"'Do you have a message for me to take to your father and brother?'
I looked up at him, unspeaking and then got to my feet. As I walked across the room to him, he smiled, tentatively, hoping perhaps that I might send him on his way with some word of kindness. Instead, I spat at him, full in the face.
'Take that to my brother.'"

If you like Arthurian Legend with strong women, this is the book for you!

I was able to read this as an ARC from NetGalley and it was great. It goes through as a "prequel" to the Arthurian legends, but from the POV of Arthur's mother, beginning with the defeat of the Saxons by Uther Pendragon. After a dishonor is thrown at Igraine, her husband starts another war, this time with Uther, the High King of Britain. With betrayals and friendships, we follow as Igraine brings to life the Once and Future King.

I loved that the focus of the story being Igraine rather than a man, like Arthur or Uther Pendragon. All the women that you meet are all strong, powerful role models for the young and adult, alike. The pacing is a little slow, but for a short book, it works!

This book caught my attention with the title, the cover and the description. I read it all rather quickly, I wasn't able to put it down, I HAD to know what happens next. I feel like this book was beautifully written, I was able to imagine everything pristinely. It made me anxious, it made me cry a few times. it was really interesting to read the perspective of a woman during this time.


It's about Ingraine who while scrying sees a vision of her husband's death, meanwhile the king seems to have grown infatuated with her and makes inappropriate advances resulting in her husband to start a war. Ingraine struggles to figure out how to keep her daughters safe and what she's willing to give up for that, figuring out who is manipulating her and why, what she and the women have to do to hold down the land while the men go off to war.



I loved how I got so sucked into this story, I felt Ingraine's pain and confusion, I loved the fresh perspective and twist added to the old story of Arthur and the things that took place before that, I loved how descriptive this book was to where I felt and smelled and saw everything the characters did. I'm excited to see how this series continues.

The Chosen Queen: A Novel of the Pendragon Prophecy by Sam Davey gives the reader a view into Igraine’s journey. I was initially drawn to this because I am a sucker for a retelling from the historically muted female voices of the myths and legends we grow up with. Unfortunately, this book did not meet those expectations. There was a missed opportunity here to provide a strong female character demonstrating some agency in her circumstances but are left with an Igraine that just lets life happen to her.

Thank you to Diversion Books for the opportunity to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Audiobook Rating: 3 Stars
Pub Date: Jun 03 2025

Tags:
#DiversionBooks
#TheChosenQueen
#SamDavey
#RitaWoods
#ArthurLegends
#Womens Fiction
#YarisBookNook
#netgalley