Cover Image: The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights

The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights

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Member Reviews

This was a great MG fantasy novel! The main characters were good, and I thought the plot was well done. Overall, I would definitely recommend!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

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This novel tells the story of two children from the present era become knights at the round table of King Arthur. The story is very fast-paced! It is full of magic, danger, and adventure! I also like the time-travel element in this novel! Therefore, this is an excellent Arthurian retelling! I recommend this for fans of T.A. Barron, Jane Yolen, and T. H. White!

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Ellie has a problem. She's part fairy and part witch. She has to hide the witch part. But then she's turned down when she wants to go to fairy school. Not to worry, she gets chosen to go to knight school.
Little Brown Books for Young Readers and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).It will be published February 8th.

The knight school takes a lot of students but only twenty-five get trained. Anyone who does something wrong has their mind washed and is sent home.

Ellie thinks she has friends but only one is really her friend. She almost gets sent home once but she fights back and gets to stay.

At the end she has a choice: The fairy Godmother says she can go to school after all. But the knight's school is also open to her. Which one will she choose?

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Twelve-year-old Ellie can’t help that she’s a witch, the most hated member of society. Determined to prove her worth and eschew her heritage, Ellie applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy—her golden ticket to societal acceptance. But Ellie’s dreams are squashed when she receives the dreaded draft letter to serve as a knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. She can get out of the draft—but only if she saves a lost cause.

Enter Caedmon, a boy from Wisconsin struggling with the death of his best friend. He first dismisses the draft as ridiculous; magic can’t possibly exist. But when Merlin’s ancient magic foretells his family’s death if he doesn’t follow through, he travels to the knights’ castle, where he learns of a wicked curse leeching the knights of their power.

To break the curse, Ellie and Caedmon must pass a series of deathly trials and reforge the lost, shattered sword of Excalibur. And unless Ellie accepts her witch magic and Caedmon rises to become the knight he’s meant to be, they will both fail—and the world will fall to the same darkness that brought King Arthur and Camelot to ruin.


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First, look at the cover! it's so gorgeous. I also like the book more than I thought I would be. The characters (Ellie and Caedmon) are my favorite! Really like the friendship and adventure here. Definitely worth the try if you like Arthurian legend.

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This is definitely a book that fans of The School for Good & Evil should pick up. It is a fun twist on Arthurian legend that follows 12-year-old Ellie, a witch in a world that hates witches. Her adventure will captivate both young and older audiences.

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The Witch, The Sword and The Cursed Knights was such a charming middle grade novel. I love that is told from different points of view and I love a good fantasy novel whether it is adult or children’s fiction. I also loved that the book had humor. I feel that is something that gets lost when you start to dive into the fantasy genre. Great debut novel!

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Disappointed with this one, I found it kind of confusing: a lot of ideas crammed into one book.

I will always be tempted into reading a story that claims to be an Arthurian retelling or have the Arthurian legends as their inspiration, even though, more often that not I am disappointed. To me, this did not connect with the Arthurian tales, it just used the idea of knights and magic and Excalibur as the legendary magical item of choice.

I found the double perspective kind of irritating, it's always a risk that one point of view will not appeal as much as the other, and this was the case here, starting off with an introduction to a magical world and the struggles that Ellie was going through was much stronger than Caedmon's start, and I found myself skim-reading his initial sections.

The introduction of new characters or plot elements felt really quick, and at times, pretty random, fairy godmothers, sudden tests, danger being averted by the appearance of a random pirate ship. I kept being pulled out of the story by how disjointed it felt.

But, thing which stopped me from getting into this the most was the writing style and the dialogue. Characters who would speak in modern Americanisms one minute, would then revert to cliche old-timey English the next, it didn't feel deliberate, but maybe it was? I was reading a digital copy of this, so the footnotes weren't the easiest to read or navigate, which didn't help, but, assuming that the footnotes were the voice of the narrator, the tone didn't carry through in the rest of the text, so the footnotes felt like a different voice entirely.

It was all just such a strange mix for me, but, as always, this is just my reaction to it, there have been several good reviews, and, though I absolutely love reading Middle Grade and have several that are among my favourite reads over the past few months, I am not the target audience for this, so just because it was a firm no for me, does not mean an 8-year-old would feel the same.

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To say I loved this book would be a huge understatement. It was a COMPLETELY enjoyable read from start to finish. Ellie is the most ridiculous, hopeful, charming heroine who just wants to be loved and be a fairy (not a witch!). Ellie is hopeless and hopeful all in one, and her voice is pitch-perfect as a young girl trying to come into her own and find her way in the world. Especially when her world is suddenly as a mythical Knight of the Roundtable…if only she can beat the trials, hide her magic, and hope for the best. Oh, and her beautiful sister is getting married, her mom wants to hide her from the world, and there always seem to be an abundance of toads…

Caedmon is still in mourning for the loss of his best friend back in the “real” world when he gets chosen to be a Knight – knights that shouldn’t exist in realms he’s never heard of. Caedmon is also written perfectly – angry and confused and scared and wanting things to be normal even as he’s thrust into the weirdest world imaginable.

I read this book in about two sittings on my way to vacation, and it was the PERFECT book to get my mind of the world and get immersed in something fun and fantastical. It’s older middle grade with just enough action and mystery to keep even reluctant readers entertained.

MY RATING: 4.5/5 Stars!

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It should be no surprise to anyone that The Witch, the Sword and the Cursed Knights ended up on my reading list. The MG category has some of my favorite stories ever hiding in it, and I’m always happy to read a new Fantasy book that caters to a younger audience. What makes it fun to read these as an adult, is that I get to come at them from the perspective of how I enjoy them now and how I would have enjoyed them as a child. It’s a ton of fun, and I couldn’t wait to drive into this one.

Let’s start with the things I loved, shall we? First off, this book dives straight into a series of magical realms. We see fairy tale characters, creatures from all manner of lore, and there’s a heavy dose of Arthurian history thrown in as well. I appreciated the fact that everything around Ellie and Caedmon was so whimsical. Within the first few chapters they meet so many types of people and beasts, it’s a joy to follow along. Better still, Rogers works hard to show that the things we think we know about these characters may not actually be true. There’s a lot of grey area in the characters here, and I loved that for this book. More grey moral characters in books, please!

Now, that being said, the characters were also the hardest part of this book for me to reconcile. I’m an extremely character driven reader. I want to see my characters learn, grow, and hopefully come out successful on the other side. Ellie and Caedmon had excellent starting points. Ellie’s want to prove herself to her mother (and, truly, to herself) really tugged at my heart. Watching Caedmon try to reconcile the unexpected death of his best friend did the same thing. I understood these two, and I hoped for them to succeed. However, they didn’t seem to expand much beyond that throughout the story. They made it to the 2D phase, but never quite hit that 3D and fully fleshed out point.

The same is true for the side characters, which made things tough. There wasn’t enough difference between them, in terms of personality, to really make them all that memorable. It was more like they were drafted for the moment they were needed, and then cast aside. This made it difficult for any world building to happen, and that broke my heart. I always found myself wanting to know more. More about our cast of characters, more about their world, and much more about their magic! There were so many great lessons for young readers to learn here, but they took a bit of dissecting to get to. I’m not sure if younger me would have been able to pull them out of the chaos that this story becomes after a while.

The ending of this does a lot of heavy lifting, and I actually really enjoyed the latter third of this book. Now that I’ve finished, I think I’d like to see another book set in this world! If we were able to go back, and learn more about everything we traveled through, I would absolutely love that. So this book gets a three-star rating for me! I’ll be interested to see what comes next.

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Thank you HBG Canada for sending me an eARC of this book via NetGalley for an honest review.

3.75/5 stars

CWs: death of a friend, death, violence, neglect from a parent, emotional abuse by a parent

This was a really interesting read. I was excited for it because a middle grade adventure featuring a witch, knights, and magic with Camelot being an important part sounds exactly like my kind of book. What I got though, was not quite what I was expecting.
First off, I spent a lot of this book confused. I felt like there could have been a little bit more explanation of the world and the magic systems and what was going on. I had a hard time following some parts because I didn’t know what was going on.
I thought the characters were interesting. Ellie and Caedmon had a sweet friendship, and I was rooting for both of them by the end. I felt like Caedmon started out as a strong character, but he kind of flattened for me. Ellie was a really good character, though, and I liked how she was able to accept all parts of herself in the end. I also liked that she was able to recognize that her mom treated her terribly! I think readers will like both Ellie and Caedmon and the adventure they have.
The pacing was pretty good overall, and there were some pretty exciting moments. The writing style itself was pretty easy to follow, I just wish that the world building had been stronger.

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This was so much fun to read! It's about friendship and adventure. Loved the Arthurian legend. I am also a big fan of magical schools. The characters are fantastic! I look forward to their next adventure.

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I was really excited for this one, but unfortunately it didn't work for me. There were a lot of great ideas in this book, but it felt as though they got a little lost because there was so much happening, and I think that is why this one didn't work for me. It was chaotic, and I spent a lot of the time trying to work out what was happening and keep track of what was happening, and I'm not sure how the targeted age range would manage that.

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I absolutely adored this book.

The Witch, The Sword, and the Cursed Knights takes place in a world inspire by Arthurian mythology, in which the fall of Camelot fractured the world into a couple dozen magical realms and one non-magical realm. Children are drafted from across the realms each year to go through trials to potentially become knights and protect the realms (a lifelong commitment). Ellie is a 12-year-old witch, something that she has hidden all of her life, who is rejected from the Fairy Godmother Academy at the start of the book. When she is drafted, she decides to carry out the ultimate fairy godmother task of helping a lost cause achieve their greatest wish in the hopes of getting her rejection reconsidered. Meanwhile, Caedmon is from the non-magical realm, and recently lost his best friend due to a sudden illness. When he is drafted, he finds out that his friend was killed by an evil magical creature unleashed by a curse upon the academy, and that the only way to keep his family safe is for him to become a knight and find the lost sword of Excaliber.

Both protagonists are wonderful, though I was somewhat partial to Ellie. She struggles a lot with the fact that she's always had to hide the fact that she's a witch, since witches are subject to intense discrimination and control in her world. She's always been friendless, and constant insults from her mother make her want to do anything to gain her approval, which is what leads her to her dream of being a fairy godmother. She's determined and fun and impulsive and I absolutely loved reading her character arc.

Meanwhile, Caedmon is still working through the trauma of his best friend's death when his world is turned completely upside down through the knowledge that there's magic that has been hidden from his realm for his entire life, and that he has to leave his family and become a knight in order to protect them. He's rational and ambitious and a wonderful foil to Ellie's character, even if I didn't quite enjoy reading about him as much as I did her.

Ellie and Caedmon's friendship is one of the best parts of the book. They're both a little traumatized when it comes to friendships, due to Ellie's never having had a friend and Caedmon having lost his best friend only shortly before the events of the book, so a lot of this development is them learning to trust and rely on each other in spite of those issues.

The side characters are wonderful as well, if a little two-dimensional. Ellie and Caedmon's two main friends, Omari and Lorelai, are intriguing but don't get much development, something that I believe would be addressed if there are further installments in the series. They both show a lot of promise as characters, but we just don't get to see that much of them. Every other character is unique and interesting, no matter how small a role they play.

The worldbuilding is so fun as well; I loved all of the witches and fairy godmothers and knights and princesses. I wish a little more time had been spent on it, since there were definitely occasions where I was a little confused as to what was going on. However, I was always able to figure it out relatively quickly what characters were referring to, so it was never an issue for long. It isn't the most complex lore in the world, but it's still a really interesting take on Arthurian mythology, and I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of it.

One thing I will say is that this definitely feels like the first book in a series, but it doesn't appear that any sequels have been announced yet. I'll definitely be disappointed if there aren't further books released, because it definitely feels more like the start of a story than the entire one; there's still a lot of plot and character development that it feels like is right there waiting to happen, so I truly hope it does, as it's relatively unsatisfying as a standalone.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights. It's a truly captivating and fun middle-grade fantasy based on the stories of Camelot. The plot is interesting, but the characters are what truly make the story as they figure out who they are and who they want to be. While I really hope that this becomes a series, since I want to see how all of the characters and plot-hooks introduced in this book develop, I would still readily recommend it if such a thing never comes to be. It's a book about magic and knights and witches and learning to be friends; my only issue with it is that I wish there was more content coming, and there are far worse problems for a book to have than being too interesting. I'm giving it 5/5 stars.

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A few months ago, I’ve started reading MG again and I start to fall in love with that genre. Especially the ones with magical boarding schools like this one here.

I loved the worldbuilding and the writing style. It was magical and beautiful. We see everything through Ellie’s and Caedmons eyes and follow them on their little journey full of unknown beasts and “quests”. We learn about new realms and Fairy Godmothers which is amazing and will for sure, make kids fall in love with this story.

However, the feeling of being lost became overwhelming at some points. There was too much happening at the same time and I wasn’t able to follow anymore. Unfortunately, this did influence me into rating this MG novel only 3 1/2 stars instead of more.

Nevertheless, I still think that this novel is great for children and older readers who just want to escape from reality and spend a good amount of time in another world. A world that is full of adventures, magic and wickedness.

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Charming. Refreshing. Engaging. A magical and adventurous tale of two children fighting the tides of their lives, forging a path away from home, and finding a friend in each other. Holding true as a retelling of the Arthurian legend yet building on an originality worthy of praise. Thank you to Little, Brown for the opportunity to read this early!

The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights is a debut middle-grade fantasy inspired by the Arthurian legend.

Camelot, a symbol of the Arthurian world, has fallen to ruin and the world is now divided into various magical realms and other realms where all memory of magic has vanished. Despite King Arthur gone, children are drafted every year to serve as knights of the Round Table—as the guardians of the realms. Ellie, a twelve-year-old girl with an impressive toad collection, doesn’t want to be selected into the knights’ floating castle since she hopes for her highborn mother’s recognition; and only the path to becoming a fairy godmother can guarantee this respect because Ellie is born with witch’s magic too, and witches are outcasts in Aurelia Realm, her home. So when she instead gets drafted to serve as a knight, Ellie turns to the one way she can get out of this summon: by helping a lost cause.

Caedmon, in another realm, is a twelve-year-old boy who is broken and withdrawn as grief over the inexplicable death of his best friend remains heavy. So it’s only understandable when he ignores those mysterious letters asking him to join some knights, thinking it must be a prank. But fate is written and soon, both Caedmon and Ellie find themselves reporting to Château des Chevaliers as recruits, where the two become friends and learn of a wicked curse draining the knights of their powers. Now, unless Ellie accepts her witchling heritage and Caedmon becomes the knight he’s meant to be—that is, unless both accept who they really are—the looming darkness threatens this world. And so it begins! The two find themselves on a magical adventure to reforge the legendary, shattered sword of Excalibur.

With a plot that keeps a reader guessing and with an astounding world building, this page-turner fantasy stays grounded in the original strongholds of King Arthur’s legend while also innovating storylines adorned with twists and surprises. From various creatures and Arthurian references to the cherishable trope of a young hero and shero, Roger’s debut effortlessly weaves something classic and fresh at the same time.

But what is sure to win the readers’ heart is the characterisation. Ellie’s humour gives life to the pages and her desperation to simply prove herself is impossible to not relate with. For a young girl growing up in a society that views part of her to be evil because of the witchcraft she can perform, her need to earn respect and simply fit in is unmissable. This is exactly what fuels her bravery and it’s a pleasure to witness her arc. Caedmon, in contrast, is completely lost and can’t seem to feel any ounce of happiness in the midst of an overwhelming grief. And for a young soul like him to still take up the task written for him, to rise as his true self, and to courageously do his best while the grief doesn’t leave, is absolutely commendable.

Ultimately, the friendship Ellie and Caedmon share uplifts the entire tone of this middle-grade retelling that otherwise still impresses through an intriguing plot. Both found themselves completely alone at one point and never expected to see support in each other. And that exact hope every young (and old) reader has found simmering within their hearts at some point leaves me delighted. The wish for acceptance in these flawed yet adorable characters wonderfully imparts the importance of fully being oneself—and even letting someone see that authentic self.

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I took my sweet time to start this book which I deeply regret now. Not only does that mean that I have to rush writing this review, it also means that I could have read this wonderful book sooner!
I took a lot of notes, reading this book.

The book throws you pretty much in there. One of the two main characters – Ellie – lives in one of the 25 and a half realms, one of those with magic. Ellie is a sweet and determined girl, starved for approval and friendship, who wishes for nothing more than to become a fairy godmother and to forever hide that she is a witch. She has high hopes… until a draft letter arrives.

Her counterpart, a boy named Caedmon who is from „our“ realm, gets drafted too but under total different circumstances. He has no idea about the realms that coexist with our world and doesn‘t really care. His best friend Jimmy has just died and Caedmon has a hard time struggling with depression.

The chapters alternate between the two characters and I loved both equally. I found it curious how different Ellie seemed from Caedmon‘s point of view and vice versa. Ellie seemed much more bubbly and energetic. Caedmon was maybe a bit spacey but nice and kind. I found that especially interesting since it shows how other people can never tell what‘s going on inside a person. The inside can be much different than the outside.

I loved the worldbuilding. The 25 and a half realms that we didn‘t all get to experience but certainly would have wanted to, the castle where Caedmon and Ellie are training to be knights. The creatures that are either super cool or will give the reader nightmares for days. It was imaginative and interesting and makes you hope for more.
The story is fastpaced and gripping, with trials – literally and figuratively – around every corner. The stakes are so impossibly high and you cannot help to root for Ellie and Caedmon to achieve their individual goals.
There were interesting and terrifying and surprising and heartbreaking moments and I loved almost every second of it.

Of course nothing is perfect and even in this thrilling adventure there were some things that I think could have been done better. The action scenes were always fast but also felt kinda blurry to me. Sometimes I had trouble to grasp what just happened and had to read one or two paragraphs again to be sure. Some of the worldbuilding was a bit confusing, especially at the beginning.
Still, I really enjoyed The Witch, the Sword and the Cursed Knights and I am interested in reading more by Alexandria Rogers.

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I read this book as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours. Special thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 3 stars

The story is told from Ellie and Caedmon's perspectives by an omniscient third-person narrative and the narrator's voice was pretty humorous at times. I liked the use of the occasional footnotes that would include something quippy and give subtle hints about the narrator's identity. If you enjoy magical schools then you'll also delight in knowing this one has the trope but instead of a school for any old witch or wizard, it's a magical school for knights! It's complete with gigantic dining halls with mouthwateringly delicious food, cool classes like poison resistance and star speaking, witchy forests and abandoned rooms that are ever-changing and rearranging. There are also lots of fascinating magical creatures and beings, such as the skeletal Urokshi who live in underground forest caverns.

What I enjoyed the most were the characters and their journeys. In a world where witches are reviled due to their role in the fall of Camelot, Ellie has had a very lonely childhood ruled by fear. She has the powers of a witch but has been forced to hide her abilities by her mother, who has always belittled her and kept her away. All Ellie wants is to make her mother proud and, more than anything, she wants to attend fairy school to prove once and for all that she rejects every notion of being a witch. When we meet Caedmon, he's drowning in despair and his grief over losing his best friend so suddenly. He's from the "New World" (Earth) and has no idea about the magical realm until he's recruited to join the school of knights. Both Ellie and Caedmon feel abandoned and alone at the beginning but form a fast friendship as they realise they're kindred spirits who can rely on each other, to be honest, and supportive, and they learn that sometimes "kin" isn't just your blood but the people you choose to be in your life. I loved how Ellie learns to accept her witch powers and how Caedmon deals with his loss, and it was great to see them both gain confidence in themselves. Their journeys are really just beginning but in this first book, they develop a strong foundation to grow individually but also as a team.

The main issue I had with the story is that I felt that it tried to do too much at once and it became a slightly chaotic jumble with nothing of consequence being resolved by the end. I thought the world-building was a little haphazard and not very intricate, which does it make it good for young readers who are starting off their fantasy reading journeys. I wish we got more details about the school aspect—the classes, the friendships (outside of their duo, and the teacher figures. We briefly meet a number of characters, including Omari and Lorelei who kind of band in with Ellie and Cad, but they're relatively one-dimensional and we don't learn much about them. Their search for the curse caster and the hunt for Excalibur took up a lot of their time but I also felt as if we don't get enough detail about it and at times I found it hard to understand how they'd come to a certain conclusion. And for as much time as they spend searching for the sword, I also found it a little anticlimactic when they actually do.

That said, I do realise that I'm not the target audience for this story. I believe many young readers who want to try fantasy and who want to explore new retellings of different tales will certainly enjoy the magic, the friendship, and the adventure in this debut, with (I'm hoping) much more to come in future books!

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Alexandria Rogers’ The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights is a magical, adventure-filled new middle-grade fantasy! An engaging and innovative take on the legend of Arthur and Merlin, I can easily envision fantasy readers of all ages (but especially children) enjoying this. If this is Alexandria Rogers’ debut novel, I can’t wait to read any other books she may write in the future!

One hallmark of a great retelling in my opinion is using enough of the original story that it's recognizable while also changing things up such that it’s clearly a unique take. Ms. Rogers delivers on that idea; she took all of my favorite parts of the original legend and wove them into an innovative and fresh version of the tale. I really appreciated how she didn’t rely on all of the original figures connected to the Round Table (Lancelot, Gawain, Galahad, etc.) - most of them aren’t even referenced until later in the book. Her unique take on the story allowed for even die-hard fans of the original tale (a.k.a me) to be surprised here and there by plot twists, and I loved that! My favorite quote (that kind of embodies the direction the author seemed to want to take the story) is this: “Excalibur was not made for a warrior king. It was made for a boy with indomitable courage.”

It was a beautiful experience to be able to watch the friendship and bonds between the main characters, Ellie and Caedmon, grow. They both have some issues in their family life, but they were able to find a family with each other and some of the other draftees (*cue happy tears*). It was also heartwarming to see how they needed each other to be able to fulfill their destiny - talk about a full-circle moment, especially for two characters who felt so alone at the beginning of the book.

The worldbuilding was fantastic! There are a lot of creatures and magic and different elements that were incorporated, and I never had an issue envisioning things. Most of the worldbuilding is explored through Caedmon’s eyes (given that he is new to the magical realm), and it was exciting to be able to experience things alongside him.

If a kid-friendly Arthurian legend retelling complete with a strong hero and heroine, hilarious antics, and lots of intricate worldbuilding sounds like something you would enjoy, then pick up The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights today! I would happily recommend this book to fantasy readers at the middle-grade level and above.

Thank you to the author, the publisher Little Brown Books for Young Readers, the team at TBR and Beyond Tours, and NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary review copy of the book as part of my participation in the blog tour. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights immensely! Please note - I voluntarily read and reviewed the book. All opinions expressed in the review are my own and not influenced in any way.

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This was a great book! I loved the magic and references to older myths. Loved the twists and turns, and the MC's were just great!

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Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Witch, The Sword, and The Cursed Knights

Author: Alexandria Rogers

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: middle grade readers, fantasy, retelling, King Arthur retelling, magical boarding school

Publication Date: February 8, 2022

Genre: MG Fantasy Retelling

Recommended Age: 11+ (gore, death, grief

Explanation of CWs: There is some mention of gore here and there throughout the book. There is talk about death and characters dealing with grief.

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 422

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Ellie can’t help that she’s a witch, the most hated member of society. Determined to prove her worth and eschew her heritage, Ellie applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy—her golden ticket to societal acceptance. But Ellie’s dreams are squashed when she receives the dreaded draft letter to serve as a knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. She can get out of the draft—but only if she saves a lost cause.

Enter Caedmon, a boy from Wisconsin struggling with the death of his best friend. He first dismisses the draft as ridiculous; magic can’t possibly exist. But when Merlin’s ancient magic foretells his family’s death if he doesn’t follow through, he travels to the knights’ castle, where he learns of a wicked curse leeching the knights of their power.

To break the curse, Ellie and Caedmon must pass a series of deathly trials and reforge the lost, shattered sword of Excalibur. And unless Ellie accepts her witch magic and Caedmon rises to become the knight he’s meant to be, they will both fail—and the world will fall to the same darkness that brought King Arthur and Camelot to ruin.

Review: For the most part I thought the book was ok. I thought the book read a lot like The School for Good and Evil and was a decent fairytale book. I loved the magical boarding school feel to it and have added it to my HP Recovery List on my blog. The book also did so well with the King Arthur themes. The world building was good and overall it’s a great story that I could see a lot of middle graders loving.

However, I had a lot of issues with the book. I found it really hard to get into and the book was very chaotic at times. There was a lot going on with the plot points and it was just hard to keep everything straight sometimes. The characters are, in my opinion, not well developed and a bit weak. There’s really nothing I can think about either of the main characters to distinguish one from another except for maybe one or two things. The book is interesting, but it wasn’t enough to keep me intrigued.

Verdict: It’s good, just not for me but maybe for you!

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