The Guinevere Deception

Camelot Rising, Book 1

By: Kiersten White

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

"Fascinating.... Kiersten White has taken the best parts of the Arthurian legend and made them all her own." (Renée Ahdieh, number one New York Times best-selling author of The Wrath and the Dawn series)

A new fantasy series set in the world of Camelot that best-selling author Christina Lauren calls "brilliant", reimagining the Arthurian legend...where nothing is 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. 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?

*THE FIRST BOOK IN THE CAMELOT RISING TRILOGY*

"A rare and enviable mix of impeccable writing, heart-stopping action, lush scenery, and complex, relatable characters...brilliant!" (New York Times best-selling author Christina Lauren)

"Stunning...will leave every reader hungry for more." (Somaiya Daud, author of the Mirage series)

©2019 Kiersten White (P)2019 Listening Library

Critic reviews

“With immersive prose, White captures the spirit of Arthurian legend while adding diversity and a bit of powerful feminist flair in this appealing series opener.... Leaves much to be explored in future installments.” (Publishers Weekly)

“An acclaimed master of the female-centric retelling turns her hand to Arthuriana.... More diverse than many Camelot representations, this is a retelling designed for a modern audience more interested in people than battles and more intrigued by identity and affection than honor and questing. A promising series opener.” (Kirkus Reviews)

"First in a series, this fantasy novel will appeal to fans familiar with stories of Arthur, and provides an introduction to those unfamiliar.... Full of battling knights and romance, this is a must.” (School Library Journal)

wonderful from start to finish.

This book was so well written ! it had me from start to finish! I bought all 3 ! I 100% recomend it!

One of the best books ever!!!

I love love love this concept on the King Arthur story! I can’t wait to read the second one! 10 out of 10 recommend!!

Great new take on the Arthurean Legend!

Ms. White's writing is so amazing in its world building that you feel like you are there!

Not what I expected

From the very beginning the book caught my attention when honestly I’m not really into old timely medieval novels. Tho I enjoy Arthurian legends and this one had many twist and turns. And how well interwoven the story was.

Unique and mysterious loved the organic magic

Reread:

I think I appreciated this more the second time around and obviously saw more clues as to what would come. Guinevere, queen, not queen, is a very complex character. It's hard to get to know her because she barely knows herself. But I think her quite interesting in that manner. Elizabeth Knowelden did very well narrating and made the writing seem even more lyrical.

Great world building. Everything organic even the buildings and the unique magic system. The characters seemed real especially Lancelot felt like a old trusted friend. Of course Mordred was my favorite I mean forest green eyes and sneaky to boot. Arthur was a sexist pig who pretended not to be. *fuming*

This story definitely surprised me the first time around. From reading the summary of my owlcrate subscription I didn't intend on liking it. The story left out a bit much during my initial read but this time I enjoyed the enigma. And even more excited for The Camelot Betrayal.

The mystery of Mordred kept me flipping the pages or in my case not pressing pause. He was very dark and sweet. The story did pick up in the end giving you much to ponder. But I didn't understand the choice Guinevere made at the last. It kind of made me mad and a little sad. I felt almost the whole world was manipulating her and she chose wrong. We will see.

Absolutely beautiful

The Guinevere Deception was a fantastic audio book. Kirsten White wonderful metaphors and other figurative languages to make her novel one of a kind. The characters are compelling and had everyone rooting for them. The narrators voice fits the book perfectly.

The Guinevere Deception

After Arthur’s defeat of The Dark Queen, magic in all forms was banished from Camelot. Meaning, Merlin was banished from Camelot. However, this does not solve all problems as the wizard has foreseen the rise of evil once again.

So, Merlin sends in Guinevere who, in his stead, will wed Arthur and become his Queen, in order to remain close to protect him and root out the evil brewing beneath Camelot’s surface.

But who really is this girl that Merlin has sent as savior? As Guinevere searches for the threats to Camelot, she’ll uncover more secrets hidden within, secrets that, if discovered, could mean the end to everything Arthur has built.

This is the second Arthurian legend retelling I’ve read this year. Although the two are wildly different in scope, I love the fact that Arthurian legend is so easily manipulated and molded. It’s a veritable treasure trove of varying accounts of this knight or that knight or this love or that love. In the hands of someone like Kiersten White who is no stranger to retellings, it becomes a magical story about a girl finding her power, finding her voice.

I loved the idea of deception. Of who is being deceived and who is committing the deception. At first seemingly believing the deception lies with Guinevere who is magic in a magicless world. It’s easy to see and identify this deception, but as Kiersten White’s story unassumingly and slowly unfolds seeing the twists of other deceptions that Guinevere couldn’t even comprehend was a treat and just signals how tangled Arthurian Legend really is.

Probably the one thing that was difficult for me to reconcile with was the idea of how young everyone is. Guinevere is sixteen, Arthur eighteen yet there’s so much talk about his quests, battles and victories that have themselves already been turned into the things of legends. It’s hard to see an eighteen year old boy (young man) taking on this mantle, but I think it’s also a great way of showing how much pressure Arthur is under, the kingdom he’s built and responsible for, the tough decisions he will always have to make.

Struggles with identity is a common thread throughout the story, and something that I’m assuming will proceed in books to come. Guinevere holds the title of Queen but she doesn’t identify as a Queen. She doesn’t know what her role is exactly besides the rather cryptic protector of Arthur. But protecting Arthur would also extend to protecting Camelot because they are basically one and the same. It’s an interesting quandary and I can’t wait to see how it continues to unfold.

Kiersten White applies this same theory to pretty much every other character in the story. If you’re familiar with anything Arthurian you know who all the players are, but I daresay you’ll be surprised and maybe even delighted with some of the twists thrown in and what they might mean down the road.

While the legend of Arthur undoubtedly has its romance, I was really happy that there was more focus placed on Guinevere herself. Guinevere does wonder at certain moments where her relationship with Arthur may eventually lead – by the end I think she hopes it turns into love – but there’s a lot less angst about the whole thing, and there’s still that undeniable base connection.

The Guinevere Deception is a really good introduction to an already familiar world that just so happens to pull out some unexpected surprises that keep the story fresh.

The narration by Elizabeth Knowelden was wonderful. She managed to give distinctive voice to each character without overdoing it, especially in regard to the male voices which I have found some female narrators have problems with (this is does apply to the reverse as well, I've listened to audio where the male narrators have issue with female voices). Her pacing was great and she was very clear in speaking. I look forward to finding other titles she has narrated before.

The Guinevere Deception

Fantastic book, well written and well read. Highly recommend, and can’t wait for book 2!

Deceptively Fascinating

Without ripping the Arthur myth from its context, White has created a novel that catches my interest by its, well, um, novelty. I applaud the addition of under-represented viewpoints. But, never having been a spy myself, I wonder how often undercover agents have to remind themselves in their inner thought, gosh I'm an undercover spy and not really a queen. Oh my, his arms do look so inviting. Wish I had had more than 3 days training. (Hence 1 star deduction).

Wonderful!

I throughly enjoyed this. So much so that I may also buy the physical book. It's a real treat!