by Kiersten White
I’m going to start this review off by saying I have a long [and complicated] history with Guinevere. Part of me loves her, and part of me hates her [mainly for her affair with Lancelot – I’m not a fan of cheating]. But I always enjoy reading about her, to some extent, though fully I can’t explain why.
So, when I heard about The Guinevere Deception and how most people seemed to enjoy it – AND it showed up in an Owlcrate box, it got put on my TBR list.
I’ll start off by saying this is probably one of the most “YA feeling” books I’ve read in awhile. The Infernal Devices definitely pushed the edge of YA a bit, and Wicked As You Wish was about as “YA feeling” as this was, though in very different ways.
I’m going to dive into my recommendation before going further: if you enjoy King Arthur/Camelot retellings and like a bit of modern/gender twist to things, you should definitely give this a go – keeping in mind that it feels very YA. If you’re not a fan of a slight modernizing/gender-bending to King Arthur/Camelot, I suggest not picking this up.
Alright, back to the book content – I don’t know that I would call it a disconnect from the characters, but I’m not rooting and feeling for Guinevere as I have other characters, and definitely not nearly as much as I did for Tessa in The Infernal Devices or Kady [or any other “main” ladies in the series] in The Illuminae Files or Mia in the Nevernight Chronicles, even including the murderous queen thing. I do still hold some curiosity to what happens next, but it’s one of those books that . . . if I miss the release of the sequel and don’t read it shortly after release, I’m not sure I’d mind. I’m currently leaning towards wanting to pick up the sequel when it releases, but I’m not sure if that will hold.
I really can’t explain anything too much beyond that. Maybe it’s our lack of knowledge of Guinevere – how so much of her is still a mystery? Maybe if more of her was learned or explained? But maybe not, maybe it’s something else entirely. But something felt missing.
**SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT. DON’T READ FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS. DETAILS WILL BE DISCUSSED, AN ATTEMPT TO DISCOVER THE MISSING PIECE WILL BE PURSUED. DON’T KEEP READING IF YOU DON’T WANT IT!**
Alright, so, I get that part of the series intrigue is suppose to be her lack of knowledge about who she is and her past and whatnot. I get that. I get that she’s hinted at being a changeling, I get that her origins are suppose to be murky, I get it. But there’s literally almost nothing to go on by the end of the book – and even less than what we started with, in a way. There wasn’t a connection made to her to care about her losing part of her identity. I didn’t feel for her loses or inconveniences or even her kidnapping. Everything I felt for her, I would feel for any character, well written or poorly. I don’t feel like Mordred is a loss. I mean, a bit, but he was in no way truly vital before he’s gone. He feels more like a consolation prize when Guinevere is expecting Arthur and gets Mordred instead, almost like a back-up plan than anything. A lot about Guinevere fell short of what I expected and hoped for. She isn’t exactly a flat character, but she lacks depth that I was looking for, I guess?
Maybe that’s part of the disconnect-that-isn’t-truly-a-disconnect?
Arthur is the only character who felt appropriately established. He’s the kind of Camelot – he’s not suppose to be well known, not suppose to have a lot of screen-time – he’s even allowed to me somewhat of a mystery! If anything, we get more of a glimpse of his character than would be expected, and it’s a nice relief from the opposite happening with Guinevere.
I like that the author is reminding the readers that all the king and queen romances we usually read in times like the time of Camelot are flawed in that the king would not have nearly as much time on his hands to woo and spoil his queen like they tend to be written. Most kings don’t really have time for their queens beyond creating an heir – which has the unfortunate, sometimes side effect of killing what romance was there, if any were.
The magic system is interesting and reminds me a touch of the magic system in Serpent & Dove while still being unique from it. They’re decidedly different yet undeniably similar. I like the familiarity in the unique.
Onto my next TBR read! Can you guess what it’ll be?
The Fox Den 