Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of THE EXCALIBUR CURSE by Kiersten White. I enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy, but I was a little disappointed in the finale. Honestly, I was just disappointed my ship didn't win out. But also, I think that's partly because that was the ship that had actual romantic and sexual tension and was actually built up to throughout the entire series. The person that was suggested to be Guinevere's actual "love" instead of just her "passion" (as my ship was, ahem) was just boring to me, I felt nothing for it. It seemed like Guinevere kept trying to convince me it was the best, the one that was actually love, but once I realized the book was going that direction I almost completely lost interest. I guess I was in it for the romance. That's pretty typical of me. Those who were rooting for the ship that was touted at the one of true "love" will feel very differently though, obviously. I actually did like the more open-ended close to the book and loved the overall theme that there is nothing more powerful and important than a girl.

Wow, that is all I can say. The twists and turns of the world set in Excalibur Curse was non-other than ideal for the cold weather here in my hometown. The imagery was vivid, continuing on from the first and second books. The trickling fear of water so exquisitely expressed, the burning sensation of dealing with fire, the deathly cold that blankets you as you traveled through the thick forests. It was beautiful! It honestly felt like I was reading poetry, short but sweet sentences added together to make a story come alive.

Furthermore, Guinevere takes us into a setting that combines both strength and sacrifice. We see a bit more independence from Guinevere, although I would have liked her to not be so attached to her emotions and overthink the future. Of course, these characteristics add to the flawed character that she is. We are introduced to a new set of the most wholesome characters! I especially love the outspoken humor of one of the captors - simply a perfect addition to the severity of the situation! We continue to see who Mordred is in her eyes, as well as the whole picture of his betrayal. Nevertheless, I definitely did not approve of his relationship with Guinevere; it was felt too rushed as well as insincere.

This leads to the love trope(s). I was really confused as to who Guinevere truly loved. It did not help that all three love tropes were repeatedly included in her thoughts, driving away the sacred time of her actually dealing with the rising problems and discoveries. Although, I applaud the author for the representation of LGTBQ+ fandom. I just wish she was more direct as to who Guinevere was most in love with. We see so many aspects in her thoughts and feelings, that you are left to wonder throughout the entire book as to who she would fit perfectly with. I especially did not think the trope she ended up with was satisfying.

Overall, the trilogy was tied up nicely. It wasn't the most concrete of endings, landing me to end in a bit of confusion. Yet, the imagery and the way the story was told were what caught my attention and didn't allow me to break away. I would rate it 3.5 stars, I just found it too confusing at parts. Lastly, I want to take the time to thank Random House Children's for allowing me to receive an eARC from NetGalley - it's been quite a ride reading the Excalibur Curse.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press for allowing me to read and review this title! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I sped through all three books in a matter of 5 days.
I realized I by accidently requested a third book to a trilogy I had not yet read but was excited for the challenge!

I love the transition from each book: a changeling Queen, to a witch, and to just a girl trying to figure out who she is and what has been hidden from her. In this conclusion we find Guinevere captured by the Northern people with Mordred trying to keep her safe from his mother Morgana and his recently risen grandmother, the Dark Queen. While trying to figure out her escape she is also trying to get a handle on who she is and how to go about finding that information.

There is good and evil in this trilogy but as you read through Guinevere's story you start to realize there is no right or wrong side, even with the Dark Queen. The trilogy shows morally grey characters and how their choices and decisions affects each other. Guinevere is not evil and not all good. I like her fierce determination and her friendships.

The conclusion to this trilogy is thrilling, unexpected, and bittersweet. I am so sad for my book boyfriend Mordred. I really wanted him and Guinevere to figure things out together and to be free but I understand why they could not. I do think the intense love she had for Lancelot was a little from left field. Yes, she loves her friends and has a very special bond with each one but I felt like it was an unnecessary add to the story. Guinevere already had two other loves, why add a third when it wasn't reciprocated? Lancelot did love Guinevere but, again, nothing had indicated it was "something more".

I did like the change in the Arthurian story line, as this is a retelling Kiersten White did a good job sticking with the source material but also making it her own.

Overall, I really liked the trilogy. The first book was pretty good, the second book did feel like filler but the last few chapters were great, and this conclusion is solid and doesn't leave anything open.

4 stars

Guinevere almost annoyed me to death in this book. Every decision she made was obviously the wrong decision until the very end of the book when somehow everything was magically resolved. She overlooked key conversations and clues, and honestly I’m not sure how she made it through so blindly. She didn’t really act like a hero either because she was so focused on herself through the whole book (I guess she forgot about her THREE love interests and a whole kingdom she’s queen over). And she didn’t have any real character growth from focusing on herself either.

But anyways. I did like the traveling aspect of it. There was magic and lore and relationship growth. So it wasn’t all bad. And I love the retelling too much to absolutely hate it.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc!

This series is exactly what I want out of an Arthurian retelling, and the commentary it offers is relevant to modern issues. The cast of characters is fun and well balanced, and all in all this book is the perfect conclusion to this trilogy. 10/10 would recommend. Check it out, and thank you to NetGalley and Kiersten White for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest and constructive review.

I have to say I enjoyed the first two books more. I was really hoping she ended up with Mordred but no the author took the safe route. The ending wasn't that satisfying to be honest.

So much happens in the last installment of the series! We get the much needed answers that we’ve been missing. Merlin FINALLY makes an actual appearance as do the major characters from the Arthurian legends.

At this point, I think Guinevere should be tired of how right she is about the threats against Arthur, Camelot, or herself. I also wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to leave Arthur since he’s so full of himself and can’t see past a lot of deceitfulness, which ends up with Guinevere being kidnapped yet again.

In her captivity, she gets to see how wrongly the women of Arthur’s kingdom are treated. How much crap they have to put up with especially when it’s one of Arthur’s knights. She sees women can be strong and have their own ideas and can have useful council.

Morgana uses a spell to try to help Guinevere get past the spell Merlin put on Guinevere and finds out what her feelings for her friends are.

My heart continues to hurt for Mordred!! All he’s ever wanted is to be loved, by his mother, by his grandma, and by Guinevere. Even though it was unfair and very painful afterwards, I’m glad that he got to experience some love 😉

When Guinevere finally finds what she’s been looking for, she’s beyond devastated and tries to right the wrongs that Merlin did but everyone in her life try to tell her that it’s not her fault and not up to her to fix it. Obviously, she doesn’t listen.

Things work out as they do in a series ending but I still felt like I needed some more info on the aftermath because while things were mostly resolved, a lot of private relationships were still very convoluted and I would’ve loved to see more about Avalon. I definitely would’ve loved to know more about the Merlin twist…

I have thoroughly enjoyed this series from the start and have been anticipating the third installment for a while now!

It has been a while since I read the second installment and I wish I had reread it before I started this one, simply because I don’t remember the details of how to characters got the where they are at the beginning of this one. It wasn’t really necessary as the bits of the past story you need are given, I just think I would have enjoyed it a bit more if I had read the others more recently.

I liked the overall arc of the story and how it played out. We find out more about Guinevere and her past and while I was slightly annoyed by her for a good chunk of the book, I also understood why she was struggling once she found out about her past. And I really did like where she ends up and why. The story tied up neatly (maybe a little too neatly, but what can I say? I like my fantasy to be fantastical).

I was so glad to see some favorites characters back in the third installment (I’m looking at you, Mordred) but was sad to see less of other characters. However, I did completely fall for a new character (Fina), so overall I’m ok with it!

A satisfying end to a fun trilogy!

4.5 stars

My experiences with reading Kiersten White have been conflicted. She has interesting ideas, but I'm never quite in love with the execution of her writing. In this instance, as with the other two Guinevere books and And I Darken, her plots and characters never feel fleshed out or realized fully to me. I still want to read more of her to see how she develops as an author, because I find the concepts interesting, but I don't feel like The Excalibur Curse was fulfilling.

2.5 stars, rounded up:

I went into this with relatively low expectations. After the way the second book left me feeling, I was prepared to be disappointed. I really was not, however, prepared to be disappointed in our main character. This is primarily because...she went somewhere else and our author replaced her with a badly written version of her or something? I'm not sure who that Guinevere was, but the one in books one and two is not in this book. The book was fast-paced, but felt as though the author wasn't sure what she was writing after the first 25%. I only genuinely liked Fina, as she made me laugh.

This book tore my heart out, stomped on it, and then set it on fire. What a wonderfully complicated conclusion for a great series. There are familiar faces, and new ones, like Fina who I fell in love with as soon as I met her.

3.75

This was an odd reading experience for sure. Most of the book, I was fluctuating between different emotions and feelings, but by the end, I did come out with appreciation and enjoyment.

The plot of this book is pretty weak, to be honest. Not much happens in this book and what does it super rushed. I will say this was an issue with the first two books in the series as well so it wasn't too big of a surprise but I like my finales to be pretty jam-packed with plot, BUT, that is just a personal preference. I did read this really quickly, though. I have been so busy with school that it has been taking me a while to finish books during the school week, but I took every spare moment to read this so I think that's a good sign.

Guinevere did continue to grow as a character in this installment. I will say that she doesn't have a TON of development in this story but I enjoyed learning about her past and FINALLY getting to see who she was and everything that had been built up in Books 1 and 2. The other characters in this installment were pretty much the same, though. I will admit that, thinking about the book as a whole, now, I can see that the side characters that really shined in the first two installments did seem pretty watered down here in the conclusion, though.

The writing, as always, was amazing. I love Kiersten White's prose and she really captures the essence of Camelot and the magic and the adventure through her writing.

While I can't say what the ending was obviously, I do really like the way this series wrapped up. It's totally not what I expected, but I think it was satisfying for sure. There was one aspect about the ending that I was not the biggest fan of regarding what the people of Camelot believe actually happened in the final chapters, but that's a small thing.

Overall, this was a pretty good conclusion. I did enjoy Books 1 and 2 more, but this was definitely a solid finale!

What a satisfying conclusion to a fun series! This series has been equal parts romance + adventure from the beginning, and this installment did not disappoint. There are still THREE love interests for our main character Guinevere to pick from, and even though I LOATHE love triangles I was fully invested in the romance. Honestly, I couldn't even decide WHO I wanted to be end game. I will say that no matter who you ship Guinevere with, that there is something for everyone in this installment and that I think most readers will be happy. I just wanted Guinevere to be able to choose her own happiness, which I think in the end she did. Which brings to my next point, yes there is romance, yes there is adventure - but at the end of the day this installment was really about Guinevere finding herself and making her own choices. Taking her destiny between her own two hands, and I was extremely happy that she became the hero of her own story. After being pulled in multiple directions by people with good and bad attentions alike it was nice to see her take control and shine. I loved the author's And I Darken trilogy, and even though this trilogy was very different in tone and story telling, I still thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading whatever Kiersten White decides to write next.

Excuse me while I go around and pick up all the shattered pieces of my heart... I went in expecting too much, and as a result I've been DISAPPOINTED. *Cue sobs*

Possible spoilers ahead, so stop reading

Right

Now

If you don't want to be spoiled on anything.

If you haven't stopped by now, it's your own fault.

I'm trying to separate myself from what I was expecting out of this book, and look at it with a neutral POV and pretend that I didn't love my Morally Grey Mordred just a little, but it's HARD. This was so promising, and I've invested so much time into reading this series... And the end was just a little bit of a let down for me.

Mordred was top notch, as per usual. We get to see that Arthur is not as good as we once thought, and I have no problems with Lancelot.

I was hoping there would be a way for everyone to get their HEA, but Holy Heck, Guinevere was SO darn wishy washy with her feelings towards everyone, I didn't want her to end up with ANYONE...

This book felt like a middle book, and not an end book to me. New characters were introduced, and things at the end felt all loose ended to me. It's not a horrible book, just not the one for me.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for allowing me to read an e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100 % mine*

The finale of The Camelot Rising Trilogy was action packed from page one. We find Guinevere the captive of Mordred and Morgana after all her very bad decisions from book 2 and mostly focuses on finally getting answers about how she came to be Guinevere and why she has no memories As well as getting her romantic entanglements in order. It has a solid resolution to the political/magical conflicts, but leaves her romantic destiny up in the air. A bold decision that I liked but I have a feeling it won't be popular. A fitting ending for a series meant to give female characters agency in a story where they had very little.

I really feel like this series has dwindled for me. I loved the first book but the hype wasn't kept up through the second and I was really hoping it would have picked back up for me for the third but it just didn't sadly.

I received a copy of this book from Delacorte Press and Netgalley.

I loved this book. It wrapped everything up in a really satisfying way and I am over the moon!

This trilogy has been an absolute joy to read.

Wow. Oh my god. I honestly don’t know what to say. I have liked Kiersten White since being given the opportunity to read an early copy of Slayer, and became a fan after the first book of this series. She has given me every reason to love her books, and The Excalibur Curse was no exception. This book had me enthralled from the very beginning, and I finished the entire thing over the course of about 36 hours. A huge thank you for the opportunity to read this book early, and EVERYONE should read this book.

Ahhh! I remember wanting to read the first book in the trilogy so badly, and when I finally got it, I devoured it on the spot! I was so happy to have been approved for this one, and it didn’t disappoint. Kiersten is a wonderful writer and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future.

I have always loved Camelot retellings but I really enjoyed this one. I love how White gave amazing character development and the entire series was captivating. I think this was a great conclusion to an epic fantasy series.