Thank you Random House Children's and NetGalley for providing me a copy to review.

The story picks up where it left off with the fallout of the first book. The book delves deeper into Guinevere's role in Camelot. To complicate matters, the real Guinevere's younger sister shows up in Camelot and refuses to leave. The danger of the Dark Queen still lurks over Camelot, and toward the end Guinevere makes a decision that may change the fate of Camelot forever. It also leaves the reader with one heck of a cliffhanger!

I enjoyed this book, but not quite as much as the first one. It took me a while to get through it. There isn’t much that happens of any significance until about the 75% mark, which in my opinion is too long to wait. This book felt very much like a filler to me. I am hoping for some more action and excitement in book 3 since I do really love this world and its characters.

Much like the first book, I didn't quiiiite love it as much as I wanted to. But it's still really enjoyable!
I appreciated getting to see more of Guinevere's strength and power, of seeing her act when in the past she would have stayed passive. She's growing as a character, trusting her instincts more and allowing herself to step out of the shadows. I love that she has friends, people who know her secrets, who love her and support her-- and she supports and loves them in return. Book 1 was rather lonely when it was only she and Arthur knowing her secrets.
And with the ending, I think I'm finally going to be getting my wish for MORE Mordred in book 3 :)

Unfortunately I received approval to review this book after the archive date and did not receive a copy : ( But thank you to netgalley and publishers anyways!

4/5 Stars! Thank you to Delcorte press and Netgalley for giving arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

The camelot betrayal picks up right where the last book ended. Guinevere still remains unsure of who she is and who she can trust. She developed really nicely in this book and I enjoyed that a lot and I love the development of her relationships. Especially with sir Lancelot.

The ending picked up and I am looking forward to the third instalment of this series. Overall, I enjoyed it throughly.

This arc was given to me by Delacorte press and Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received this complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Funnily enough, I read it via my library before I got the ARC.

I thought this was a fine enough sequel to the first book and there were definite twists that surprised me. The romance, particularly in terms of Lancelot however admittedly annoyed me because it felt a bit like queer baiting but I am still holding out hope, however foolish it may be of me. I have most of my feelings on that topic written out in my original review on Goodreads and I'm curious what other people think.

"The Camelot Betrayal" by Kiersten White was such a fun sequel to the Camelot story that White has flipped on its head. My only complaint was there wasn't enough Mordred because he is hawt, but that was probably intentional on the author's part. I really enjoyed the complexities of Guinevere trying to navigate who is her enemy, what is right and wrong, and how to deal with the dark power brewing within her. She's genuinely pulled in so many directions that it's actually pretty hard to tell where she's going to land—the reader is as torn as she is. Also, the twists and the cliffhanger ending were pure evil maneuvers that have me wanting the next book now! I definitely would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys Camelot, White's book, or fantasy in general.

I thought the first book was amazing, but "The Camelot Betrayal" blew that out of the water. The friendships throughout are just so beautiful and there are still so many to explore with the continued character development.

I loved it! It is a great story, wonderfully written. There are few books that have such a large number of characters that is able to make them all matter to a reader. As with the first book of the series, I devoured it quickly and kept putting off reading the final chapter because I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Camelot. Amazing!!!

This second installment of the Camelot Rising Trilogy caught me a bit off guard. It picks up right where The Guinevere Deception left off, which was awesome. The original plot however did not progress much. This second book is more of a filler book that introduces new characters, progresses character arcs of who we had questions about, and we also picked up some quests along the way that kept you on the edge of your seat.

This story also ends in a cliffhanger, but at least we don't have long to wait for book 3.

So I have now read two thirds of this series in the past week and am devastated that the last third does not yet exist. Tales of King Arthur have never been my favorite but this series brings new life to the old stories. I like that the characters are familiar but with the author’s own twist. And I really enjoy that the narrator, Guinevere, is trying to figure out what is happening and what should happen at the same time as the reader. Lancelot remains my favorite character and favorite unique twist on this version. Guinevere in this volume is struggling to figure out where exactly the threat will be coming from and how she can act to do her part in protecting Camelot. And unexpectedly no potential threat is what she expects it to be.

I adore Kiersten White. Not only is she a fellow Buffy fan(atic), but her stories are fresh, modern, dark, and fun. I always expect a good story whenever I open one of her novels. That being said, The Camelot Betrayal, the next book in Ms. White's Camelot retelling, exceeded even my expectations

Ms. White excels at turning history and traditional stories on their head and continues to do so here. Between her gender-bent version of Lancelot to the "real" story of Tristan and Isold, every character contains some sort of surprise. More importantly, she does not make such changes for the sake of being different but rather does so in a way that makes the history and these stories more inclusive, more representative, and more tolerant than the originals. It is a beautiful approach to storytelling, one I feel enhances her stories.

In The Camelot Betrayal, Ms. White is careful to show growth in both Guinevere and Arthur, which is vital to this sequel. Not only does Guinevere take a more determined and action-laden approach towards finding her true purpose as queen, but her efforts force Arthur to reexamine his idea of marriage, especially one to Guinevere. The growth shown by both characters is vital for the story and should lead to some fireworks in the series finale.

The ending of The Camelot Betrayal is particularly agonizing in its implications and open-ended nature. Personally, I choose to believe that Ms. White is not being purposefully cruel but rather is setting up readers for a most exciting and unpredictable ending. Plus, I hope she makes up for the cliffhanger with lots of steamy scenes!

I genuinely had such fun reading this sequel. Guinivere has so much agency and I love it. In terms of the romance, this is one of the fewest love triangles where I genuinely don't know who the main character picks.

I absolutely adore this series, particularly that it is a feminist/woman-centered retelling to this traditionally male legend. This second one was a brilliant follow up. The stakes have gotten bigger, the questions more entangled, and of course, as all book 2s do in a trilogy, left us on a cliffhanger. I truly don't know what direction book 3 will take, although I have my hopes and dreams of course. Highly recommend this series for a light and lovely blast-through-in-a-weekend read!

I really enjoyed this installment in the series but there were a few sticking points that kept it from being a 5 star read for me. I love the friendship building between Guinevere and Lancelot, though knowing the original story makes it a little odd. I also enjoy Mordred's story arc. Overall though I have mixed feelings about the relationship between Arthur and Guinevere. As individual characters I like them both but together something just feels a little over. This book was a little slow and felt very much like a middle of the series book so it wasn't my favorite. I am still looking forward to the next book though.

In this book, Guinevere continues to discover/learn things about herself and it starts to build up her self-esteem while at the same time learning how to be Queen. Arthur is finally relaxing a bit and letting her in. Arthur is finally paying attention to Guinevere!!!! AT LAST! But it might be a little too late even if she's in denial. We shall see how that develops since it seems like there are 2 other possible love interests...

Guinevere is a bit of a nosybody, getting all up on people's business and then going to bat for them. LOL And yet, when she's faced with a curveball, she seems completely thrown.

Loved the book! It has the same tone and tempo as the first one and it keeps the story going. I do like when there are surprises and we had 2 huge ones, which were both infuriating and funny at the same time...weird I know!

I’ve been looking forward to Kiersten White’s The Camelot Betrayal since I finished The Guinevere Deception last year. White’s twists on the classic Camelot mythology continue in this second installment of her Camelot Rising Trilogy. The Camelot Betrayal expands further into the familiar cast of characters while fleshing out their alternate backstories and feeding Guinevere’s confusion around her sense of self and purpose as the larger conflict plays out. I appreciated the way that responsibility is tied into Guinevere’s journey to figure herself out. It’s one of those themes that comes up frequently in series but is often only half addressed. Characters will step up to take responsibility through action but the consequences – or more precisely, the wider ripples of consequence – are often glossed over.

After having been manipulated by Mordred into raising the Dark Queen, Guinevere is determined to do everything in her power to help Arthur protect Camelot in the coming conflict. Trying to balance playing a more active role against Arthur’s fears for her safety, Guinevere is finally finding herself at home in Camelot and settling into her role as queen. The unexpected arrival of Guinevere’s sister, Guinevach threatens to throw a wrench into everything. Guinevach is the real Guinevere’s sister and could so easily expose the careful deception Guinevere and Arthur have been executing. Is the girl really who she says she is, or could she be an agent of the Dark Queen?

As with The Guinevere Deception, I found the premise and twists on more traditional elements of Arthurian legend thoroughly entertaining (even if the pacing of the story can sometimes leave a bit to be desired). Through the backstories for White’s versions of Tristan and Isolde, Lancelot, and others, White nods to the familiar as she twists the tales to reflect a modern audience (and maintain the period-fantasy setting). Perhaps it was the inclusion of so many backstories that affected my sense of the pacing so much.

While Guinevere’s self-doubts can occasionally grow tedious, the underlying exploration of responsibility and actions vs consequences (and guilt) were one of my favorite aspects of the novel. Questioning authority is to be expected of teenagers, and this is a YA novel (Guinevere is only seventeen and Arthur nineteen, a fact that can be difficult to remember, especially as few other characters’ relative ages are given). After the events at the end of The Guinevere Deception, it’s natural that she is questioning more and more of what Merlin taught/told her (and that she tries to share those questions with Arthur). So much of Guinevere’s musings focus on responsibility for the consequences of one’s actions (as well as the intent behind those actions and whether it weighs more or less in the face of those consequences). In going beyond the immediate consequences (success or failure of the actions’ main objectives), White goes several steps beyond many YA explorations of these themes.

Given the new twists on the traditional that The Camelot Betrayal introduces (as well as the cliffhanger ending), I cannot wait to see how Kiersten White will wrap up this trilogy (hopefully next year).

The Camelot Betrayal is the middle book in Kiersten White's Camelot Rising series, a magical retelling of the King Arthur legend. TCB picks up shortly after The Guinevere Deception ended. We catch up with our favorites for TGD while meeting new characters and going on new adventures.

TCB ramps up the action and the inner turmoil affecting Guinevere and her decision both in the past and throughout this book. TCB really shows some growth for Guinevere as she grapples more with romance, family, and her own history. Arthur's character also got a tad more fleshed out, along with Lancelot, though I would have preferred even more. I don't feel like I really understand all the character's motivations.

I found this book to be paced much slower than TGD, which is a typical middle book experience for me. It spent a lot of time setting up the conflict for the third book instead of focusing on the plot actually happening. I also didn't expect a lot of what happened in the book, and not in a good way. More like I just didn't understand the decisions the author made when writing to continue the plot along. The plot continuation and new conflicts introduced in this book didn't jive well with me.

I am interested enough to read the final book when it comes out to see how it all gets wrapped up. I do like that I'm not at all able to predict how this series could be concluded and where the characters may end up. The lead is very well buried, so for that I commend Kiersten.

**Thank you to Delacorte Press and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

It’s strange, because I’ve rated both books 4 stars so far, but I still think this is a 5 star series as a whole. It’s really rich with visuals and a broad cast of characters, but the characters are so fleshed out and human. It’s super little things, like when Arthur rubs his face after getting stressful news, that make them feel so present in the story. The relationships Guinevere has with the people in her life are so multi-layered. There’s some will-they-won’t-they between her and like, 3 different people (probably two officially but my side ship is valid idc) but they all make sense because they all provide such different things for her. I love when a love triangle makes sense and isn’t there because of the angst but it’s there because genuinely how can you choose? Idk it’s just done quite well imo.

The reason this installment got a star docked was it was just slow. It was very episodic - a friend rightfully compared it to video game levels - which left plenty of places for me to set it down feeling satisfied with another ending and not rush back to it right away. It’s really character driven even in the midst of the action, which can result in your head swimming from information overload. But none of that takes away from the story. It just didn’t give me the sense of urgency that I like to feel from a book.

Seeing the character development in Guinevere is really special. She doesn’t know who she is even still, so she’s basically making herself into who she wants to be. She gets so much wrong, or at least she thinks she does. That’s the thing about decisions - you never get to see what could have been. And she feels the emotions from being wrong. But she never lets it come in the way of what she needs to do or who she’s becoming and she’s just a really inspiring and brave character even if she doesn’t think she is.

I also have the softest spot for Arthur and how open he can be with communication even while being the biggest idiot himbo on earth. Guinevere’s girl gang is still going long and strong and even growing in numbers and I love them all a lot :’)

Dreading book 3 but also ecstatic for it.......

I wasn't a huge fan of book one, it was slow for me. But I also felt that maybe it was because I listened on an audiobook and I don't do that often. So I gave book two a try. It was still slow for me and it didn't keep my attention.

THE CAMELOT BETRAYAL by Kiersten White is the second book in her YA retelling of the King Arthur Legend. The story picks up with Guinevere and Arthur regrouping after the Dark Queen’s attack and Mordred’s deception. Surviving this event has brought them closer than ever, but their relationship is still not everything Guinevere wants, or even needs. In fact, she’s not entirely sure she can trust her own thoughts as they’ve been magically mixed up by Merlin. To make matters worse, the real Guinevere’s sister has shown up in Camelot with unclear motivations that Guinevere must uncover if she wants to stay safe. As she tries to make sense of it all, Guinevere may find that she’s been distracted from the biggest threat of all.

I love this book even more than the first one. It’s a much slower read and one that I consumed in small bites over a couple of months. Normally, I can get bored or be impatient with stories that have such a slow burn, but this held my interest the entire time and allowed me to stay in its world longer than I would have if the story was one that could be read in a single day.

My favorite part of this entire novel is the love triangle between Guinevere, Mordred, and Arthur. It works so well here because both options are valid and couldn’t be more opposite. In the third book, if Guinevere discovers her true origins, she’ll have a better understanding of who she wants to be, and which man she wants to be with. That being said, the moments when Mordred pops up in this book, or Guinevere and Arthur have sudden alone time are really what propel the story forward. Nothing about these encounters are predictable, and they always keep me waiting for the next one. I’m curious to see how this will all culminate into a satisfying conclusion.

White also does a great job at introducing tension and difficulty into Guinevere’s relationship with Lancelot, and leaves them on a huge cliffhanger. While the story is told from Guinevere’s perspective, I’m hoping that in the third book, we will get more insight into what Lancelot is feeling and thinking. As of now, she’s so stoic that it’s hard to interpret what it is she truly wants. As of yet, I can’t tell if she’ll also become a romantic interest, or if she’s the only person in Guinevere’s life who lets Guinevere be herself.

Overall, THE CAMELOT BETRAYAL takes readers on a journey, weaving the pieces for an emotional and powerful finale. I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy retellings.