The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
Published: November 5, 2019
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Pages: 352
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Retelling
Rating: ★★★

From New York Times bestselling author Kiersten White comes a new fantasy series reimagining the Arthurian legend, set in the magical world of Camelot. There was nothing in the world as magical and terrifying as a girl. Princess Guinevere has come to Camelot to wed a stranger: the charismatic King Arthur. With magic clawing at the kingdom’s borders, the great wizard Merlin conjured a solution–send in Guinevere to be Arthur’s wife . . . and his protector from those who want to see the young king’s idyllic city fail. The catch? Guinevere’s real name–and her true identity–is a secret. She is a changeling, a girl who has given up everything to protect Camelot. To keep Arthur safe, Guinevere must navigate a court in which the old–including Arthur’s own family–demand things continue as they have been, and the new–those drawn by the dream of Camelot–fight for a better way to live. And always, in the green hearts of forests and the black depths of lakes, magic lies in wait to reclaim the land. Arthur’s knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free. Deadly jousts, duplicitous knights, and forbidden romances are nothing compared to the greatest threat of all: the girl with the long black hair, riding on horseback through the dark woods toward Arthur. Because when your whole existence is a lie, how can you trust even yourself?

I was approved for the e-ARC of this book through NetGally in exchange for an honest review.

The idea of this book was so fun and so interesting! I wasn’t as obsessed with Arthurian times as a lot of people seem to be but I do know the stories and always enjoyed seeing cartoon moves about this time period. I think not knowing much about the original tale might have hindered my experience with this book. I was confused a solid 40%-50% of the story and while I feel it can be partially my fault, it can also be with the story telling. The reveals were too slow or they would come at a time that made no sense. Things did pick up after the 50% mark but by then I was just waiting for the story to be over. It was saved by the ending though because when I say things picked up, they PICKED UP!

Like I said, the idea of this story is amazing. Female empowerment during a time like this was unheard of but the fact that Kiersten spun a world where there were feminist themes just intrigued me. I had the feeling something was off the moment the first chapter ended. From then on, I was confused and just questioning everything. While I feel like that was meant to happen, I do not feel like leaving the reader in the dark for 40-50% is good writing. While this could have been totally my fault, I found out that I am not the only one who felt this way.

It took too long for anything to get solved and when it did, it would give me one or two more questions! When a big reveal happened about 60% of the way through the book, things really took off. Action packed and I found myself just turning page after page to find out what was going to happen. Then, it was over. I was sad because I felt like things were finally happening and then, it was all over. I did like the ending enough to give this book three stars, otherwise it would have been a solid two stars for me.

I am looking forward to the next book but currently, I am not dying for it. I will give this book a shot in it’s final form before the second book in the series comes out but I am in no rush to reread it right now. I feel like the audiobook might be a good way to go because I know when things get confusing, hearing the story helps me to keep everything in line. So when a reread is due, I will give the story a listen.