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.

I've always been huge fan of Arthurian Legend. However I've never been a fan of how the majority of the retellings show Guinevere. That's why I enjoyed this one, because this is the first one in which she's not viewed as the villain. I love that we get to see a Guinevere that is a strong woman in her own right. And an Arthur that's in the background. .

Thank you for allowing me early access to this ARC. Kiersten is one of my all time favorite authors and I was really excited to dive into this new world! This review if of my own thoughts and opinions within are expressed from my own outlook on this book.

My first thoughts of this book was WHAT? YES! First Kiersten slayed the YA genre with the And I Darken trilogy centered around Dracula and his offspring, now we are taking on King Arthur's realm?!!!!? Alas I have struggled to finish this book for a very longggggg time. There was too much lag in the storyline. and I never connected with the characters, I can see where it is going, I can see the thought process but I cannot make myself stay the course and get there. I DNF-ed the book for now.

Best of wishes to Kiersten and all her fandom.

What if Queen Guinevere was not just King Arthur's bride? What if she was really a woodland witch, a changeling, tasked with secretly protecting Arthur from dark magic attacks? But there are secrets even she doesn't know about yet... I love new takes on the Arthurian Saga, and especially versions that give more power to the female characters in the story. So I figured I'd really like this one, and I was right! Terrific writing and a clever twist on classic characters; I especially loved how White reimagined Lancelot. Can't wait to read the sequel!

Exciting, original retelling of King Arthur and his knights. I was invested in the characters from the beginning amd didn't see the twist at the end. 4 star read! Excited for the sequel!

I was a little disappointed with The Guinevere Deception after loving the And I Darken trilogy so much. I don't think there's a huge difference in anything with these two series, but I think I've read enough YA fantasy to know where these retellings are going now.

Guinevere is a likable-enough protagonist with a secret past that even she can't remember, which I think is always fun to read about, but it was kind of obvious why she couldn't remember her childhood. There's only one character that's mentioned to be around Guinevere during that time, so who else could it have been that took her memories? Again, I thought the main character was pretty cool, but I'm also comparing her to Lada in And I Darken and I just... they can't really compare in my head. I loved Brangien, Arthur was kind of bland, Mordred was unlikable even before we found out he was evil, and I don't think anyone else was that relevant.

I actually appreciated that the story was a little slow because the characters had a chance to come to life on the pages. I really enjoy the writing style in the book, too - I just wish we had some really awesome and memorable characters here.

I liked The Guinevere Deception enough to start the next book, and I'll probably read the third book after that because why not. This wasn't a bad YA fantasy, but it's not amazing, either.

I love the new tale that Kiersten create for King Arthur since this is one of my favorite old time tales. I will always love how fun the characters in these book where made to be. I love how strong Guin appear to be in order to best be herself. I love the way this world was written too. I honestly want more of this world and Kiersten writing always

Sadly, I do not think Kiersten White is the author for me. I really like Arthurian legends/retellings but this one was lacking in plot and action.

An absolutely stellar read with a rich, well built cast, an incredible main character, and a fascinating world. Cannot wait to dig into book two!

My friend read this book, and unfortunately I no longer want to read it. I just don't think it's a book I need to spend time on anymore, and I don't think my review would be positive. Additionally, Arthuriana just isn't really my thing.

Ooooo. King Arthur and Camelot from a whole new perspective. I especially liked the gender-bent Lancelot and all the secrets around Guinevere's past. I can't wait for the next one.

Kiersten White is a magical goddess who writes stories that I would battle an army to obtain. That is all.

I received an e-arc of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a very interesting and unique take on a King Arthur retelling. I loved how each character kept me guessing on their motives and if they were really good people or if they were manipulating things that we weren't aware of as the reader. There were also quite a few events and plot lines that happened that I would have never predicted and was pleasantly surprised as I was reading.

While I did enjoy the book, at times I found my mind wandering and not staying fully invested in the book and the characters. The beginning felt a bit slow and it took awhile before things really began to pull me into the story. Once I became invested in the characters and the story line it really took off and it seemed like a lot happened towards the end of the book. I think if more exciting events happened earlier in the book it would have been easier to keep my attention but it really felt like nothing was happening for the first half plus of the book other than telling us about her new life as Arthur's wife and the new expectations put on her.

Overall, I did find myself really enjoying the book and being intrigued by the ending enough to consider picking up the next book in the series. The second half of the book did make up for the slowness of the first half but it also didn't completely blow me away. If you enjoy books with a slower build up and a fair amount of action towards the end, and you enjoy King Arthur retellings then you may enjoy this book.

i really loved the way Ms. White was able to take the Arthurian legend and make something new out of it. The characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this.

I started reading this one but didn't hold my interest. I though the concept was good but I wish I could have connected with the characters more.

“Keeping secrets is like a thorn beneath the skin. You can get used to it, but it is always there, festering.”
★★★★★

Magical. That’s the world I’d use to describe this incredible book. It just became one of my favorite retellings and here’s why: the story is a rollercoaster of events and plot twists. Even when the story is a retelling and most characters are basically the same as the story of King Arthur, the little shifts that Kiersten made, were he ones that really gave the magical essence to the story.
The setting was in Camelot of course, but the way it is described in this book made it seem darker and mysterious. This also applies to the characters, there were the same characters but at times the reader has the feeling that not everything is what it seems. This type of descriptions are impressive, and just made the tension rise more and more and the story continues.
The plot twists were at every corner. Something new and unpredictable happened in almost every chapter, this just makes the reader get hooked even more. This twists and turns helped showing the different dimensions of the characters, making them more likable to the reader. At first this twist don’t seem logical but as the story starts unreeling they all make sense.
Nothing else to say besides that I love this book in every single way. Recommended to teens and young adults.

Good story, as it drew me in and I couldn't wait to see everything that was going to happen. I haven't read as much YA recently but this was a great way back in.

I picked this book up because I loved Kiersten White's Slayer series but this book was really hard for me to get into. I had to try several times before getting into the story. It was good but not my favorite of hers.

Okay. I need to preface this review with this: As an <i>Arthurian</i> story, this book delivers. It's great. The characters are recognizably who and what they are supposed to be, there's magic and intrigue and a fresh spin, which I always appreciate.

However.

As what this book was <i>marketed</I> as - a spin on the Arthur legend with Guinevere front and center as a hero - it is, unfortunately, lacking. There's a lot of potential, but overall, I'm left with the sense that Guinevere is a bit helpless and hopeless. Oh, she has magic, and is a good person, with much more agency than the original stories give her. And I think the door has been opened for the next two books to make her far more powerful in her own right (and I'll certainly be reading the rest of the series to see!), but this book just...doesn't give us what was promised. In fact, <spoiler>while at first the premise is that Guinevere has been sent to secretly protect Arthur, in truth, she has been sent to Arthur to be protected <i>by</i> him. And that really, really rubbed me the wrong way, even if it made sense in the context of the book. As did Guinevere needing to be rescued when she is captured by an enemy of Arthur's.</spoiler>

I have a lot of hope for the rest of the trilogy. This certainly left a lot (most) of the questions it presented unanswered, and I'm looking forward to getting those answers. I just wish the opening had been a bit stronger. I wish <i>Guinevere</i> had been a bit stronger. I liked this, but I certainly didn't love it.

Ah I so looked forward to this retelling, because I have a soft spot for King Arthur retellings, but this was definitely not what I expected. Because of the hype surrounding this book PLUS the King Arthur angle, but I found myself listening to the book and wondering when it would really take off. I was expecting a very active Guinevere, one who was basically the star of the show, but what I ended up reading was a story that had Guinevere kind of in the side seat. She wanted to do SO much in the story but, tbh, King Arthur got in the way of how amazing she could have been! And this was kind of disappointing to me because I was really expecting something very different in this retelling.

In general, most of the book was pretty slow paced and there's a lot of foundation set up for the last 25% of the book which was action packed and had a LOT of different reveals. I enjoyed the twists that occurred at the end, but it felt very much like you could have summarized the first portions pretty easily. Another factor is that there are lot of secrets that are being hidden from Guinevere herself, specifically mysteries with Merlin. And that's always a difficult thing to portray, in a book, when a character has something being hidden away from them, because, for readers, it can feel that there's a distance between the reader and the character. Mostly because there's a layer of distance in themselves.