Sophie Keetch's retelling of Morgan La Fey is refreshing and exciting. In the legend of Arthur, Morgan is either an incestuous or over-looked character. Keetch gives Morgan a new life in this first-person point of view. Morgan is courageous and strong-willed. His idea of Uther Pendragon would have anyone agree, he is a dirtbag. Merlin is merely his tool for getting Lady Igraine with a child that would be King Arthur. Morgan, who is outspoken about his falsehood and falling in love with a knight is sent away. In this convent, Morgan learns more about her healing gift. The middle part did get slow and I los,t some interest but with the arrival of Arthur. I was interested again. I wonder if Keetch will do a sequel diving into more of the Arthurian Legend that has been around for 100s of years. She does a great job with this story. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys retellings and King Arthur.

DNF. It wasn't to my taste - I liked the description of this book, but the actual reading of it was disappointing. It felt cliched and shallow. None of the characters, but in particular the main ones, were very fleshed out. Morgan was the usual sort of Mary Sue - misunderstood by her family, except for her father, who of course then promptly dies. Evil stepfather, long suffering mother, insta-love with an unsuitable boy, sent away to a convent, insta-best friend. There was potential, but I wished for something more compelling than this.

I received this as an ARC from Net Galley

This was sheer perfection. Even if I didn't always go for feminist Arthurian retellings, MORGAN IS MY NAME by Sophie Keetch still would have knocked me sideways with its gorgeous, accomplished prose. This is a stunning debut centring the life of the sorceress and healer popularly known as Morgan le Fay: daughter, wife, and sister of kings, written here by Keetch as a totally original, undeniably powerful figure in her own right.

I appreciated Keetch's resistance to popular and simplistic (and typically male) interpretations of Morgan's character as a dark or villainous force in the life and story of her younger half-brother King Arthur, while still maintaining her own complex nature. This is a Morgan who is not to be walked over; a Morgan who is rebellious (often at her own cost), formidable, and clever; a Morgan who craves knowledge and resists every single expectation of her; a Morgan who is also accepting, loving, romantic, and fiercely protective of the people she cares for. This is a Morgan whom anyone would be hard-pressed to deny her the impulse to go nuclear and burn the entire world (the endless shit these men put women through, my god)... and yet, she doesn't. And yet, she could.

There is a fire in her that burns so brightly and can't be put out. I can't wait to see what the remaining two books in this trilogy have in store for her.