The Guinevere Deception is a fresh and enchanting take on the Arthurian legend. Set in a world of magic and mystery, White's skillfully weaves together elements of fantasy, romance, and political intrigue, creating a captivating story that keeps you engaged from start to finish.

This was a lot of leadup for the first in a series, and it's mostly a set-up book, rather than a still enjoyable story on its own. It's slow-going and gives readers too little, too late. I didn't much care for the overly feminist take (aka men are evil), and to make matters worse, the setting of the story often felt too modern. I have zero interest in continuing the series.

I was really excited to read this book. I feel like it was just alright. It could have been so much better than what it was. I liked it enough that I will check out the next book.

I wasn’t able to finish this book. Because of this, it is my policy not to review the book on my site or on Goodreads/Amazon. I also didn’t mark it DNF.

This had a really great concept, I really enjoy retellings, especially in the King Arthur type world however this did not capture my entire attention. It was good, well written, but still had a lack luster for me personally.

[Rachel’s Review]: The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
[Rachel’s Review]: The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten WhiteThe Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising, #1)
by Kiersten White
Pages: 352
Published by Delacorte Press
Release Date: November 5th 2019
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Source: Publisher
Format Read: ARC, Paperback
Goodreads

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot.
There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl.
Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom's borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution--send in Guinevere to be Arthur's wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king's idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere's real name--and her true identity--is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot.
To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old--including Arthur's own family--demand things continue as they have been, and the new--those drawn by the dream of Camelot--fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.
Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?
*THE FIRST BOOK IN THE CAMELOT RISING TRILOGY*

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Kiersten White has covered some of my favorite topics with Slayer (and upcoming Chosen!) diving deeper into the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the eerie horror of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein taking the question of whether Frankenstein the doctor or the creation was more of a monster to new heights. So when I saw that she was coming out with a trilogy based on Queen Guinevere, Camelot, and Arthur and his knights I immediately wanted to get my hands on it.

the sword in the stone animation GIF
Not going to lie to you, I found the beginning to be pretty slow. It was mostly world building, which makes sense since it’s a trilogy and some people might not be familiar with the legend of King Arthur, Excalibur and his round table, but i’m not a huge fan of when the first book in a series mostly just sets things up for the rest and I feel like that is what happened here. By the end of the book (the last 1/3 was action-packed adventure and high stakes decisions which I loved) all the players are finally on the board and it seems like the real story is ready to begin.

What I found most compelling about the story was how it took what we already knew about the characters and flipped around our expectations. Instead of a regular Queen, Guinevere is a magical protector for King Arthur in a land that is trying to destroy magic. Mordred is shifty and watchful but also warm and protective. Guinevere’s maid Brangien is gruff and caring and full of surprises. Lancelot is – well I won’t spoil that for you but Lancelot is AWESOME. And Arthur is Arthur, duty-bound and an incredible leader and friend.

It’s a long list, but here’s some things I liked:

Female empowerment and the chance for the women in the story to take hold of their own destiny and choose their path
LGBTQ+ content
Single-minded villain who will do anything to get their revenge
Lots of foreshadowing for a bigger mystery of Guinevere’s past
It was fun!!! There were tournaments and festivals and wild horse riding through spooky forests!
I loved the characters and can’t wait to see where they end up in book two and three. Those who are new to Camelot will love the lush world building and twists at the end, and those who have seen or read about it before will feel right at home.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

Great spin on this legend! Very late to the game here but I enjoyed the twist that this series brought to something that has done time and time again. I have always been obsessed with Arthurian legend so when something new is brought to the table surrounding it, it's a win in my book!

I read this book a while back and never gave the review because I got swamped by *life*. But I loved it so much. Everything from the character development to the impressive world-building. Kiersten White took one of my favorite Arthurian characters and made her into an incredible heroine.

While I do like gender bent stories and seeing Guinevere’s perspective as the main protagonist, I found the story to be too slow for my tastes with not enough drama to excite me throughout.

The Guinevere Deception is the first installment in Kiersten White's new series: Camelot Rising.
This book takes Camelot's lore and provides a new twist. Guinevere comes to Camelot to marry Arthur, but spoiler alert she is not the real Guinevere, she is Merlin's daughter, and she is sent to protect King Arthur from an unknown threat. I gave this book a 3.5 stars, but rounded up to a 4. You do not need any prior knowledge to the story of King Arthur, which I really enjoyed. The number 1 thing I loved about this book was the atmosphere, it's so magical and bewitching. I usually tend to not enjoy too much Medieval time themed stories but this book really drew me in.

As a fan of Arthurian retellings, I really thought that I would love this book. Instead, it felt like a teen soap opera. Guinevere kept going back and forth to decide who she loves. I did not see a strong queen. Thus, there are better books about Guinevere out there like Nancy McKenzie.

I gave this a four out of five stars. I really loved this book and the characters. I can’t wait to continue the series and see what happens I loved the main character Gwen. I enjoyed the friendships and relationships in this. I totally recommended this book.

I really loved Kiersten White's Slayer series, and was hoping that this book would be equally good. This book was good. Not great, but good. For a book set in the 5th century, it was not very historically accurate. I want an immersive read (pages and hours fly by and I never notice), but these inaccuracies kept pulling me out of the story. Hopefully the next one will be better. I will definitely give it another try. Rated 3/5 stars.

Unfortunately this didn't capture my attention, but love the cover and the Authurian legend concept!

Queen of YA! If you are looking for a good YA author, I recommend Kiersten! Thank you to netgalley for the early copy of this for review! I would recommend this author!

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.

This was a very interesting Arthurian mythology story that features Guinevere and she is on a journey to protect Arthu,r this was a very interesting story and I enjoyed it.

As always White has amazing characters and stories. I really loved this one, even if it did take me a while to get into it. I love the setting and the journey of a story White took us on, I'll definitely be reading future books in the series.

Really enjoyed this one. It wasn't a stand out fantasy book but I enjoyed the journey the author took us on and I always love Kiersten White's writing style and characters.

I enjoyed this book.

It was an enjoyable quick read with and interesting premise and execution. I love Arthurian retellings and this was a very fun take for sure.