princess from a faraway kingdom promised in marriage to Arthur. Although she felt like a fraud, Guinevere also believed in Arthur’s vision, and would do whatever she could to protect him from any threats. While she did not possess the full panoply of Merlin’s skills, she did know some elements of magic, and she knew how to sense it in others:

“Until magic was truly gone, it could threaten him. She would be the shield against any magic seeking to destroy what Arthur was doing here. As ill-prepared as she felt, she would not fail him. She would live up to Merlin’s legacy.”

As for Arthur, he thinks the problem is elsewhere: “Other men. We do not need a dark queen when we have so much darkness within ourselves. But we will beat back the chaos and the darkness.”

Guinevere is not so sure, and sees threats all around her. And indeed, the dangers seem to be coming from all quarters. Not least, a mysterious masked knight who is winning all the tournaments seems not quite human to Guinevere. And one of the biggest dangers of all? You might say it is Guinevere’s hormones. She knew, as an arranged wife, she was a companion to Arthur but not a priority to him. She desperately wanted to be loved.

Evaluation: Some young adult books seem “too young” for me at my advanced age, but this one was endearing and entertaining. It helped that there was more at stake in this story than high school and homework; the very future of civilization was at risk. While the men were physically adept, their strength was no match for the intelligence, creativity, and courage of the young women in this story. I thought it was an excellent re-casting of King Arthur. Best of all, it is only the first book of a trilogy. I did not feel cheated at the end, however; it can be read as a standalone. But I can’t wait for the next installments.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is only my second novel by Keirsten White and I must say, I really enjoyed it. I am pretty excited that this is going to be a trilogy. I love how Guinevere is written as such a strong character in this book. I loved how complicated the author made her.

The undertones of feminism and strong women! It is so refreshing. In my own personal opinion, I felt there was a bit too much romance or at least emphasis on romance. It really took away from the strong female tropes that this book had established so well.

The story itself was a bit all over the place. It felt very rushed especially from the beginning. I also really did not like King Authur in this story. His character fell flat and was just not enjoyable.

I really hope that the next book organizes the story a little bit more. Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to review this title.

The Guinivere Deception is a retelling of the Arthurian/Sword in the Stone legends, featuring a much more strong and courageous Guinevere. Everything about this novel by Kiersten White is phenomenal. The characters, the setting, the storytelling. There's romance, mystery, intrigue, magic, and so much more.

I had no doubts that I was going to love this book, and I even purchased myself a physical copy the day it came out. The cover is beautiful for one thing, and the story is so good that I have to have it on my shelf. Kiersten's Guinivere is such a loveable, fierce girl that you want to be friends with her and root for her throughout the whole book. The rest of the characters are all so developed and fascinating, and their interactions with Guinivere are all unique. Arthur is bae, but the book also features other cool, classic Arthurian characters like Mordred, Lancelot, Merlin, and more.

If you like retellings with strong female leads, definitely check this one out.

In this darkly subversive retelling of the Arthurian legend, Guinevere is a changeling, sent in disguise to protect Arthur from an unknown threat. Camelot has cast out Merlin and banned magic, so Guinevere must hide the magical protections she wields. But she has gaps in her memory and we are left with questions: who is Guinevere? Why was she really sent there? And who is the real threat against Arthur?

Unlike the original, this retelling centers female characters and highlights the ways they were restrained, used, and mistreated by supposedly heroic men. There are strong themes of sisterhood and feminism woven through the story. It's an interesting take with a twist I didn't expect. I enjoyed this version and am quite curious to see the direction that the next book takes. It's unconfirmed in book 1, but there is also subtext to suggest that this inception of Guinevere might be bisexual, which would open up some interesting plot threads for the rest of the series.

Guinevere is in many ways an innocent who knows little and remembers little of her life, thrust into a dangerous world of power and politics as the queen to a kind but distant man (Arthur) and drawing the heated attention of his young Uncle (Mordred). There is mystery, drama, and magic and I'm looking forward to the next installment. Worth picking up if you enjoy these legends. There is also the inclusion of characters from the well-known tale of Tristan & Isolde, but with a queer twist. I received an advance copy of this book for review from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I loved this Camelot setting so much! It's got action, adventure, and romance. Plus it's only the first book in a trilogy.

Really enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the sequel. I took off a star cause there were slow parts in the book but I loved it overall. A new take on the Arthurian legends.

The Guinevere Deception is one of those slow starting but suddenly you find yourself completely reeled in.

Kiersten White has a completely new take on the magic, mystery and fable that is King Arthur's tale. The focus is on Guinevere, or a woman that is impersonating the true Guinevere. This story begins with a young woman traveling across the enchanted lands, taking the place of Arthur’s deceased bride Guinevere. She has been raised and sent by Merlin, who has been banished from Camelot, but still wants to protect Arthur from the attacks that are coming his way. They only way to protect Arthur is with magic, magic that has been also band from Camelot and using it carries a death sentence.

The new Guinevere is confused but doing all she can to make the right choices to protect Arthur. Plots, deceptions and political machinations abound.

White has a writing style that lavishly describing every detail of the world she is creating. She does a beautiful job creating the world but it sometimes slows down the flow. I really enjoyed the story and as I said by the end I was hooked; it just took me a while to get there.

I received this ARC copy of The Guinevere Deception from Random House Children's - Delacorte Press. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you so much to Delacorte Press and NetGalley for letting me read the Guinevere Deception early! I love King Arthur/Merlin/Knights of the Round Table thing, so I was superrrrr excited to read this one!

The Guinevere Deception 4/5 stars

Summary from Goodreads: There is nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.

Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.

To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

I really enjoyed so much of this book! The setting was magical- I love Camelot! The characters were great and I loved seeing familiar names/characters to the stories I grew up with. Parts of the actual plot/storyline were a little confusing- for example, all of the emphasis on Guinevere being a fake but skirting around it in terms of giving us more information on why and who she really was. But, overall, I really enjoyed it and I can’t wait to read book 2 when it comes out!

This was a great read! I love anything and everything king arthur and medieval, and so focusing on guinevere and her independence and power made me incredibly happy. As someone who will consume nearly anything if it's based in arthurian legend, I found Kiersten White's latest book to be a wonderful and fresh take on the arthurian mythology.

I have read a couple of author Kiersten White's books now and I can see the attraction: the plots are simple, the writing undemanding, and the characters attractive to a modern audience. The trade off here, though, is that the plots can feel simplistic and the characters extremely underdeveloped and anachronistic (even in a fantasy). The Guinevere Deception easily falls into the mold: it is a book that is easy and entertaining but at the end ultimately leaves you unfulfilled. But as a retelling of the Arthurian legend, it's amiable enough.

Story: Guinevere is dead. But only a few people know that the young woman arriving to marry King Arthur is not the feted beauty and is instead the daughter of Merlin. Magic has been outlawed in Camelot, Merlin banished, and the fake-Guinevere sent to secretly protect Arthur with his permission. This Guinevere has little knowledge of the world, huge holes in her memory, and a mission that is difficult to do from the position of Queen. But the time traveler Merlin has foreseen a need for her to be there with Arthur and she will protect the King from the Queen of Chaos.

Our protagonist here is a very unreliable narrator; she remembers little of her youth or growing up and even has trouble remembering her true name. All she knows is that she must protect Arthur using the magic knotting spells taught to her by Merlin. At Camelot, she meets with the usual characters - Tristan, Kay, Mordred. Lancelot, etc. but each is different from the legend in unique (and very 2010s) ways. The changes, I fear, will forever date this book to this era and it will not age well.

The pacing is a bit slow and most of the book is a frustrating nothing as the protagonist slowly learns about a growing evil that King Arthur thought long conquered (while alternately forgetting important things like her true name and learning little bits of her past). Because we have an unreliable narrator, there are quite a few twists and surprises from the original Legend. But much of the twists are clearly broadcast or very guessable if you've read a Kiersten White book in the past.

This is a very undemanding read and suitable for a younger audience. It flows smoothly and is a different take on King Arthur and Camelot. But those looking for depth, especially in characterization, may be frustrated. King Arthur is an over idealized cipher and Mordred is almost a cliche emo love interest. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

This book is fantastic. I love Arthurian novels and this author is one I've enjoyed in the past, so this was a pleasant read for me. I love the little twists she put and cannot wait for (hopefully) a sequel!

Everyone who follows my blog knows I love retellings. I seriously can’t get enough of them and have been especially intrigued by the influx of retellings focusing on the legend of King Arthur and Camelot. When I heard that Kiersten White had one coming out and that it would focus on Guinevere, I knew I just had to read it. I’ve been wanting to try one of White’s books for ages anyway, so The Guinevere Deception seemed like a perfect fit. Sadly, however, it ended up being somewhat of a mixed bag for me.

I was hooked from the moment I realized that Guinevere was not the Guinevere from the original Arthurian legend. Instead, she’s a witch sent by Merlin to protect King Arthur. I loved how unique White’s take on the Lady Guinevere is and thought it was absolutely brilliant to have her placed in the castle, posing as Arthur’s wife, but really serving as a secret weapon right under any enemy’s nose. It might just be me, but I also found it amusing that Arthur was totally cool with going along with Merlin’s plan. He hadn’t found anyone he wanted to marry yet anyway, so hey, why not?

One of my favorite parts of The Guinevere Deception was watching Arthur and Guinevere’s relationship develop. Around every other character, Guinevere has to put up a front and play her assigned role, but when she and Arthur are alone, she has those rare moments where she can let her guard down and we get to see more of the real Guinevere. I wouldn’t go so far as to call their relationship romantic by any stretch — it’s more of a friendship or alliance — but it’s just nice watching two people have meaningful conversations and get to know each other better.

The world building was intriguing as well. I really like the way White brings her vision of a magical Camelot to life and was especially fascinated by the role of the trees in the opening scenes. They appear to engulf and destroy a small village, leaving behind no survivors. That whole man vs. nature creepy supernatural vibe really sets the tone for the rest of the book and left me hungry to know so much more about this world.

There’s one other scene I adored and I can’t say much about it for fear of spoilers, so all I’m going to say is that fans of Brienne of Tarth from Games of Thrones will love it too.

So, why the average rating when I clearly enjoyed several elements of The Guinevere Deception? In one word, pacing. The pacing of the book is excruciatingly slow and honestly just seemed to meander aimlessly for over two-thirds of the book. Merlin has sent Guinevere to protect Arthur but he never tells her who or what the threat is, so she just wanders around, chats with other characters we recognize from the Arthurian legend like Mordred, she ties magical protection knots, and tying the knots makes her tired so she has to rest. The knot magic was interesting at first, but after a while, I found it boring.

The characters, for the most part, felt very flat too. The exceptions to that were Guinevere and Mordred. Most of the other characters were unfortunately pretty forgettable. Between this and the pacing, I just found it very difficult to get fully invested in the story and found myself full on skimming by the halfway point.

I will say that the last third of the book is pretty amazing though. It has the action, the betrayals, and all of the excitement we were promised in the synopsis. The real threat to King Arthur is also finally revealed, but gosh, it just took so long to get there! I don’t want to say I didn’t care by this point, but I think an earlier reveal would have had me more invested in the story overall and in how Guinevere and Arthur would deal with the threat. I have a feeling that the rest of the series is going to be very exciting based on all of the set up done here.

If you’re into King Arthur retellings and don’t mind a slow burn plot, I’d definitely suggest giving Kiersten White’s The Guinevere Deception a try.

Quite an interesting twist on King Arthur's legend and all its key characters. Not a lot of exciting moments--this is a purely a character-driven novel, a staple of Kiersten White's stories. But still fairly enjoyable. Looking forward to the sequel!

The Guinevere Deception. It was the title that hooked me. It takes the legend of King Arthur and turns it on its head, inventing its own myths surrounding the once and future king. A girl, whose assumes the identity of Guinevere, is sent to Camelot to protect Arthur from those who wish him harm. Arthur has banned magic from Camelot since he fought against a dark faerie queen, so the girl must hide that she is a sorceress. They marry, and she spends the entire book trying to protect him from…nothing.
There is a lot of strange coincidences and odd occurrences in this book, but not much happens until the very last chapters. Guinevere has small magic (nothing exciting) and she spends a lot of time worrying about Arthur and being a mortal queen. Throughout the entire book, we see glimpses of a sleeping darkness, one who is intrigued by Guinevere and wants to harm Arthur, but not much comes of that. This books just left me with a lot of questions, most of them regarding White’s own interpretation of Arthurian legend (which gets different at times) and how certain things will play out in the next book. The ‘big’ players, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, Morgan le Fay are off the table, so stakes seem very low, but I’ll see how next book goes!
All in all, I liked this book, but I didn’t love it. Guinevere is just too concerned with Arthur and there is too little magic for me. One highlight is the possibility of a LGBT in the next book, because one of the male characters from legend is a female! (though I know, I know only a possibility) But it has good bones, and I definitely going to check out the next book when it comes out.

There is a magic within her, a power, that even she doesn't know the limits of.

In its opening pages, we find young Princess Guinevere arriving in Camelot for the first time. Sent there to marry King Arthur, all she knows of him are what the legends tell. For he is a great man, the greatest, the one to pull the sword from the stone.

While it is true, he is a great King, one who strives to make the kingdom a better place, there are those outside the kingdom who threaten his reign.

Unbeknownst to anyone but themselves, Guinevere hasn't actually been sent from a royal family in the South to marry Arthur, she has been sent there to protect him.

You see, there is more to Guinevere than meets the eye, much more than a fragile Princess desiring a life of luxury. She holds secrets so dark they are even unclear to herself.

It has been a long time since I have consumed any media revolving around the Arthurian legend. I had a wonderful time reading this and thought it was splendidly done. I felt very connected to Guinevere's character and enjoyed following her on her journey of self-discovery.

I think if you have any interest in the story of Arthur and Guinevere, you should definitely give this book a shot. I think it was a nice twist to hear the story from her perspective, which is much darker and more convoluted, in this case, than I anticipated. In fact, it was intense at times trying to piece it all together.

She is confused about a lot of things, her past, which she doesn't remember, her purpose and her heart. I think she experienced a lot of growth over the course of the book and although not all of her choices were the best, I think she was doing the best she could.

The supporting cast of characters were also fantastic. I love Arthur and am hoping for a deeper connection between them for the second book. This left off in an incredible spot and I know the next book is going to take the story up a whole other notch!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Delacorte Press and Random House Children's, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. This was a highly anticipated book for me and it did not disappoint. I look forward to continuing with this series!

Kiersten White has done some incredible work with retellings/re-imaginings like with her Conqueror’s Saga and Slayer, so it probably comes as no surprise that I was beside myself with excitement when I found out she was working on a new take on the Arthurian legend. Still, I was glad I kept my hype in check. Arthurian fantasy tends to be tricky because of its deeply rooted traditions in mythology, and I haven’t found too many books that can clinch the mainstays of the subgenre while still managing to break free of some of its more restrictive elements to tell an interesting story. While The Guinevere Deception was a really good effort, it still didn’t quite deliver the balance I wanted.

The opening to a new series called Camelot Rising, the novel is so titled because it follows the story of a very different version Guinevere—a Guinevere who is not a princess, but a pretender. Trained and tasked by Merlin to be a guardian, our protagonist is a forest witch who is sent to Arthur to be his queen and protector after the real Guinevere dies in a convent. While our imposter can recall not much else from her past, she is determined to succeed in her mission, throwing her full effort into playing the part given to her especially after her arrival in Camelot and witnessing Arthur’s kindness and gallantry for herself.

After marrying the king, Guinevere sets to learning more about the kingdom and the people who spend time with her husband at the castle, assessing for threats. Despite Arthur’s goodness, there are always those who wish to do him harm, including the followers of the Dark Queen, whom he defeated years ago. But as she discovers more about the history of Camelot as well as some disturbing new information about Merlin, Guinevere begins to question her role in the venerable magician’s plan and doubt a lot of the things she’s been told. With her own life shrouded in mystery and forgotten memory, she is no longer certain she can trust herself to be the protector Arthur needs her to be.

As a legend of King Arthur retelling, The Guinevere Deception has all the right ingredients and includes many of the familiar names. If you’ve read Kiersten White before though, you also probably know of her propensity to throw in unexpected twists or to rework the story and characters with her own creative ideas like gender swapping and other revisions to increase diversity and representation. However, for the most part, such changes were pretty superficial. Instead, the main selling point for me—and what I believed would make this book special—was the protagonist and her origins as Merlin’s protégé masquerading as Guinevere in order to get close enough to Arthur to safeguard him from danger.

Unfortunately, the author kind of bungles this aspect. The one hook about novel I was really excited about, and well…it just wasn’t very interesting. First off, things took way longer than should have to take off. Here was this amazingly cool concept framing Guinevere as a formidable secret protector, but we spent much of this book stumbling around without any clue as to what’s going on, and whatever conflict there was took its sweet time to develop. Sure, Guinevere ends up making lots of friends, and every now and then we get a joust or a skirmish or two, but for the most part, a whole lot of nothing happens.

I will give the book this, though—the story makes for an excellent character study of Guinevere, exploring the themes of trust, loyalty, love and sacrifice. Because she knows so little about her past, that sets the stage for a lot of personal drama, and we the readers get to be front and center when she learns more about herself. Certainly, as someone who enjoys these kinds of stories, I didn’t mind this character-focused approach too much, though to be honest, I had expected a little more.

Thankfully, last 25-30% saw the plot take a number of exciting turns—admittedly, some of them were expected, but at that point I was happy to take anything that comes along to shake things up. A little too late to make me change my mind about my final rating for this book, perhaps, but it did give me a lot more hope for the sequel. I love Kiersten White too much to give up on this series, even though on the whole The Guinevere Deception didn’t do much for me. If you enjoy character studies or stories that are more about human drama, maybe you’ll have better luck with this, but I’m glad I reined in my expectations. On the whole, this was a decent read, but simply not the fresh and compelling Arthurian legend retelling I’d hoped for.

I went into this book very excited to read it because you almost never get to read books based around Guinevere. I loved the twist with her being a changeling and a stand-in for the real and deceased Princess Guinevere. So I actually grew to like Mordred in this story but I had this nagging feeling about him and I was right. I did, however, start shipping him and Guinevere together before he pulled his cards.

I loved the twists regarding Tristan and Isolde and the one with Lancelot. I really want to read the next book in the trilogy now and see where this story goes.

Rating (on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being excellent)
Quality of writing: 5
Pace: 4
Plot development: 4
Characters: 4
Enjoyability: 4
Ease of Reading: 5

Overall rating: 4 out of 5