If you love fantasy, magic, Arthurian Legend or all three, this is definitely going to be your new favorite thing. I really got sucked into the world that White has created and I loved seeing these iconic Arthurian characters brought to life in new and interesting ways. The story is full of adventure and it’s set to the perfect pace. The writing strong, the characters well-developed, and I really don’t have much in the negative to say about it.

The only thing holding me back from a perfect score is my own personal pet-peeve of love-triangles, though this statement must come with a caveat, because I can’t honestly say whether or not there is one – which is confusing, I know, but the overarching story isn’t done yet, so it is what it is and you’ll just have to read it to see what I mean!

I would recommend this book. It’s fantastically written, I loved the characters, especially Guinevere, the main character! I think anybody who loves fantasy, even those of you who only sort-of like fantasy, will enjoy this book. It has magic and the world is new, but White doesn’t go heavy on the exposition. Also, if you even have a passing knowledge of Arthurian legend, the characters and the places will be familiar enough that it will not be confusing.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
****
The Guinevere Deception, first in a new trilogy takes a new look at the Arthurian lore. Guinevere, a changeling taking the place of the real Guinevere, is sent to be the new, young, boy King Arthur’s wife by Merlin to protect Arthur from outside threats.
She meets many a character that those familiar with Arthurian legend will recognize, some in different shapes and sizes but familiar all the same.
****
An interesting story with an exciting concept and one I was really excited about reading for I am a huge lover of all things Arthurian and love a good retelling. I both really liked this story for what it tried to do but feel a little let down for what it did do.
The story is very slow at the beginning, it takes a very long time for much of anything to happen. There are hints to things to come and lots of questions to ponder that are still not answered (worry not, there are 2 more books to get those answers to come in the future though).. Guinevere is hinted at being a strong, take charge character in summary and ended up being a damsel in distress more often than not (hopefully her strength over comes in the next books).
What I did like: Guinevere was a very compassionate character who definitely has a hint of fire in her and I really hope it burns brighter in the forthcoming books, Arthur because how can I not?, Brangien is a fierce and loyal lady to have at your side and I hope for more of her, Lancelot is the best gift of this novel, and last but not least I of course loved Mordred because how can I not? 😂🤣

THE GUINEVERE DECEPTION is an incredible new YA fantasy that combines a dark mystery, magic, and romance/love into a gorgeous, page-turning package. I was completely swept away by the story, which completely brings the legend of King Arthur to life through the eyes of Guinevere. Here, Guinevere has been sent to marry Arthur, and we learn rather early that she is hiding a dark secret- she is not Guinevere.

Camelot has been founded on Christianity, and magic has been outlawed. This is not to say that magic has disappeared- rather, magical creatures have been banished and those humans practicing magic killed or exiled. Guinevere has been sent with a mission to marry Arthur in order to stay close and protect him against an unknown magical force. Merlin was sent away as a magical creature, but he still knows something is coming for Camelot, and so, he sent Guinevere to help.

There are many twists and turns in the plot that kept me completely hooked all the way through. I also have to give huge props for all the characters who are so well-built and completely unique. For instance, Mordred, Brangien (her lady's maid), and Lancelot were all so three-dimensional that I was as wrapped up in them as Guinevere. Arthur is also not a simple character, and I am still not sure if I really liked him, but I am curious to see how he will evolve in future books. I actually really enjoyed that he was complex enough not to just simply love, and it is easy to understand how Guinevere felt.

This book. I feel a little lost in describing it, because it was completely engrossing and completely delicious and now I have a massive book hangover. If you enjoy fantasy, retellings, and/or complex characters, pick up this book- it does not disappoint. I will definitely be on the lookout for the next book in the trilogy.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Oh, what an amazing premise and damn, what a devastating flop. <em>The Guinevere Deception</em> by Kiersten White should have been all sorts of brilliant, but instead turned out to be nothing more than a major disappointment. And really, what that all comes down to for me is the fact that I can't get behind this as an Arthurian retelling. I have a rather strong love for stories that are centered around Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights of the round table and therefore I suppose I can be rather picky about the changes I'm willing to accept in a retelling. <em>The Guinevere Deception</em> just went a bit too far.

I think the most ironic thing about this tale is that the originally intended premise that the synopsis suggests was amazing and in so many ways I would <em>love </em>to read a story like that. What's unfortunate is that the story the premise promises is not really the story we got. Instead of a story about Merlin's apprentice sent to marry Arthur under the guise of being his Queen in order to protect him from magical threats in Merlin's absence, this very quickly turned into a tale about a helpless young girl who was taken advantage of and needed others to save her repeatedly despite having supposedly powerful magic herself.

I had really been dragged in by this concept of Guinevere having married Arthur for his safety and protection, especially as it pertained to the well-known tale of her affair with Lancelot. And I was genuinely excited for the prospect of seeing a retelling with this reasoning behind Gunievere's choices. I was over the moon excited to meet this version's Lancelot as well. But as with so much of the story, Lancelot was an opportunity for brilliance that fell flat as well. This is such an incredible shame because the identity of Lancelot was genius. And yet it was somewhat destroyed by poor character development, predictability, and a lack of attention.

The villains were incredibly subpar and the plot twist regarding who was actually in grave danger was so utterly ridiculous and irritating that this book could have been written beautifully and I would have hated it still just for this dumb plot. I did not pick this book up wanting a damsel in distress who needed protecting. I did not pick this book up because I wanted to read about a girl getting saved by others. Were there not the bit about the patchwork knight, this book would be entirely devoid of any feminist elements. And even then, it's not enough.

I don't even think this passes the Bechdel test. And that's <em>bad</em> because that test isn't even <em>hard</em> to pass.

And then there's the fact that the novel, in so many ways, was a literal embodiment of <em>dull</em>. The plot was dull, the events were dull, Guinevere was dull, <em>Arthur</em> was dull, Lancelot was dull, Mordred was dull...I could go on.

But the worst part of this whole novel was the damn love triangle. I don't think I could stress enough how much this love triangle <em>infuriated </em>me. I spent a good portion of the book denying that it was a thing and another good portion of the book rolling my eyes and groaning aloud in frustration. And just to put it into perspective for you all...the second love interest is not who you think it is. Worse yet, it comes from a rather disturbing version of Arthurian stories that doesn't follow the more common ones.

Though I suppose there should be some credit due to White since the fact is that this love interest does basically follow his typical plot-line. I just honestly couldn't bring myself to appreciate this as a retelling of a story that I've loved for much of my life. There are certain aspects of the story that I find worth reading in reimaginings. This love-pairing or seduction was not one of them. And after Guinevere was reduced to this meek little thing in need of rescuing, I just really regret reading this book in the first place.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

First off, can we mention how gorgeous this cover is? I really enjoy Kiersten White's novels. She has a wonderful way of crafting her main characters that make them real - they're not perfect or totally imperfect; they're relatable. They're full of a wide range of feelings and are really deep. I never really hate or love any of them; I enjoy them all. I was amazed at how much I enjoyed book 1 of a new series! Usually book one is kind of a "welcome to a brand new series let me get you started..." but this one started out with a bang and left you wanting more. I love all things Arthurian and the changes that the author made were PERFECT. I cannot wait for book two to come out!

Thank you to the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is an enchanting brilliant reworking of Arthurian legend. I cannot wait to read what happens next.

Kiersten White, already demonstrably talented at reimagining legendary figures in her genderbent trilogy about Vlad(a) the Impaler, has once again taken a timeless legend and made it new without losing any of the emotional power which has helped the stories persist through the ages.

Although the stories of Arthur and Camelot have been treated as the epitome of the romantic ideal of courtly love, with fair ladies constantly in need of rescue and/or wooing, White's telling eschews such an interpretation, and instead uses Guinevere's story to demonstrate the strength of women. A woman called Guinevere who has no true claim to that name is sent by Merlin to protect his one-time ward and pupil in the aftermath of a war against faerie which meant the prohibition of magic (and Merlin, himself) within Camelot. She is to be a hidden dagger, a secret sorceress, defending the king as his queen, and she bears the burden with grace.

Throughout the book readers encounter familiar names, sometimes assigned to unfamiliar faces but no less true to their characters, except, perhaps, made more more human. White acknowledges the likelihood that there were indeed queer folks in Camelot, just as everywhere else, and brings these characters to the forefront, giving them agency separate from Guinevere, like the real people they are. To avoid spoiling anything, I will simply say that White may have fiddled with genealogy a little bit to make all of the characters of approximately the same age, but the members of Arthur's convoluted family tree remain essentially the people Mallory wrote them as, despite modernity's inclination to imagine them otherwise.

This is a book that I began and finished in one morning because I wanted so very badly to know what had happened to Guinevere and who she had been before the story began, and what she would do next. White's prose and plotting made this an almost effortless task, pulling the reader in and holding them fast until the final lines. I have great hope for the sequels.

DNF at 100ish pages. The love triangle is not working for me, and I'm continuously frustrated by the pacing and the fact that it seems suited for a more middle grade audience. Not for me, but YMMV.

Posted to Goodreads: Guinevere was sent to Camelot to marry the young King Arthur and united Camelot with her father's kingdom. However, Guinevere is not who arrived in Camelot. The new queen of the kingdom is actually a changeling who has taken Guinevere's place to protect the king and country. Can the new Guinevere save Arthur and his land from a great threat or will they fall to outside evils?

"The Guinevere Deception" but, unfortunately, this book didn't quite live up to my expectations. Kiersten White created an interesting and new take on the Camelot mythology filled with interesting characters however it didn't feel as if the characters did much for the first two-thirds of the book. The book's first couple hundred pages moved slowly and felt as if it was filled with exposition that wasn't actually needed. However, the last third of the story was able to save book with a quickened pace and the introduction of the evils threatening Camelot.

I received this complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Listen. I had such high hopes for this novel and when I was approved for the ARC, I was excited beyond what words could say. Having high expectations is always tricky because so often, I find myself set up for disappointment, my experience coloured by my own impossible expectations. But this book delivered and I cannot wait for the next book!

Ever since I read the Magic Tree House series when I was younger and watched the 1998 Merlin mini series in school, I've adored the legend of King Arthur. And a year ago, I discovered the free WIP Guenevere interactive fiction game, which reawakened my adoration of Arthurian stories (I highly recommend it). As such, when I found out about this upcoming novel, I was so excited.

As the summary states, the Guinevere of this novel is not actually Guinevere but a changeling, sent by Merlin to protect King Arthur. Pretty early on, there are several signs that there is something more to her than she knows and I can't wait to see if my suspicions are correct. Although I held several reservations finding out that she was 16, she was an enjoyable character and I actually quite liked reading about her developing relationships with the other characters. She's dynamic and strong and as a reader, I keenly felt her frustations about her own mysterious/missing identity. She's not perfect but that only made her character more believable and relatable. The other characters as well were fun to read about; there's not a lot of emphasis on the knights as Guinevere mostly interacts with women, but Brangien and Isolde's relationship was a surprise I quite liked and Dindrane was an unexpected delight. King Arthur felt perfectly in character with the stories of legend: good down to the core. He's truly good and devoted to bettering Camelot but that is also one of his flaws. He's idealistic and his mission means that he'll never quite be satisfied with what he has, he'll never be able to settle down/give his undevoted attention and love to one person. Which sets up the love triangle quite nicely.

<spoiler> Lancelot is a woman and although Guinevere spent a majority of this book attracted to both King Arthur and Mordred, I am still clinging on to the desperate hope that the series will follow the stories of legend and that Guinevere and Lancelot will fall in love with each other. If that happens, this series will truly cement its place in my heart. This possibility alone makes me so impatient for the next book! </spoiler>

The magic system is quite fascinating with its need for equal sacrifice and though I felt like the book only dipped its toes into the true depths and potential consequences of magic, I'm excited to see Kiersten White delve into it more in subsequent books.

And to address some comments about anachronisms in this book. They're there. It's not 100% historically accurate in terms of manner, vocabulary, etc. But I wholeheartedly agree with what Neil Gaiman has said on the matter of Arthurian storytelling. The legends themselves are filled with inaccuracies and anachronisms and to stick to pure historical accuracy is to sacrifice some of their original magic.

Overall, I absolutely devoured this book in a matter of hours and it was a captivating introduction to a series for which I eagerly await the next book. <spoiler> Please let Guinevere and f!Lancelot be a thing </spoiler>

THIS IS THE BEST BOOK EVER!!! I was in Camelot, I’m in love with King Arthur and maybe Lancelot, and this book! Guinevere finally got the back story she deserves and she is my hero!! The story was magical from the beginning and I read it in one day. The descriptions made me feel like I was there! I laughed out loud like a crazy person at the coffee shop while reading on three separate occasions. Read this book!

This was a really great read! I really enjoyed reading this book, would definitely recommend. This is a good book for all ages.

I think everyone has an image of what they imagine Arthur and Camelot to have been like - regal, spellbinding, breathtaking, surreal ... and deadly. But I've never seen anyone put that picture to words or screen - until now.

White has created the perfect Arthurian world to tantalize the imagination and tease the senses. Right from the start, it's easy to get lost in the mystery of all that could have been.

Guinevere herself was a refreshing character. Strong but not unbreakable, bold but kind, lost but determined to find her way.

The one downside to the story however ... and it became a major one for me was the dialogue. I realize White wanted this book to feel classical and regal ... but the dialogue between characters was so stilted, formal and lacking in realistic contractions that it will takes months for me to not picture Arthur as a robot ...

What a fun enjoyable read! I hadn’t read an Arthur/ Camelot retelling that I liked before so I’m happy to report that this one is awesome! I love how Kiersten added a new layer of magic to the story that wasn’t there before, how she brought them characters to life, especially Guinevere. I personally didn't have a problem with this, but several of my bookish pals did- that it reads more like a MG than a YA. I can’t wait to see what else she cooks up in the next book.

I posted on Goodreads and will leave Amazon reviews when the book goes on sale.

Poor pacing and uninteresting romantic entanglements make what would have otherwise have been an interesting (if unconventional) take on Arthurian legend a dull, boring read. The usual problems with teen romance novels abound -- the relationship is unreasonably fast while everything else in the plot is almost agonizingly slow. Frustration around the pacing and the unpalatable romance distracts from other elements that would have otherwise have been engaging such as the inclusion of knot magic, the mystery of who/what Guenevere is, and rival queen, etc.

My rating: 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 stars

Guinevere, sent by Merlin to protect Arthur from dark magic that's after him ever since he won the fight against the Dark Queen -- banishing magic, and his beloved guide, Merlin, from Camelot. Once Guinevere is at court, she quickly learns that Merlin has been holding out on her big time and nothing is as it seems.

The Guinevere Deception, a retelling of the Arthurian legend with Guinevere as our main perspective, confused me. The Guinevere Deception has such great elements of fantasy -- dark secrets, hidden pasts, magic, living forests, devious water (okay, maybe not always a great element of fantasy, but interesting nonetheless). However, the main characters of Guinevere, Arthur, and Mordred were all blurry and not too involved. This could be explained by Guinevere's hazy memories of her past and lack of knowledge about the court of Camelot, but I wish that we had more scenes, especially of Arthur and Mordred demonstrating their relationship to each other. Everyone just felt a little bit unmoored. Merlin is total mystery to me in this story. There are a ton of open questions, but I recognize this is more of a set up for further books in the series - I just wish this book as a standalone was a little bit more satisfying, which it absolutely is not.

Regardless of the issues, this one is still an interesting story, and its fun to be in the world of Arthurian legend. There are fabulous descriptions of the land itself, and Guinevere's friends are some of my favorite characters that we spend time with. Overall, I would probably recommend this book to someone with an interest in Arthurian legend with the caveat that it may not exactly hit the spot character-wise, but it's still worth giving a try.

I received a complimentary copy of The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White from Delacorte Press through Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
As someone who has always loved Arthurian legends and is a fan of Kiersten White's writing, I knew I had to read this book! White's take on Arthurian legend is both familiar and completely unique.
In this tale, Guinevere is not Guinevere at all. Merlin has sent his daughter, a witch proficient in knot magic, to take the dead Guinevere's place as King Arthur's bride. Although Merlin and magic have been banished from Camelot, the new Guinevere is willing to put aside her own identity and risk the dangers of being a witch in Camelot to fulfill her mission to protect Arthur. This tale gives us a Guinevere who is not simply a maiden to be saved and fawned over by gallant knights. Instead, Guinevere is a woman who faces down dragons and is willing to risk herself to protect Arthur and Camelot. The Guinevere Deception is filled with strong but complex female characters, and White has provided an interesting magic system; even something as seemingly simple as knot magic comes with a price.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Arthurian legends and wants to see more strong female characters in Camelot!

Premise: Guinevere died in the convent where she'd been sent by an her father. An imposter, Merlin's daughter and Arthur's new protector, is her replacement, and all have been fooled into thinking she's the "real" Guinevere, save Arthur, who she immediately marries and starts to protect.

I found the beginning of the book, with its delicious hints of a larger story and of evil and darkness, to be captivating. Unfortunately, those hints, for the most part, stay hints, and the book ended up being a pretty predictable retelling of sorts that was paradoxically too faithful and not faithful enough to its predecessors. It had glimpses of the humor from Mallory, T. H. White and Steinbeck. It had the promise of the adventure that lies in those tales. It just never fully delivered. And the end, when it finally came, was predictable enough to be a bit disappointing.

That said, I do love Arthurian legend, and this version of Guinevere is not without promise. If the next entry gets great reviews, I'll give it a go as my familiarity with the characters and story would render a re-read unnecessary. 3 stars. I...liked it? I'll recommend it to younger readers new to the legend.

Thanks to Netgalley and Delacorte for the advance copy which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. The Guinevere Deception will be on sale on 05 November, but you can put your copy on hold today!

This is a wonderful retelling/reimagining with a twisty plot that touches on magic, memory, and royal politics. I loved Guinevere's voice, and many of the twists/reveals were really satisfying. There are plenty of loose ends that don't get tied up, and the tantalizing hints of bigger reveals to come made me sad I didn't get to see more of those threads revealed in this installment of the series. That said, I feel like the ending was satisfying, and it definitely left me wanting to read more. There's darkness and humor throughout, and I think one of this book's strengths is how relatable and nuanced the characters felt. This is a great choice for a reader who's looking for castles, royalty, and magic, and doesn't mind diving into a new series.

With the real Guinevere dead, Merlin’s daughter takes her name and her place, marrying King Arthur in order to protect him. As a forest witch, she weaves her magic to guard Arthur in Camelot, where the consequence of using magic is banishment or death. While Arthur knows her true identity, they become friends and he allows her to work in secrecy. Guinevere, who has shed her name to embrace her new role, find magic in the city and does her best to protect Arthur and Camelot. The Dark Queen, defeated by Arthur years ago, still lives, sending her minions to spy on Arthur in the form of bugs. With Mordred, Arthur’s nephew, Branigen, her maid, and Lancelot, a young woman who longs to be a knight, Guinevere will do anything to protect her husband and her kingdom.

The Guinevere Deception is beautifully written, and focuses on a woman whose story is often overlooked. I could not stop reading this book. I read it in six hours! I loved the focus on Guinevere. I have only ever read about King Arthur and his knights, and Guinevere’s betrayal. This novel weaves a story of deception, love, magic, and duty with majesty. I can't wait to read more.