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

I received this copy from Netgalley for an honest review! Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book
! Although, I was granted this ARC less than 4-5 days before its release date, so I had to finish my previous books to dive into this one.

Kiersten White DID NOT DISAPPOINT! I loved " As I Darken" trilogy- the whole world was badass, a little dark, massive girl power ( and a historical fiction junky here). I really enjoy a tad dark YA books and excited to know the author was coming out with yet another retelling of a loved retelling.

I do admit it was a tad slow read for me in the beginning, but it was definitely worth the push through. Guinevere's persona grows throughout the book, has a lot of feminism in the book as well ( I did mention badass girl power).
Overall, the book lived up to my expectations not as much as As I Darken, probably because I really enjoyed the historical portion of the trilogy, but also because I felt that the story plot building was a slow build for me. Not saying the book was bad, but for me, a tad slow in this series.

I will probably re-read this book as I did try to rush through to get my honest review before the release date, weep weep, so my review could potentially change :)!

Thank you again Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read Kiersten White's next book!

Kiersten white writes the books my heart craves for. While not as dark as her previous books I am so excited to read the rest of the series.

I was so excited to get this ARC! I love this author and I absolutely love stories of Arthur, Guinevere and the kingdom of Camelot. I thought the author did such an outstanding job with the world building of this story. There was such a lyrical quality to the writing and the characters were phenomenal. There were so many amazing female characters. The women of this story were not just helpless damsels in distress. No, they were all independent and feisty, especially Guinevere. I loved the quiet intensity of the romances. It was so perfect for that time period. There were so many secrets revealed towards the end and I can’t wait to read the next one in the series to find out what happens. My only note was that there were a few parts of the book that dragged a little with the plot in relation to other parts. But it was still an excellent read.

I love Arthurian legend. I did my freshmen thesis in university on: The Role of Mordred in Arthurian Legend and How it Changed Through Time. So when I say that I love Arthurian legend, I mean I love it and have done more research on it than maybe the average reader. I love checking out retellings of Arthurian legends too. However, this year hasn’t been my year for Arthurian retellings (Check out my review of Once & Future). But I had a lot of hope for The Guinevere Deception because I have loved some of Kiersten White’s other novels. I love The Conquerors Saga and I love The Chaos of Stars, but I didn’t love The Guinevere Deception.

One of the reasons that I didn’t love this book, as much as I hope I would, was the pacing of this book. The pacing for the first 75% of it was just slow. It was a two star read for the first 75%, occasionally bordering on a one star because I wanted to skip, skim, or even at times just DNF it. However, the last 25% of the book was vastly more interesting, quick-paced and action packed. The conflict had finally fully arrived, but for me it was almost a little too little too late. The plot just took off a little too slowly for my liking, partially because she introduces the antagonists so late in the story.

There are two main antagonists in this story, one is human and one is not. One is just the “main” antagonist for this first book, but the second is most likely the antagonist for the series. However, the antagonist for this first book didn’t really become active until the last 20% or so of the book. He’s mentioned once or twice, and we meet him earlier, but he doesn’t really come into play until the very end. He also serves little to no real purpose because his wickedness is undermined really quickly by the coming of the main villain for the series. He’s basically a sacrificial pawn and only there to say, “Yes, this story had an antagonist specific to this book.” It was really a waste, when he could have been introduced so much earlier. However, this entire book just felt like set up for the next in the series.

This book took way too much time setting up characters, setting, and backstory. Things that should have taken up maybe 30% of the book (and I think I am being generous) took almost 70% of it. It was boring and tedious. The setting is one that we’re fairly familiar with, but yes, we know this is a spin so it’s different. We’re kept in the dark so long in terms of plot and characters that it was hard to get invested for the vast majority of the book. I can’t even really tell you what most of the main characters actually look like because it was that forgettable. I can remember what Guinevere (sort of), Arthur (sort of), and Mordred (sort of) look like. Speaking of which I was really hoping for a different path for Mordred, but I can’t say too much on that without giving stuff away.

It’s really hard for me to say what I should be rating this book or if I should recommend it. If it was a standalone book it would be awful. However, it is the first book in a series. I hate it when authors use the entire first book just to set up the rest of the series. It’s a waste of a book and to a certain extent a readers time. I also don’t know if I should recommend books based on the last 25% of a book, when those with less desire to see it through would DNF it quite a bit earlier than that. I also have conflicting feelings because I have really like Kiersten White’s other books, but just because I like an author doesn’t mean they get an automatic five star pass. I think this book was just okay.

Overall, if you’re a really dedicated reader of Kiersten White books, you are going to read it no matter what I write in a review. If you like Arthurian legends and retellings, you may read this not matter what I write in a review also. I’m also on the fence about whether I will continue this series. However, if you’re borderline or just want to try a Kiersten White book, read The Conqueror’s Saga. I will say, the cover is absolutely gorgeous, but a cover doesn’t make a book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Delcorte Press for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are definitely my own.

This was my first introduction to Kiersten White. I was drawn in by the description and the fact that this retelling takes place in the magical world of Camelot. “Guinevere” was brought to Camelot to wed King Arthur and protect the king. This book got off to a pretty slow start and there were some pacing issues. However, I got much more into the series toward the end and would definitely give the next book a shot. I would say this book was a 3 star read in the first half and 4 stars in the second. I really love the character of Guinevere and look forward to seeing her growth in the upcoming novels. Lancelot was a great character with an interesting twist. Arthur was a little shallow and I would like to see more from him in the next books. The Guinevere Deception will definitely appeal to fans of Kiersten White and Athurian legends.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A slow start to what could be an interesting series.

It took Guinevere too long to really come into her own and not much really happens for a large part of the story. And I’m still a little confused by some pieces that weren’t totally explained or fleshed out.

But it felt like it has potential. I definitely want to see where the story goes from here.

If you can get past the introduction, this book is a wonder of a retelling. At first glance it reminds me of ACOTAR in its lack of compelling narrative, but just like those books, after a sharp vicissitude where things – no spoilers - start to happen, the book becomes wholly consuming and fun to read.
One of the biggest sells is the positioning of a feminist narrative in the Arthur retelling. Women felt well-rounded as opposed to one-dimensional plot devices. Even more so, the sense of sisterhood and female/female support was championed, which was refreshing – women weren’t shoved into the normal catty and vicious stereotype. Although you could argue this has a homogeneous hetero message, it does break from status quo with the inclusion of intriguing LGBTQAI+ characters. And, although not in fully consequential protagonist roles, they were well-written and didn’t feel like an after-thought inclusion. Sure, almost every character starts seemingly pigeon-holed into a neat, bland box, but they slowly degrade that characterization and become more compelling and thoughtful – human, even.
I would recommend this book and all successive ones, especially if you’re a fan of darker themes, myths, feminist/LGBTQIA+ positioning, and surprising twists. Tough out the beginning, it gets so, so much better.

Thanks to NetGalley and a friend with the arc for the early review!

I did enjoy this book quite a bit and am excited to see what comes next.

This book went through some ups and downs for me. Sometimes I wanted it to go faster to get it over with, and sometimes I wanted it to go faster because it was just so good. I really liked Guinevere's character and I can't wait to see her grow and learn more. I liked the diversity and the acceptance of the diversity in the story. I'm excited to see where this series goes and I'm looking forward to the next books!

I love Kiersten White's writing and her ability to tell a story. She took the story of King Arthur and Guinevere and turned it on it's head, and made it a refreshing tale about feminism and magic. I loved Guinevere's character and how her magic worked. Lancelot's character is also incredible. For Kiersten to take a famous character, Lancelot, and turn him into a woman who is determined to become a knight and do all she can for her country was surprising and amazing! I will definitely be keeping an eye out for book two!

This is a 3.5 out of 5 for me. I would even say a 3 for the first two thirds and a 4 for the final third of the book. I feel like I’m still looking for a good retelling from this time period. I am very familiar with this time period and I felt like this missed the mark (for me). Now, I didn’t not like this book. It had good notes, and not many necessarily bad notes. I feel that I really struggled in the beginning with timing and character development. I enjoyed the end of the book much more and still have a few questions.

I found that the most character development happened during the second half of the book when the plot took off. I found the foundation laid in the first half of the book to be slow and of low importance. The reader is kept in the dark for far too long. As I crossed the half way point, I found myself more invested in the secondary characters rather than in Guinevere and Arthur. Their relationship had a few good sparks but could have been elevated more.

The pace was a little off for me in this book. I wasn’t sure how much time was passing or if the amount of time passing justified the results of each conflict. I also found that at times, plot twists and reveals were underplayed when they could have been drawn out, and things that were drawn out could have been shortened. The reveal of Lancelot’s secret near the end would be my example of this.

I did really enjoy a lot of this book. I liked the dialogue when it was less controlled, the nods to the legend itself and the potential for this series. I just want more development of the MCs and their relationships. More of it all!

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One of the best reimaginings of King Author and Guinevere I have read! I enjoyed it so, so much. There are so many retellings of King Author, but not many that really delve into Guinevere and I loved this take on her. It was different than anything else written about them and I truly appreciated a fresh take.

I felt so invested in the characters--my heart literally couldn't take it by the end, I swear. I got to see some of my favorite characters in a new light and I loved it.