Review: The Guinevere Deception

The Guinevere Deception 

Rating: 3/5 

Buy or Borrow: Buy 

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review! 

There was nothing in the world 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. Arthur's knights believe they are strong enough to face any threat, but Guinevere knows it will take more than swords to keep Camelot free.

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? 

It genuinely pains me to give this book only three stars as I was expecting this to be a five star read for me. It's been one of my most anticipated books ever since I spotted it on GoodReads and it didn't even have a proper synopsis. Kiersten White is the queen of retellings for me, I loved And I Darken as well as Slayer, though I haven't gotten around to her Frankenstein retelling just yet but I've heard incredibly good things. So considering how much I love all things King Arthur I was so, so excited for this book and for her to give us a retelling that I expected to be wonderfully twisted to her style. In all honesty, White has never let me down with her offerings post-Paranormalcy which is the only book of hers that I didn't really like and didn't finish the trilogy. 

As soon as I started to read this book I got Merlin vibes. Merlin is one of my favourite TV shows in the world and I rewatch it frequently, and as I was reading this book...hardcore Merlin vibes. I thought of Merlin more than once as I was reading this, and at times I thought I could see echoes of the show, or nods to it. At one point I even had the thought that this was like a twisted version of the show a little. I could picture some of the scenes as scenes in the show, just changed slightly. 

I'll start with the things that I did enjoy about this book. I found the magic interesting, I've not encountered knot magic in a book before and I liked the consequences to using it as it meant Guinevere had to be careful how much she used magic and what she used it for. Being familiar with the mythology, some plot points were predictable but there were some great twists thrown in there to keep me on my toes...Lancelot, Tristan and Isolde and so on. There was some brilliant LGBTQ+ rep and some feminist undertones to it. I liked Guinevere well enough, I admired her determination to succeed at protecting Arthur and wanting to prove herself and find a place for herself. However, in all honesty my favourite character was Mordred. The thing is, I was sympathising with Mordred, I liked him and his humour, he made me chuckle but I know Mordred so I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop when it came to him and then boom. There it was. Of course. I still love him though, I can't lie. 

My problem is, I eagerly started to read this having been so incredibly excited for it...and I wasn't grabbed. Alarm bells started ringing because this couldn't possibly be right, this is supposed to be one of my favourite books because Arthur and Kiersten White...it should be the perfect combination. I started to wonder if it was because I was tired and just not in the mood to read so I put it to one side for a little bit. Then I struggled through to around 60 pages and I was seriously considering DNF-ing this because I just don't have the time anymore to read books that I'm not enjoying. But I decided to persevere even if I did resort to skim reading at one point and I couldn't believe this book drove me to that. The majority of this book is so slow and I had no urge to keep reading, I was reading because I felt I had to and because I wanted to get it finished. 

Guinevere doesn't do anything for most of this book. She faffs about with her knot magic, chatting to her new friends and the other Knights wives, chatting to Mordred and Brangien and so on. Towards the end it does pick up and there's a lot more action but..that's right towards the end after you've struggled through a couple hundred pages of not much at all and I found my attention wandering. I was bored and I didn't think that would happen with this book. 

I also feel like the reader is kept in the dark for too long, to the point it becomes frustrating and then it's all a bit of a cop out. There's so many mentions in the narrative of her 'not being Guinevere' and her alluding to her real name and so on, I was expecting her real name to be revealed at the end of the book and I had a few theories as to who it was...she forgot. She forgot her real name so I didn't even get that at the end although I'm fairly sure I do know who she is. Or where she's from anyway. 

The romance was...eh. Arthur was bland to me. He doesn't stand out at all, he's just very kind, very brave and he puts the good of Camelot and its people before anything and anyone else. The romance is barely there and there's an attempt made at a love triangle that might have been more interesting if Arthur wasn't so...eh. He was forgettable and he didn't stand out at all. Then again, none of the characters really did for me. I liked them well enough, but Mordred's the only one that even remotely stands out to me when I think back on the book. 

I had no solid sense of setting either, this is supposed to be set during whatever century it's set during but I had no clear image of that time period. In fact I was picturing the costumes and settings of Merlin more than anything else because aside from the odd mentions of a goblet here, or similar such things, there was no slid sense of time period for this book, which is a surprise and a disappointment considering how rich And I Darken is. 

The last 50 pages or so are good, there's action, it's engaging and it was what I'd been expecting from the entire book but I don't know if it was worth struggling through the rest of the book to reach it. There's some interesting set up for the sequel but I'm quite wary of it now, and unsure whether to read it. I'd like to think the sequel won't start out like this one did, slow and uninteresting for the most part, but then again I didn't expect to be so disappointed with this book either. 

Book Discussion: Slayer!

It's time for a new book discussion and this time I'm discussing one of my most anticipated reads of the year...Slayer by Kiersten White! 

I'm a huge Buffy fan and when I first heard about this series? I lost my mind a little bit, not least because Kiersten is the author writing it and she's awesome! 

I was gifted a copy for my birthday and pretty much read it as soon as I got it in one day and I just...I loved it okay. 

It just fits in so well with the Buffy-verse and I loved the characters...even the ones I hated, and I'm waiting with baited breath for the next book to see what will happen next as the ending was...A+ and definitely sets things up to get even better! 

This is spoiler free, there is a spoiler section at the end of the video but it's clearly marked so you guys can click off/mute if you don't want to be spoiled! 

Let me know what you thought of Slayer if you've read it! 

Review: And I Darken

And I Darken
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy! 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwyla likes it that way.

Ever since she and her brother were abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultan’s courts, Lada has known that ruthlessness is the key to survival. For the lineage that makes her and her brother special also makes them targets.

Lada hones her skills as a warrior as she nurtures plans to wreak revenge on the empire that holds her captive. Then she and Radu meet the sultan’s son, Mehmed, and everything changes. Now Mehmed unwittingly stands between Lada and Radu as they transform from siblings to rivals, and the ties of love and loyalty that bind them together are stretched to breaking point.

The first of an epic new trilogy starring the ultimate anti-princess who does not have a gentle heart. Lada knows how to wield a sword, and she'll stop at nothing to keep herself and her brother alive. 

"Souls and thrones are irreconcilable" 

I've been so intrigued by this book because it's set in a period of time that I haven't come across in YA at all, and Lada, our main female character...is Vlad the Impaler! Like the author says in her note at the end of the book, depending on what account you read...Vlad was either a complete psychopath or a hero. I've only ever read the accounts that make him sound like a bloodthirsty serial killer, although I did read an article that laid out the points for him being considered a hero and I was definitely intrigued. I read the authors note at the end of the book, but I'm tempted to tell you all to read it before you read the book, because White lays out what is and isn't fact. She presents two sides of two of the main characters, and White's giving us a middle ground between both sides. I found the authors note to be really interesting actually because as I was reading I was wondering if they'd all encountered each other in real life or if not and it answered that question! 

ANYWAY. And I Darken features Lada...and I LOVED her. She's an anti-princess, she's a badass, and she's totally in to feminism wanting to be given the same opportunities that all the men have. She's determined not to be married off and forgotten about and she doesn't fancy going to a nunnery, and who can blame her? She wants to help her country, she's loyal to it, and she wants to make it better. I loved her determination to learn how to fight, even sparring with the Janissaries. You can sympathise with Lada, she's a woman and all the men think she has no place being educated or can't be, I actually wanted to punch one of the characters in the face for a comment he made! Lada's 'job' is to be married off and she's fighting against that and I don't blame her at all, I was rooting for her and I actually cackled at one point! Lada is a character you can understand, she may be vicious but she's protective of her brother in her own way and you can sympathise with her so much. She's a strong female lead and I loved reading her narrative in the book, and following her journey. She's my complete fave okay. 

"On our wedding night, I will cut out your tongue and swallow it. Then both tongues that spoke our marriage vows will belong to me, and I will be wed only to myself. You will most likely choke to death on your own blood, which will be unfortunate.."

Not only do we get Lada's narrative, but we get her younger brother Radu's too, and he's my OTHER fave. Like Radu is my precious. In the beginning I didn't really like him, and I was wondering if I was going to have a problem with this book. He's completely opposite to Lada. He's kind of wimpy, which was a shock for me because I was expecting him at one point to be the sly manipulator part of the Radu/Lada team, but he was a total baby for the beginning of the book. He is what Lada isn't, he's beautiful and he's a man but he had none of Lada's fierceness and her desire to fight. He was determined, but in a different way. There was a point as I was reading, when I was seeing what Lada was going through, and I was sympathising with her and on her side, and Radu's reactions where winding me up. Like the whole marriage thing with Lada, how he reacted to that bugged me because it's like, it's alright for you, you're not going to be married off to some creepy guy. Sit down. BUT as the book went on, I got to know Radu more and more, and watched him change and develop as a character, he became less wimpy, used his intelligence more and became his own person. I felt for him and his position and what he was going through, and I was rooting for him. I was also kinda rooting for he and Lada to team up and become the best team EVER. But after some stuff, I knew it wasn't going to happen, and then the end of the book broke my heart. My poor precious! Radu broke my heart a lot actually! 

I have to talk about the third main character, we don't get his POV but we do see him a lot. Mehmed. Ah Mehmed. Mr, 'I love you Lada. So much. But lemme go chill with my concubines...OOPS one's pregnant...my bad. You know you wanna marry me'. Yeah. Sorry, I know it's a historical thing and it was common and Mehmed would have grown up with it and so on. But it still bugged me. Because of how he was with Lada, and how Lada felt about herself and how she thought he was the only person who would ever look at her like he does....and he's off getting jiggy with his harem. I can't even. So I KNOW it was a pretty normal thing back in the day, but it was so ANNOYING. It made me want to smack him one multiple times, especially when he got all jealous! He wasn't what I was expecting to be honest, I actually quite liked him until he started causing pain to my faves. He was trying his best to help his country, but no-one liked him much, bless him. I'm suspecting something about him, and if I'm write and he hurts my fave, I WILL END HIM. 

So. We've definitely got a brilliant cast of characters, and with these three, we get to watch them grow up. We see Radu and Lada from a young age, and we get both their POVs, from when they where children through to the present. I loved this decision by the author, instead of giving you the finished product, she's letting you see what made Radu and Lada in to the people they are. What shaped them. You watch how everything affects them and see how it changes them. I loved it, I really did! You get two different insights in to Mehmed, and you see him do a fair bit of changing too, not to the same extent as you see Radu and Lada, but you still see it. 

"Her spine was steel. Her heart was armour. Her eyes were fire" 

Aside from our main three, there's a tonne of great supporting characters! Nazira the one person who understands Radu, Mara who cracked me up, Bogdan Lada's childhood buddy, Nicolae and his brotherly relationship with Lada and everything he does for her, and Lada's company of men. I loved Lada's little squad, they where the only Janissaries who didn't have a problem being led by a woman, they where so loyal to her and fought for her, and I can't wait to see what they all do next with her. 

There's a surprise little romance in the book, as I'm sure you've guessed. It was secondary to all of the action and the political manoeuvring, but it was there. I wasn't really expecting it but I liked seeing another side to Lada through it, once she let herself roll with it, she was hilariously irritated by the whole thing in the beginning. My heart broke for her, and how she thinks Mehmed is the only chance at romance she'll have, and the end of the book will literally break you. For so many reasons. Mehmed kinda deserved it though but my poor Lada! I loved seeing Lada's perspective on the whole thing because she's not like a regular heroine and so her reactions where quite funny, the romance fit with Lada. 

There's an awesome amount of LGBT representation in this book which was a nice surprise, especially for the time period, and how it was handled was brilliant. I was expecting the worst for the time period, history isn't the kindest to the LGBT community but the author did such a brilliant job in keeping it to the front of the story, not shoving it in a dark corner of the plot and forgetting about it. One of the main characters is gay, there's a lesbian couple who get their happy ending and it was perf, and there may or may not be a bi character. It remains to be seen, but then maybe I was imagining it because of the character, we'll see! 

"The last time she was up here, she had been... staring up at the sky and dreaming of stars. Now, she looked down and plotted flames."

And I Darken is a brilliant read, it's bloodthirsty, atmospheric and has a rich and vivid world that you can get lost in. Castles, and mountains and battlefields rise up around you as you read. The atmosphere pulls you in to the moment with the tension, or suspense or danger being a tangible thing. The plot maintains a steady pace, and travels through passages of time smoothly, while keeping the narrative fresh by switching the POV at the perfect moments. There's a complex web of politics as well as a lot of tactics involved throughout the plot, and all of it is understandable without being over simplified, while pulling you in with the intrigue of it all. All the tactics kind of reminded me a bit of Arslan, not going to lie! There are plot twists all over the place, and you will get way too invested in this book! My heart broke for everyone at the end of the book, and I'm excited for the next book. I got shivers and goosebumps at the final sentence, I'm not going to lie! What I've been waiting to happen is finally upon us but it's like 'lol...until next time bitches'. This is definitely 'Best Books of 2016' material! 

Blog Tour: Follow The Feminists - Agent Peggy Carter

Hey guys! 

Today I have the pleasure of being part of an incredibly awesome blog tour, in honour of a brand new release that's hitting the shelves tomorrow...And I Darken by Kiersten White! And I Darken is the first book in a trilogy featuring Lada Dracul the feminist character you've all been waiting for!  Check out the synopsis...

No one expects a princess to be brutal. And Lada Dragwyla likes it that way.

Ever since she and her brother were abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultan’s courts, Lada has known that ruthlessness is the key to survival. For the lineage that makes her and her brother special also makes them targets.

Lada hones her skills as a warrior as she nurtures plans to wreak revenge on the empire that holds her captive. Then she and Radu meet the sultan’s son, Mehmed, and everything changes. Now Mehmed unwittingly stands between Lada and Radu as they transform from siblings to rivals, and the ties of love and loyalty that bind them together are stretched to breaking point.

The first of an epic new trilogy starring the ultimate anti-princess who does not have a gentle heart. Lada knows how to wield a sword, and she'll stop at nothing to keep herself and her brother alive. 

Sounds totally awesome right? Lada is definitely a character you want to get to know this summer, and like I said, the book is released tomorrow! Now, like I said, Lada is a feminist character and a brilliant one at that, so in honour of that, the publishers have put together this blog tour, where a few of us will be getting you acquainted with some fantastic feminist icons and just plain awesome ladies in general! 

Now, I'm intrigued to see what kind of impact this blog tour is going to have on my various social media platforms, because I know some people don't like the "F Word"! Anyway it's time to introduce you to my feminist icon....Agent Peggy Carter! Captain America: The First Avenger is one of my all time favourite films, and it's in large part because I loved Peggy so much from the moment she punched that soldier in the face. 

When I think of feminists, she's the first lady that springs to mind every single time! Fans loved Peggy so much that she was given her own spin off show, Agent Carter, and there was outcry all across social media when it was cancelled after it's second season, (Come on Netflix, you know you wanna!). Hayley Atwell, the actress who plays Peggy describes her as "Kind of an early feminist". Peggy lives in a time period where things where incredibly unequal, more so than the present day. Everything was dominated by men and Peggy is working for the SSR, which is..you guessed it...dominated by men. Peggy is carving out a path for women, or she was before the show was cancelled, (Seriously Netflix), she's working in a male centric office, trying to be heard, being underestimated at every turn...although that does work in her favour once or twice! She doesn't give up, she keeps pushing for the recognition she deserves, and the respect. Until they take her seriously. You know that huge organisation in Marvel that's involved in everything in every movie? Yeah. Peggy founded that. Awesome right? To do it she had to put up with sexism, misogyny, and generally being treated like she was less because she was not a man. 

Throughout the seasons of the show Peggy defends the rights of the other women in the show, and supports them. She brushes off and snarks at sexist displays, effectively shutting it down. She uses her sexuality as a weapon, she respects herself and has the utmost confidence in herself and her abilities. She takes down bad guys single handedly, and when a man takes credit for what she did....she responds by saying "I know my value". 

She gives you so many moments where you're cheering for her, cheering for her actions, applauding her and generally pleased to watch her do what needs to be done. Here are some of her best moments from the show...

One of my favourite moments from the show, it has to be said so let's watch the GIF version too...

"I'm supposed to believe that you pulled off your own investigation without any of us noticing? And why would you go through all that trouble instead of coming to one of us? 

No time for your sh*t today Thompson...

Peggy has no time for your mansplaining....

Peggy has no time for your sexist assumptions...

"Just so we're clear, this is pressed into your brachial artery. It may be dull, but I'm determined. Keep smiling. Once you start to bleed, you'll lose consciousness in fifteen seconds. You'll die in ninety unless someone comes to your aid. Now, given your recent behavior, how likely do you think that is to happen? To prevent this not entirely unfortunate event from occurring, I suggest you find a new place to eat. Do we understand each other? Good. Oh. One more thing. Tip generously" Don't harass your waitress buddy....

Then there was the time Peggy single handedly beat up a guy....while nurse Betty Carver of the Captain America radio show wishes for a man to help her....

Peggy is perfectly capable of handling herself...

In fact she doesn't need help with anything....

She's perfectly capable of defending herself...

Before I get carried away and list every thing ever, have one last moment...

 

Fore more of Peggy's best feminist moments, check out the show! 

To check out what's so awesome about Lada...check out And I Darken! 

The blog tour continues tomorrow....

SaveSave SaveSaveSave

May TBR

Hey guys! 

It's TBR time again! I've decided this month that I'm going to get aaalll of my review books for the rest of the year done and schedule the reviews for the appropriate times, which is something I should have done ages ago instead of leaving them! Then I'm going to try and blitz my TBR shelves! I'm determined to clear them out this year, but we'll see how well that goes! I've got a lot of reviews coming up next week so there might not be time for a TBR Bites post, just pre-warning you!  

I'm sneakily doing a thin/short classic for this month, because I've done fairly long ones and I kinda fancy an easy-isn one, shhhh! So, yeah, I've got a classic, a Harry Potter and a book that I've been desperate to get to for ages so I've promised myself I'll get to it next after review books! The review books pictured are only a couple, because ya know...the post is slow and I'd already taken the photo when the others arrived!

A Clockwork Orange

Yep, it's my new fancy edition that I picked up from the charity shop the other day! I've been meaning to read this for ages, and it's really nice and thin so it's perfect for this months classic! Our main character is jailed for various crimes and they're trying to reform him, from what I know! 

The Power of Dark

Review book number one for the month! I've actually been itching to get to this and it came with a really cool newspaper page and a map! It's a fantasy, my favourite genre, and it's the first in a brand new series! It's being described as a mix of magic and horror and is set in the town of Whitby. Something's brewing, and BFF's Lil and Verne think it's just a regular storm but Cherry, the last of the Whitby Witches, knows better. She fears ancient forces are at work reviving the curse of a long lost magical artefact. 

And I Darken

Here we have one of my most anticipated releases, and opening this was like opening the Holy Grail! Lada and her brother where abandoned by their father to be raised in the Ottoman sultans courts. Ruthlessness is the key to survival, especially when Lada and her brother's lineage makes them targets as well as special. Lada hones her skills as a warrior, ready for the day she can wreak revenge on the empire holding her captive. But the bonds of love and loyalty Lada and her brother share are about to be stretched to the limit as the sultan's son stands between them and they turn in to rivals. Lada is the anti-princess we've all been waiting to meet and according to Harriet the lovely publicist it's a "bloody and brutal epic feminist debut!"

Kill The Boy Band

This is being described as a "pitch black, hilarious take on modern fandom and the badass girls who have the power to make or break the people we cal 'celebrities'", I love the idea of this, the cover has "we loved them to death" all over it and while the synopsis is a little sketchy, all about fangirls getting a bad rep and the narrator about to tell us something crazy, I'm expecting good things from this! 

The Half-Blood Prince

I'm actually really sad that my Harry Potter re-read is coming to an end, I'm hitting book 6 this month as you can see, and then next month...it's going to be the final book! I'm also mind blown that Order of the Phoenix is the biggest book and Deathly Hallows isn't! Anyway, Half-Blood Prince is my second favourite HP book, mostly because Draco is my fave! I'm excited to see all the little things I've forgotten from when I last read this! 

A Gathering of Shadows

Yep. I still haven't read this yet! I pre-ordered it because I loved the first book so much, and I was so excited when it arrived and then I had review books to get done and then ya know...I still haven't read it, so I was hoping to read it before April ended, but I didn't have the time and so I promised myself I could read it first thing after everything else! So excited to get stuck in to it! 

So that's my May TBR, excluding whichever books from my over flowing TBR shelves that I decide to read, I'll be picking them depending on my mood! 

What's on your TBR for May? What Classic are you reading this month? Let me know down below! 

Wishing For Wednesday #8

This weeks Wishing For Wednesday has three right little gems!
I've been lucky enough to grab a review copy of the middle one as well!
As for the other two, one is a new book from a favourite author of mine!
And the other....well...you read the synopsis and you'll see why it's made the list!

Illusions Of Fate

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

Kiersten White captured readers’ hearts with her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy and its effortless mix of magic and real-world teenage humor. She returns to that winning combination of wit, charm, and enchantment in Illusions of Fate, a sparkling and romantic new novel perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, The Madman’s Daughter, and Libba Bray.

Illusions Of Fate is out October 9th, pre-order your copy here.

Whisper The Dead 

Cousins Gretchen, Emma, and Penelope are all dealing with what it means to be a Lovegrove. For Gretchen, it means she often feels like her head is going to explode. As a Whisperer, Gretchen constantly hears the whispers of other witches' spells. And while this does help her to know when one of her own spells is going wrong, the incessant buzzing and pain the whispers cause makes it difficult to use her gift.

But when something evil begins to menace Mayfair, Gretchen must find a way to master her power. Along with her cousins, a madcap named Moira, and the icy yet irresistible Tobias Lawless, Gretchen faces deadly threats and unimaginable loss in the hopes of preventing the terrible Greymalkin Sisters from rising again. 

The second book in The Lovegrove Legacy trilogy, Whisper the Dead will leave readers spellbound.

Whisper The Dead is out October 9th, pre-order your copy here.

The Accidental Highwayman 

The Accidental Highwayman is the first swashbuckling adventure for young adults by talented author and illustrator, Ben Tripp. This thrilling tale of dark magic and true love is the perfect story for fans of William Goldman’s The Princess Bride.

In eighteenth-century England, young Christopher “Kit” Bristol is the unwitting servant of notorious highwayman Whistling Jack. One dark night, Kit finds his master bleeding from a mortal wound, dons the man’s riding cloak to seek help, and changes the course of his life forever. Mistaken for Whistling Jack and on the run from redcoats, Kit is catapulted into a world of magic and wonders he thought the stuff of fairy tales.

Bound by magical law, Kit takes up his master’s quest to rescue a rebellious fairy princess from an arranged marriage to King George III of England. But his task is not an easy one, for Kit must contend with the feisty Princess Morgana, gobling attacks, and a magical map that portends his destiny: as a hanged man upon the gallows….

Fans of classic fairy-tale fantasies such as Stardust by Neil Gaiman and will find much to love in this irresistible YA debut by Ben Tripp, the son of one of America’s most beloved illustrators, Wallace Tripp (Amelia Bedelia). Following in his father’s footsteps, Ben has woven illustrations throughout the story.

The Accidental Highwayman is out October 14th, pre-order your copy here.