{"id":38758,"date":"2021-01-22T00:15:25","date_gmt":"2021-01-22T04:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=38758"},"modified":"2021-01-22T00:17:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T04:17:34","slug":"review-of-the-guinevere-deception-by-kiersten-white-read-by-elizabeth-knowelden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=38758","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Guinevere Deception, by Kiersten White, read by Elizabeth Knowelden"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>The Guinevere Deception<\/em><\/p>\n

by Kiersten White
\nread by Elizabeth Knowelden<\/p>\n

Delacorte Press, 2019. 10 hours, 51 minutes.
\nReview written December 28, 2020, from a library eaudiobook
\n2020 Cybils Finalist<\/a>, Young Adult Speculative Fiction
\n2020 Sonderbooks Stand-out<\/a>:
\n#7 Teen Speculative Fiction
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

This is the second book I\u2019ve listened to that\u2019s read by Elizabeth Knowelden (the first being Damsel<\/a><\/em>, by Elana K. Arnold), and she\u2019s my new favorite female narrator. Her voice makes anything sound magical. Interestingly, The Guinevere Deception<\/em> has a beginning similar to Damsel<\/em>, with both having a young teenage girl being brought to a castle to wed a king.<\/p>\n

In The Guinevere Deception<\/em>, the girl is going to wed King Arthur. But as the title hints, the girl is not actually Guinevere. Merlin, who has been banished from Camelot along with all magic, has substituted this girl for Guinevere so that she will be in place to protect King Arthur from a coming threat.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t even learn the girl\u2019s original name, as she takes on the identity of Princess Guinevere and marries Arthur. She learns about Camelot and what\u2019s expected of a queen, while always on the look out for threats to Arthur, especially magical threats, which is where she can best protect him.<\/p>\n

Even knowing a skeleton version of Arthurian legend, I had plenty of surprises reading this book. Guinevere is proficient in certain simple types of magic, but how can she protect Arthur when she doesn\u2019t even know what threat is coming, and when he is often away from Camelot and from his queen? There\u2019s a patchwork knight winning jousts, and Guinevere is sure he is not what he seems. And what about the Dark Queen \u2013 was she really defeated as decisively as Arthur thinks? How, then, was a village destroyed by the forest right on the border of Camelot?<\/p>\n

And meanwhile, why is Guinevere forgetting her past and who she was before she took on the identity of Guinevere?<\/p>\n

I was delighted to learn that this is Book One of a trilogy \u2013 so now I\u2019ll get to listen to more!<\/p>\n

kierstenwhite.com<\/a>
\nGetUnderlined.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Teens\/guinevere_deception.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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