I really enjoyed The Guinevere Deception. This story follows Guinevere, except she's actually an apprentice of Merlin who travels to Camelot pretending to be Guinevere in order to protect King Arthur. I love that this story really has a new spin on the King Arthur story and does a lot of unique and interesting things with a story we all know so well. It was a very fun read and I am excited to read more in this series, I want to know what happens next!
I like Guinevere's character. She is so interesting and I like seeing her work with magic and also work through her own identity. She has a lot of gaps in her memory and isn't sure who she is at times so I liked seeing her trying to figure out what kind of person she wants to be. I also like how Camelot is described through Guinevere's eyes. She is new to this kingdom so I liked that we get to see her experience the beauty of Camelot and understanding why Arthur is so special and so important.

This book is a must-read for anyone who is fond Arthurian legend. The book features an interesting twist on the legend, with Merlin having been banished and the young King Arthur outlawing magic in Camelot. One of the things I liked about this book was how the geographic location of Camelot makes it another character in the story. I would recommend this book to teens and young adults who are looking for variations on the King Arthur legend and enjoy stories with magic and interesting settings.

I am incredibly disappointed in this book! It was so boring and it was a struggle to pick it up. I loved White's Conquerers Saga so I thought I would love this as well but nothing happened until page 250 and the issues that arose were handled so quickly and conveniently, it didn't make me sit on the edge of my seat.

The character's are all a bit flat and I really didn't care for any of them. Guinevere has no depth or substance. We know she's not sure who she is and she is incredibly naive. She has almost no interactions with anyone and if she does, they don't particularly add anything to the story. There is also the romance that didn't quite click. I think White wanted to add a shock factor of when the climax happened but it just fell flat. I didn't feel the love and attraction between the characters. We were told that there was a spark but were never shown the spark.

We don't know the plot of this new trilogy until the last 20 pages of the book which was so frustrating. This is a perfect example for me of when a book is beautiful on the outside but lack luster on the inside. It just didn't work for me and that makes me so sad.

#TheGuinevereDeception
Wow. I loved this first book in this trilogy. White's take on the Arthurian tale is a wonderful re-imagining of the tale. Guinevere in this story is unlike the legend. White has taken advantage of the legend and made this her own. The character's are likable and realistic in the story. I really enjoyed the chemistry of Guinevere, Arthur, and Mordred. I think that it is an interesting triangle of emotional dependence. Reader's will not want to put this down! I cannot wait for #2. A wonderful and imaginative read that is so much fun!
Must Read!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review The Guinevere Deception.

Hii bookworms!! I am super hyped to write out this review. I would like to thank the publishers: ⁣
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@penguinrandomhouse / @penguinteen and @authorkierstenwhite for the chance to review an early advanced copy of this book! ⁣
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THE GUINEVERE DECEPTION BY @authorkierstenwhite ⁣
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𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: 4/5 STARS ⁣
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𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: Arthur, Guinevere, Modred (who honestly tore my heart apart!) and Bragien ⁣
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𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: The Dark Queen. ⁣
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𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦: I am a huge fan of the King Arthur stories; I loved the Micheal Murpogo version of it, the old folklore version of Excalibur, even Avalon High by Meg Cabot. Anything King Arthur related was an instant love of mine. This story does a phenomenal job of retelling Guinevere’s story from a completely different perspective. It’s not necessarily the conventional retelling, it has all the components of Camelot, the characters, the betrayals, angst, power-struggles but this gives a greater, in-depth adventure of a Guinevere who isn’t quite Guinevere the way we know her.
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The magic system is what really captured me. I don’t want to reveal any spoilers so don’t read after this!⁣
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𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐓 🚨:⁣
The knot magic was so cool. The fire and water magic resembled other forms of magic that I’d read before, but I loved how wholly a person was in connection to their magic. It was a wonderful magic system. ⁣
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𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗧 𝗙𝗔𝗩𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗦: There isn’t anything to dislike in terms of plot or characters; the writing it engaging (though the number of exclamation marks was simultaneously endearing and repetitive) and altogether I think it’s going to be a very popular read! ⁣
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𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣𝗦: Maybe I am a sucker for love, but Arthur and Guinevere will always be my favourite couple. ⁣
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𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗢𝗥: readers looking for a completely unique retelling or King Arthur—or more appropriately Queen Guinevere. ⁣
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There wasn't a chance for me to put down this book! It was addicting to read and the story of Guinevere and how she became into King Arthur's life was appealing. She likes the King Arthur and it was hard to tell if he feels the same for her. It started out with a good concept of being sent to him as a protector by her father Merlin under the disguised as the Princess Guinevere. She is a good character and it was well-developed with world building and magic. She had conflicts along the way to finding her purpose and tried hard to protect the king, which was her main mission. Struggled with being the Queen and her role as Merlin's daughter since she has to hide the fact that she's a witch, and the confusion she feels towards King Arthur's nephew Mordred.

Overall, this is a good read that has well-developed concept, world-building, hook, and characters to bind the story, adding a bit of romance suspense. Lots of twists and turns.

***SPOILER ALERT!!***

Though, she had found feelings towards Mordred, who I had hoped was a good guy turned out to be bad at the end, but his feelings for her were real! Somehow, I wished that he didn't end up being the bad guy.

Thanks to Netgalley and to the publisher for sending me an e-galley of this book!

The Guinevere Deception leads the reader through a labyrinth of well placed twists and turns until they don't know which way is up and who to trust. I felt connected to all the characters, feeling Guinevere's anxiety (or whoever she was), I had begun to adore King Arthur and enjoyed the company of his knights and felt at home walking along the characters on the streets of Camelot.

The writing was addictive. As soon as I thought I knew where the story was going, something had changed or was revealed that kept me turning the page, as many good stories do. Every twist was well placed and never forced, natural and easy but still effective.

Based on how it ended I'll be looking for the eagerly waiting the next book.

This book was received as an ARC from Random House Children's - Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I absolutely love King Arthur and the legend it has become and it is refreshing to read a new twist on not only the tales but for the characters and in this case Guinevere. In the legends, Arthur and Merlin tend to be the main focus and all we know about Guinevere is that she is Arthur's lover but we never hear how she came to be and how she got involved with King Arthur in the first place...until now. Kiersten White eliminated the boring parts of the stories and combined the best action parts in this novel making it so exciting to read and I could not stop. Our teen book club will also be excited for this and I can't wait to share it with them.

We will consider adding this title to our YFiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.