To be blunt: If I hadn't gotten an ARC of this book (or even the previous one), I doubt I would have finished the trilogy. I can't say when I last found a conclusion to be such a letdown—maybe Stiefvater's The Raven King. At least I liked that one.

All my issues from books one and two—the pacing, characters being more an outline waiting to be filled, the lack of direction—were only heightened. There were all these threats of wars that never culminated in anything, the climax and collusion were too neatly packaged without any satisfying payoff, and the characters...my God, Guinevere has never been the best protagonist, but at least I found her struggles compelling in earlier books. Here, she became too much of a figure cloaked in tragedy, not to mention the sheer indecisiveness: Go to Merin for help; no, wait, Arthur, he'll know what to do; or maybe the Lady of the Lake; you know what, no, Morgana, that's it. As much as I loved seeing the number of strong women in this series, I also thought none of them lived up to her potential, which was quite disappointing. In the book's acknowledgments, White says her rage toward the way women are portrayed in Arthurian legends fueled her writing, and that's the thing: the message of this book was wonderful—women are just as capable as men, women can enact great change—but it's very heavy-handed.

I might be done with White for a while. This was the seventh book of hers I've read, and on the whole, my experience with her writing has been mixed.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I have waited so long for this book and I am so grateful to have been able to read this book, It was a beautiful ending to the trilogy. The story picks up right where book 2 left us and it was the perfect ending for me. I can’t wait to see what’s next from Kiersten .

In this stunning conclusion to the Camelot Rising trilogy, Guinevere finds herself in a harrowing situation, separated from allies and the truth about who she really is. When she discovers secrets long buried, she is determined to right old wrongs. How far will Guinevere go to save her people and finally make things right?

This book was faithful to Arthurian legend in ways I never expected, all while forging its own path. Multiple relationships strengthen and break, and the complexity of the romance in this novel was a welcome surprise! Guinevere is shown to have many layers, each which contributes to her feelings for others, which I thought was a very human and real touch to a fantasy novel. Mordred and Fina were standout characters, and Lancelot stole the scenes she was in. The plot was a little confusing to follow, which is the only reason this book didn't get five stars from me, but it was still an addictive read that I devoured very quickly. I highly recommend this book to lovers of fast-paced YA fantasy and romance!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for providing me with a free advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It's been a while since I read the previous book, but the first 10% had my full attention. I was desperate to know of Guinevere's past and how she got to Camelot. As the finale of a trilogy, I am decently satisfied with how the story wraps up and where each of the characters end, but it was quite a trial to get there.

While the plot was quickly moving, I felt like there was a bit too many things happening to keep track of. Between the armies, our villains, Guinevere's own search, the romances, Merlin... I was having difficulty just keeping up with the plot. Midway through, Guinevere's characterization also made me pause. Her indecision between her feelings for Lancelot, Mordred, and Arthur was incredibly confusing and seemed very out of character for her which made it increasingly frustrating to follow.

Overall, this book and series was fun to experience, and the last quarter of the book was the strongest in terms of plot and character. Once Guinevere became more certain of herself and what she wanted, it became far more enjoyable and I'm pleased with how the love square is resolved. I like that while Arthurian legends are predominantly a male space, we get to see this unfold through Guinevere's eyes and how she came to help shape Camelot in this version.

Initial Thoughts
I had such high hopes for this book. I’ve read all three books on NetGalley so it was almost surreal to come full circle on a series like this. I had no idea when I started my bookstagram account that I’d read this much!

One Things I Liked
Mordred. He’s pretty much the only good thing to come out of this book.

Some Things I Wasn’t Crazy About
Total character change for Guinevere. I feel like all the growth and positive changes Guinevere made in book 2 were completely washed away in this book. She became somewhat irrational and self loathing.
The “big reveal”. I thought the truth about Guinevere was also kind of a throw away.
The romance. I hated pretty much every aspect of how the romances played out in this story. I was team Mordred but even if you didn’t have a team, Guinevere’s wishy washy attitude made it difficult for you to want her to end up with anyone. She was confused for the entire story and the ending still has no resolution.

Series Value
I really enjoyed the first two books in this series but this one basically ruined it. I wouldn’t read this again and honestly, it makes me not want to read any of Kiersten White’s other books.

Final Thoughts
This was probably one of the biggest let down reads I’ve had in a while.

⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishing house for a chance to read an ARC of this book! What a conclusion to an already incredible trilogy! Since I finished the second book, I've waited what seems like forever to read The Excalibur Curse. And it was completely worth the wait! Kiersten White is an incredible storyteller who weaves such a unique and stunning retelling that shines through particularly beautifully in this last book. And that ending!!! I preordered my copy months ago and can’t wait to see everyone else’s reactions when it comes out!

It was a beautiful ending to the trilogy, just the story was not for me. I loved the character acr of the main character throughout the series and now it came to an end.

Here we are at last, the finale to the trilogy.... and it was not a good time, in fact if out of all three books this was the my least favorite. Nothing really paid off and I found myself questioning why these developments were happening as they were. The characters didn't really grow and the pay off... wasn't great. I genuinely can say that Mordred remained my favorite character, and the only person getting me through this book series. I don't want to spoil anything but in the end, all the characters (except Mordred) got what they deserved, and might I even say ended up with who they deserved. My opinions about the characters remain the same from the previous two books so there's that (check out my other two reviews to see). Overall, this series was disappointing and the ending was lackluster. I had high hopes for the end and was just feeling overall, meh about the entire trilogy after reading this.

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's, Delacorte Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I received this complimentary ARC from the publisher, courtesy of NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this was overall a nice and succinct end to the trilogy and I appreciated having that final reveal of who exactly Guinevere is.

(spoilers): I personally didn't mind Guinevere's insistence on saving the innocent girl she was, too much because I always enjoy angst. But at the same time, it got a bit tiring having to read on and on about how G wanted to save the innocent girl.

and most importantly for me: the romance in regards to Lancelot... I've hoped for Lancelot and Guinevere to love each other the moment I saw that Lancelot was a girl in the first book. The forbidden nature of Lancelot/Guinevere has also always appealed to me in all the Arthurian retellings I've consumed.

After the abrupt and frankly sudden confession of love to Lancelet at the end of the second book, I did think this third book did a better job of Guinevere sorting through her feelings and realising that she is most comfortable with Lancelot and does love her.

Still, it did feel a bit rushed as I feel like the other two books and even a good chunk of this book focused more on her feelings for Mordred and secondly Arthur. Lancelot and G did not get nearly as much time together that we got to read at least. I wonder if a more conclusive ending with G and L together might have helped that imbalance, and I honestly didn't find the open ending between G, L, and A to be as satisfying an end to the romance part of the trilogy as the rest of the book was as an end to the trilogy.

3.5 stars but I'm rounding down, sorry.

I think the theme of this magical and impressive trilogy can be summed up in two lines from this book: “The value of a single girl. And the incredible power there.”

White takes the well-known Arthurian tales, which have been predominantly male focused, and makes her story about the empowerment of women. In the first book, Guinevere empowers women through friendship. In the second book, she uses her magic. And in the third, her heart and her mind. She shares her power with other women and helps them reach their full potential.

I was completely drawn in this love-triangle that turned into a love-quadrangle. I didn’t love her final choice (or choices, it was a wee bit ambiguous), but they made sense for her character. Why do I always love the person NOT chosen? Sigh.

A powerful and twisty ending to the newest Arthurian legend—Guinevere.

Although I liked the trilogy overall, I felt this book dragged at certain points. The conclusion was good and far from a tidy ending for a fairy tale. It is complicated and difficult choices were made to arrive there, but I stopped three quarters of the way through to read another book that I found more interesting before I finished.

What a great end to the series! Guinevere grew as a character steadily over the three books, and her arc came to a satisfying end. This is a fresh take on the Camelot legends, and I’d suggest it to anyone.

A fitting conclusion to this amazing trilogy. I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and turns throughout this finale.

what an absolutely fantastic conclusion to this trilogy! After the cliffhanger from book 2, I could not wait to read this one.

The main thing I love about Kiersten's White's books are the strong female characters, and The Excalibur Curse feels like a highlight reel of fantastic (and sometimes villainous) women. Lancelot returns as my favorite gay icon, and one of my favorite things about the book was Guinevere's struggle (whether or nor she realized it was a struggle) with her sexuality. I felt very seen as a bisexual woman, and it was rep I didn't know I needed.

I'll be sad to let go of this world of characters, but I felt like I was saying goodbye to an old friend. This series is an absolute must read in the world of YA.

I devoured this book, and and it was an excellent ending to the trilogy. I enjoyed that it had a nice balance between humor, action, and romance with no clear cut ending for all of the characters (yet with a happy ending overall), I am very likely to recommend this series to any fans of fantasy, Arthurian legend, stories with twists and turn, morally gray characters, and feminist retelling of mythology/folklore/legends/fairytales. There were a couple of typos in the story, but no major errors or plot holes I could see.

Enjoyed this book. The plot and characters were well thought out and vivid. I would recommend this book to others and can't wait to read what the author does next.

I. . . didn't really like this one? I liked book 1 fine and book 2 was decent as well, but I'm realising more and more how meh this entire series was

Ok, a lot of the reviews I've seen on this book so far have been mixed, and I was a little skeptical in the first half. I do think that some of the complaints of mischaracterization are accurate, but it couldn't have ended more perfectly. Guinevere is so much more than a lost little girl, she is grieving a massive loss of identity and coping with it best she can!
Everything else I have is more like little notes and I'm no good at writing reviews with a narrative so here we go.
There's a part where she says that she forgives Mordred because "people are more than the worst thing they've done," but she can't see that in herself! It's nuanced and heartbreaking and I LOVED IT.
I did find Mordred to be kind of a selfish character more-so in this book. He's always been bitter, but this time it's a little imposing.
Loved Fina.
Loved that Arthur calls the Picts, "Northern people" after Guinevere tells him they don't like it. I thought that was a really sweet touch. It shows that he is trying to learn and grow and escape his "conqueror" curse.
Loved the end and I know it's only a trilogy but the moment with Guinevere/Lancelot/Arthur is so open ended it leads perfectly into the stories of their love triangle and I wish we had more!!

A satisfying conclusion to a spellbinding trilogy! Guinevere is a complex heroine and the supporting cast of characters are deep and sympathetic. Highly recommend!

An absolutely wonderful conclusion to this series! The book is fast-paced and keeps the reader's attention from the first page to the last. While I would have loved to have an epilogue with more detail, and perhaps some higher stakes for our characters I think the themes of self-love and empowerment are something everyone can benefit from.