Book Review
Title: The Guinevere Deception (Camelot Rising Book 1) by Kiersten White
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling
Rating: 3 Stars
I heard a lot about The Guinevere Deception when it came out but I am only now picking it up. I was intrigued as it is a retelling of the legend of King Arthur but with more magic. We learn very earl y on that the Guinevere we are following is a changeling as the real Guinevere has died. She is travelling to Camelot where we learn that magic is wild around its borders making it dangerous. This is important as Camelot has outlawed magic meaning even Merlin was kicked out of the city despite his role in helping Arthur reclaim his crown. This Guinevere also has a major fear of water of any kind and we don’t know why yet but I am hoping to find out soon. Arthur knows that Guinevere is a changeling and is essentially Merlin’s daughter sent to protect him and he is working with her in that. However, we get brief snippets from the Dark Queen who seems to responsible for what is happening to the forests outside Camelot and she is trying to dethrone Arthur and Guinevere is the only thing standing between her and him.
The opening to The Guinevere Deception was ok nothing too interesting but I am hoping that will come soon. Until we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, we simply follow Guinevere as she explores Camelot thinking about herself and her role within the city and how difficult it is going to be. Here she notices a few things going on, the first is that the patchwork knight who is working to be one of Arthur’s closest knights doesn’t seem quite human to her even when Arthur says she is wrong something doesn’t sit right with her. The second is that some of her own memories seem to have been tampered with which is a speciality belonging to Merlin himself but she thinks nothing more of it at the moment as she is completely focused on protecting Arthur and Camelot. However, from the perspective of the Dark Queen we learn that whatever Guinevere is, is something be to feared. The Dark Queen enters one of Guinevere’s dreams and sees thinks that make even her afraid and the girl in the dream speaks of something unmaking them and her allowing it, like magic itself might be under threat if Camelot thrives which it might be. I did like the fact a lot of the characters come from British legends and myths, like Tristan and Isolde and many, many more.
As Guinevere gets to know Camelot and its people we can see she is appearing less and less human as she doesn’t know or remember losing her baby teeth and she only starts her period after marrying Arthur which wasn’t acceptable even back then as girls weren’t considered women until they had begun their periods and this causes Guinevere to muse on how much or how little she remembers of being with Merlin. As the market day arrives she ends up spending a lot of time with Mordred, Arthur’s nephew and the son of Morgan la Fey. Guinevere notices that when Arthur asks Mordred to return her to the castle and she takes his hand, she feels a spark between them. Whether this spark is the spark of magic or possibly feelings between them is yet unknown but I have a feeling that Mordred might be the love interest not Arthur as he is devoted to Camelot over everything else. Guinevere has also been warding the castle so that magic can’t be used inside it and she has the feeling that the Dark Queen isn’t dead despite Arthur telling her she is and it seems that Guinevere is right. However, magic is taking its toll on Guinevere leading to her passing out for two whole days and when she comes around she learns another tournament is taking place and she needs to keep an eye on the patchwork knight. She sneaks out that night and learns that the patchwork knight and the woman he meets, which I am assuming is his wife, are dabbling in magic making them a threat to Arthur that she will need to watch closely.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Guinevere has adjusted to life in Camelot and has been tracking down and watching various threats to Arthur to make sure they don’t pose any immediate danger. However, as time passes she finds herself longing more and more to be Arthur’s true wife but this is complicated by her changing feelings towards Mordred. When Mordred takes her to the trials and she witnesses a woman named Rhoslyn being banished for using magic, she follows the woman as she is escorted out of Camelot. Outside the city, the guards leaves Rhoslyn to be attacked and possibly killed until the patchwork knight steps in and saves her so Guinevere knows they are working together. She also finds magic bound rocks at locations she has seen either Roselyn or the patchwork knight at before. She is about to close in on them when Arthur summons her to his side at the most inopportune time and she explains this to him when she arrives. However, Arthur isn’t willing to do anything about them right now as it is outside the borders of Camelot and he won’t attack anyone outside of the city. Guinevere also learns from Mordred that Merlin was responsible for the magic Uther Pendragon uses to essentially rape Arthur’s mother wearing the disguise of her husband making her think different about the man she has viewed as her father. We also get a brief snippet from the Lady of the Lake who wants revenge against Merlin for what he took from her which is interesting and Guinevere also notices that there is no magic in or around the lake, it has vanished completely which makes me think the Dark Queen and the Lady of the Lake might either be the same person or working together to bring magic back to Camelot.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, Arthur’s meeting doesn’t go well and they have to return to Camelot through the forest which is madness. In the forest they are attacked by wolves and Sir Tristen is bitten resulting in a fast moving infection that is going to kill him. Guinevere knows she can save him but Arthur refuses to let her because it might blow her cover but she does it anyway not wanting to let a good man die on her watch but she is caught by Mordred. Rather than turning her in, Mordred helps treat the burns she received from the cleansing magic and says nothing more. Arthur is angry with her when they return but he is also glad Sir Tristen is still alive, he begs that Guinevere does nothing more until he returns as he has to leave again and she agrees. During the next few nights she realises that someone is using magic to put her asleep and she realises that it is her maid, Brangien as with Sir Tristen they are trying to locate Isolde who had been Brangien’s lover, not Tristen’s and Guinevere reveals herself in order to help them but first she determines if they are a threat to Arthur which they are not. It seems that the people who know about Guinevere are comfortable with her and her magic and she is determined to find out what Merlin’s real plan is now she knows more about him and the attitude towards magic in Camelot.
We are now building towards the climax of the novel but apart from the snippets from the Dark Queen we haven’t seen any real threat to Camelot or Arthur. Arthur decides to take Guinevere hunting with him and during a trip into the woods, she and Brangien are chased down by a boar. Guinevere manages to lead the boar away from her friend as it seems focused on her and she is in turn rescued by the patchwork knight. After the boar is killed, Guinevere is bitten by a spider and the patchwork knight takes her to Rhoslyn who heals her, in turn Guinevere heals the knight who turns out to be a woman named Lancelot. During their return journey they end up coming across Merlin but he tells Guinevere and Lancelot to hide. Suddenly, the Lady of the Lake, Nynaeve, appear claiming that Merlin stole something from her and Guinevere assumes that this is Excalibur. However, I believe it is Guinevere herself, as she could possibly be the child of Merlin and Nynaeve as they seem to love each other and she is heartbroken about unmaking him. It would also make sense for Merlin to tamper with her memories and make her deathly afraid of water so the Lady of the Lake wouldn’t notice her as Guinevere would never step foot in water, Nynaeve’s domain. Upon returning to camp, Arthur explains to Guinevere that she wasn’t sent there to protect him, she was sent there for him to protect her but he doesn’t say from who or what but I have no idea what is in store for the ending of The Guinevere Deception.
The final section of The Guinevere Deception was interesting but it wasn’t really enough to carry what had been a pretty boring book. I definitely think it suffers from first book syndrome and I think if the magic system had been more prominent and the romance elements had been worked on more the characters would have been more interesting to follow. I also think more of Guinevere’s history should have been revealed and the Dark Queen should have had a better introduction than she got. Overall, it was worth the read and I will be picking up the sequel at some point in the future but this wasn’t an instant favourite and at times it was a bit of a chore to get through.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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