While this was beautifully written, I felt the plot line dragged quite a bit which is why it took me so long to read. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. Each time I expected plot development, it turned out to be depressing and full of medieval anti-feminist events inflicted on the main character.
If you aren’t aware of Arthurian legend/history then this story just won’t hit that hard for you.

I grew up loving Arthurian legends and I always felt that Morgan was wronged in so many ways. This book was everything I could ever want for a book on her. She was so far progressive beyond her time, so powerful and so strong. Sophie Keetch did an incredible job of showing the woman behind the legend. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC of this book.

Good book, interesting story. It is an intriguing change to have Merlin acting as a jerk. The storyline with Arthur had a nice beginning before it was cut short with the end of the book.

I’m not sure about the feminist bent the book claims to have. Morgan is educated and had opportunities to become so. However, she is forbidden to practice her healing arts, her husband doesn’t want to hear her counsel. Many things have to be done in secret or under the disguise of something else.

This was a page one No for me which is solely my problem not that of the book. I had a visceral dislike of the names and just didn't have the desire to try to get used to them.

I've read great reviews on this book, and really like the concept, so I have not posted an online review.

4.25 stars
I absolutely loved this book and hope we get a sequel to see how Morgan's life unfolds. The author gave us a wonderful (if occasionally slow-paced) story of a young girl whose life is shattered by lies and magic and who grows into a confident woman.

I've always been fascinated with the story of Morgan Le Fay because just about every rendition starts with a death and a lie. Her father is killed and Uther uses magic to claim her mother unknowingly before claiming her publicly and selling off her daughters. I mean if given the chance and means who wouldn't take revenge for a life drenched in pain? Yet the stories all portray Morgan as the villainess instead of the victim, survivor, and ultimately a fury seeking her pound of flesh.

I think we all know a self-possessed woman was almost always described as "evil and trouble" in medieval writings so this Morgan is such a breath of fresh air. She knows who she loves, what she wants, and is willing to get it without kowtowing to the man who's directly responsible for how her life has unfolded. I love how Morgan calls out and stands up to Merlin who cares for nothing but his own visions of the future, I'm sure their future collisions will be fiery. I can't wait to read more about Morgan's evolution into her true self and how she protects her loved ones.

So glad I received an ARN from the Publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.

I flew through this feminist Arthurian retelling featuring Morgan Le Fay. The prose is beautiful and evocative, and the characters are so compelling. Her friendships and relationships in particular are very well written.

Because it follows Morgan's life from childhood on through her education and marriage, it is by nature on the slower side and a bit plot light. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is interested in Arthurian legends or enjoys mythological retellings!

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC! I got this on it's release day, so apologies for the somewhat belated review!

Tempestuous. Conniving. Evil. These are descriptors for the Morgan Le Fay I read about when I was much younger. Unsurprisingly, these were stories written by men, and no doubt in an effort to make Arthur seem even more heroic, others in his life needed to seem more mundane, or cruel.

Sophie Keetch takes what we know from earlier legends and creates a more nuanced, complex portrait of this woman. Here Morgan, as she insists she be called, is a fiery, brilliant person who cares deeply, but doesn't suffer fools. Keetch takes us from Morgan as an eight-year-old, to a married woman with a young son. As this is meant to be the first of a trilogy, there is much left for Morgan to do to distinguish herself during Arthur's reign, and Keetch lays the groundwork for this woman's later achievements in this compelling portrait.

Keetch hits some of the usual beats: Uther rapes her mother after Morgan's father dies, her half-brother is born and spirited away by Merlin, then Morgan falls for one of Uther's Knights, Accolon, before she leaves home to spend years at an abbey in study, learning much, including discovering her ability to heal and her unusual connection to the sea. Later, she's married off by Uther to cement an alliance, and spends years making a life far from her home, living with a vain man, having his child and experiencing the failure of her relationship and finally meeting her seemingly long lost half-brother.

What Keetch does with these story milestones is make us care for a young woman who is forthright to a fault, daring, deeply caring of her best friend Alys and her family. She's also bold, passionate, clever, and impulsive.

I particularly loved how creepy she found Merlin, who comes off as manipulative and whose motives are murky. Her aversion is instinctive, and hints at future conflict, even while she and Arthur immediately connect and like one another.

The settings and character interactions are well-drawn, the atmosphere is wonderful, and showed that though most people were illiterate and superstitious, there were also centres of deep learning, including the abbey where Morgan felt happiest during many of the years covered in this book.

I anticipate more treachery, scheming, and clashes in the next installment, as Keetch will probably introduce us to various interests and individuals found at Arthur's Court. I can't wait.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I have always loved finding new Arthurian retellings, and this one really drew me in right from the start.
Not a tale of knights and quests but rather the strength of women as the undercurrent of all stories.
It definitely read like a modern lens (the unexpected LGBTQ rep was heartwarming) rather than stuck in the stodgy old "A man is destined for greatness!" track, which may ruffle some more traditional feathers but I was in love through the whole thing.

The characters are vibrant, the storyline is a touch slow at times but with enough plot twists to entertain even those familiar with every detail of the legends.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for access to the eBook ARC!

Morgan enjoys her life. Her parents are loving and support her need for learning. Even though it's not fitting for a lady, they make sure she has all the books and knowledge she could ever want.

That all changes when Uther Pendragon kills her father and forces her mother to marry him. Uther is a horrible. Morgan hates him and can't get along with him. He has taken everything from her.

While secretly continuing her quest for knowledge, she realizes that she has powers. She is thriving and loving life again when Uther reveals his plans for her. He is going to ruin her life all over again.

I loved this! I loved Morgan and her thirst for knowledge in a time when women were just supposed to marry and provide heirs. How dare she want more than that! I love a female character that bucks the system!

I'm really excited to see where this series goes. There was quite a bit unanswered in this one.

Morgan Is My Name takes one of the most popular stories in English literature - that of King Arthur, Merlin, the Knights of the Round Table and Camelot - and offers us a fresh perspective on that historical (?), fantastical (?) event.

Sophie Keetch tells this well-known tale through the eyes of Morgan Le Fay, a female character who was initially seen as a wise woman with incredible, perhaps even supernatural, healing gifts but whose reputation and exploits have been villainized over the centuries.

The Morgan of this book is intelligent, loyal, persistent, strong and has an unquenchable curiosity and desire to learn and to help, in her case through understanding the body and how to treat its many injuries and ills.

But Morgan lives in a time when the education of girls and women was dependent solely on the whims of the men in their lives. As a girl, Morgan's father is in favour of her education. But her husband, not so much.

Of course, even the idea of female autonomy and agency is anathema to most of the men in Morgan's time. For instance, marriage is not a love match. It is a way for two "kingdoms" to consolidate power. The wife's role is merely to provide an heir, regardless of what wise counsel or solid advice or special skills she may be able to offer.

Abuse, oppression, and subjugation all drive the plot forward. But love, of many different sorts, is also a powerful player. There is the love between a parent and child, first romance,. queer love and even sacrificial love.

Telling the origin story of Camelot from the perspective of Morgan offers fresh insights into the actions and motivations of all the characters and that is always thought-provoking.

Though this book is set in the era of knights and wizards, having Morgan narrate the story somehow makes it feel strangely current. Women are still struggling to be accepted for their intelligence, their skills, their wisdom. It is still very difficult for most powerful men to take any kind of advice from a woman. And we still fear that which we do not understand, whether it is sorcery or "women's intuition".

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. In fact, I fell down the Wikipedia page on King Arthur trying to figure out what happens to all the main characters, and how they converge or diverge in Keetch's novel. I really hope she writes a sequel because I want to see, through Morgan's eyes and those of her female companions, how the rest of the Camelot saga unfolds.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read Morgan is My Name by Sophie Keetch

This book was not for me, but I am sure others will enjoy it. I always love Arthurian tales, so I am sure that I will return to this book later.

Another great retelling of a legend I know less about that I think I do. Morgan le Fay is such an interesting character and after some Wikipedia research about the Arthurian myths I realized just how faithful this retelling is. I loved the focus of her magic on healing and helping people and how she isn’t framed as a villain by most

I am such a sucker for these new books coming out showing the woman's perspective on well known myths, and this book does NOT disappoint! It was such a joy to read, and I want to thank NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for allowing me to read this early in exchange for an honest review...

Morgan le Fay is a relatively well known character in the King Arthur myths, but usually she is seen as a horrid witch, ugly and gross, evil to the core. Sophie Keetch has written a book about Morgan's life showing a different side, and a side that seems more truthful to whom Morgan actually might have been. In many myths, women characters are usually seen as awful or one sided, they lack depth and are seen as secondary to the male front figure. Keetch here has done an amazing job of showing off Morgan and telling the tale of her life from her perspective.

This book is wonderfully written. Even if you know very little about who Morgan was in the myths, this book will fill in all the blanks. I was very heartbroken and cried at certain points, I laughed when Morgan felt joy, I struggled with her when she went through conflict. This book is a tale that women everywhere can relate to easily, and it was hard for me to not think about and be concerned for Morgan when I had to put this book down. Historically, time has not been kind to women and Keetch does a wonderful job of showing how hard life could be during Morgan's time period, while also showing Morgan's want to rebel from that society.

This book does not tell the whole story, partly because I suspect there will be more written in the future about the next "sections" of Morgan's life...and boy am I excited to read them when they come out!

If you love myths, magic, time period specific stories, history shown by women, or just a general love for a great read...READ THIS! I cannot stress how much I enjoyed this book and I am so excited to see what Sophie Keetch writes next !!!

I was excited going into this, but was left itching for more! Which is good because it’s supposed to be the first book in a series.

I expected a quicker dive into Morgan’s descent into her “villainhood”, and a refreshing perspective twist on her side of famous Arthurian legends. But this focused a lot more on her early upbringing and perhaps the many encounters with horrible men that eventually lead her there. That meant the lack of a satisfying final act for me, where I hoped to see her come into her powers fully and unapologetically.

However this means I’m excited to see where the sequels go. This feels like one piece of an overarching series-long slow burn, so I expect the final book to feel extra satisfying when we get there. I can’t wait to see where Sophie Keetch takes us.

A gorgeous re-telling of a magnificent woman. I loved the first-person narrative, bringing with it an intimate connection. Well written, full of intricate details, this book is nothing short of stunning.

The one thing everyone should know about me by now is a really enjoy King Arthur retellings. So, you can imagine I was really excited when I read the synopsis of this one. Morgan le Fay has always been such an interesting figure to me in Arthurian legend so I was very interested to see her story. This book is very readable. I found myself not wanting to put it down. Morgan was a strong protagonist and it was interesting to see well-known pieces of the legend come about from her perspective. This book was also beautifully written and as atmospheric as it promises while still boasting plenty of plot.

But in a lot of ways, I felt like the synopsis was misleading and this story left me wanting more. I went into this book thinking I was going to see a sorcerous Morgan come into her power and as the synopsis says, rival Merlin, but we never truly get a chance to see that. Instead, Morgan doesn't really seem to care much about her abilities and the ways they could benefit her in her battle against the oppressive system she finds herself in. I also felt like many of the other characters were flat and I didn't really find myself caring much for them, even the love interest (whom I have some strong feelings on but we will not get into that here). The pacing was also odd at times and made the story lose its focus in places.

I will say, one of the things this book does best is its discussion surrounding the role of women in regard to the men around them. It is a battle, even now, for women to be seen as anything other than, as this book refers to it, a "vessel" to bring other more important or more valuable human beings into the world. You see different women and the way they fall into this role and the reasons why as you see Morgan rage against that expectation. All in all, while I can't bring myself to rate this book higher because of the issues I found with it, it is one that will stick with me for a long time as I contemplate the questions it raises.

Title: Morgan Is My Name
Author: Sophie Keetch
Genre: fantasy
Rating: 5 out of 5

Young Morgan of Cornwall lives a happy life in Tintagel Castle until King Uther Pendragon, with the help of the sorcerer Merlin, murders her father and tricks her mother into marriage. Furious, brilliant, and vengeful, Morgan defies her brutal stepfather, taking up a secret education, discovering a lifelong affinity with the healing arts, and falling in love with a man far beneath her station. However, defiance comes at a cost. Used as a bargaining chip in her stepfather’s war games, Morgan finds herself banished to a world of isolated castles and gossiping courts, amidst the machinations of kings, sorcerers, and men.

But some desires are not easily forgotten, and the search for her independence is a quest Morgan cannot give up. As the era of King Arthur approaches, she must use all her wit, knowledge, and courage to fight against those who wish to deny her intelligence, crush her spirit, and control her body. But, in seeking her freedom, Morgan risks losing everything–her reputation, her loved ones, and her life.

I love Arthurian legends and retellings, but most are not as well-done as this one. I truly loved this read! Morgan is a fascinating character as a child, and she only grows more fascinating as she gets older. I loved her forceful personality, her wit, and her determination to live her own life. Uther Pendragon—and Merlin, too—was a horrible person in this story and he made my skin crawl. Morgan, however, is vibrant, inspiring, and had me rooting for her from the first page.

Sophie Keetch is Welsh and lives in South Wales. Morgan is My Name is her new novel.

(Galley courtesy of Penguin/Random House Canada in exchange for an honest review.)

I would like the thank NetGalley for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Morgan Is My Name is an interesting retelling. There's not a lot of action as most of the "story" is about character growth, and I think that why I found it to drag at times with a lot of chapters full of her whining and weird obsession with one guy while also trying too hard to be mysterious even though it just comes off as her being spoiled?

I guess you can say I really didn't like Morgan as a character. A large part of it is the authors portrayal of men through her eyes. According to Morgan, all men are evil, and not a single man treats her nicely or shows kindness without secretly being a horrible person. It... got kind of old after a while. And very predictable. Like, oooh, a man who actually wants her happiness anddddd now he's kind of an ass. Idk, maybe it's just me being tired of "feminist retellings" just being a code for man bashing.

I wanted more of the magic. I wanted this crazy witch/sorceress just running around and being badass, and we didn't get that. Which, again, is why I feel like Morgan fell so flat as a character. Every time the story seemed to be building it just.... stopped.

And for someone who continued to complain that no one was supporting her or that she was trapped in her life and woe is me I want an education that I've been denied, everyone seems to be there in the next moment like "hey I know you were just told you weren't being educated but I'm here to educate you." So again, her constant complaining just comes off as whining.

Morgan is clearly the villain in the Arthur story, and so I thought we'd see more of her being evil or making terrible decisions that lead her onto the path of being a villain and we never saw that. She's constantly the victim. She's constantly fighting back against every man that's "trying to keep her down." And she never goes evil. It's almost like a redemption story that gives her excuses for the way she will eventually act, and I just found it incredibly annoying. Not every villain needs an excuse as to why they act the way they do. And it was written in a way that makes her a hero? And maybe it would've helped to see her interact with Arthur more than the few moments we get, but this felt like a prequel to a prequel.

The writing was beautiful for sure. But Morgan was an annoying character, every man is treated terribly with like maybe two exceptions? And the story felt incomplete in the end.

Actual rating: 3.75

3.7
My big thing here is that it adds something to the story if you're already decently versed in Arthurian Legend, but if you aren't...this isn't the way in, friends. Look, I get that she deserves her own framework, but there is way too much early Morgan for this to be interesting to anyone who isn't already interested.

I really like how Morgan is My Name gives the reader a different side to Morgan le Fay, a side that shows kindness, intelligence and strength. Sophie Keetch did a great job of mixing myth with her own ideas and the flow of this book was very well done. I am excited to read more by Sophie Keetch.

This feels like book one of a series or that is maybe my wishful thinking