The Guinevere Deception by Kiersten White
Synopsis:
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.
The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White
Synopsis:
EVERYTHING IS AS IT SHOULD BE IN CAMELOT: King Arthur is expanding his kingdom’s influence with Queen Guinevere at his side. Yet every night, dreams of darkness and unknowable power plague her.
Guinevere might have accepted her role, but she still cannot find a place for herself in all of it. The closer she gets to the people around her–Brangien, pining for her lost love Isolde; Lancelot, fighting to prove her worth as Queen’s knight; and Arthur, everything to everyone and thus never quite enough for Guinevere–the more she realizes how empty she is. She has no sense of who she truly was before she was Guinevere. The more she tries to claim herself as queen, the more she wonders if Mordred was right: she doesn’t belong. She never will.
When a rescue goes awry and results in the death of something precious, a devastated Guinevere returns to Camelot to find the greatest threat yet has arrived. Not in the form of the Dark Queen or an invading army, but in the form of the real Guinevere’s younger sister. Is her deception at an end? And who is she really deceiving–Camelot, or herself?
Review:
I thought I was tired of King Arthur retellings. But this YA fantasy, from Guinevere’s perspective is highly addicting! In fact, she’s only pretending to be Guinevere. She has been tasked by Merlin to use her magical abilities to keep Arthur safe in Camelot where magic has been banished.
In The Guinevere Deception, she is new to Camelot and unsure who to trust. But the more she learns and divulges to Arthur, the more confused she becomes. Everything she has been told may be a lie.
In The Camelot Betrayal, Guinevere’s sister arrives – the one person who could reveal her deception and ruin everything. I love these characters and how they’ve been reimagined for this series. There is a sweet, innocent romance blooming between Guinevere and Arthur. There is more to Mordred and his side of the family than meets the eye. And the political intrigue combined with unknown magical forces, make for a fascinating plot. I thoroughly enjoy how this story has been unfolding. And I can’t wait for the final book in the trilogy. In fact, I wish it was a longer series as there is so much mystery and story left to reveal.