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 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?
My Review
This jumps right back in where book one left off. My first impressions were, oooh are we getting a Lancelot and Guinevere tale after all, but alas, not in this book (or not yet in this trilogy) and I couldn’t help but want redemption for Mordred despite his actions in book one.
I liked that part of the real Guinevere’s past came to ‘haunt’ our Guinevere and watching her deal with that subplot really added to Guinevere’s character growth and that made me a happy reader.
We had still about the same amount of Arthur as last time and there was more of a focus on the characters and their relationships (romantic and platonic). I loved getting to see more of everyone and this is what made this a better read than book one for me. Though I love worldbuilding I was really excited to get to know Guinevere and her companions more.
Seriously, watching the truth about Guinevere’s sister unfold was just such a highlight for me, I felt myself totally wrapped up in it and forgetting about the Dark Queen for a hot minute lol. I also though appreciated watching Arthur and Guinevere trying to find their footing together, it felt a lot more genuine in this book now that they had more truth between them.
Mordred is there but not in Camelot of course and each run in with him was a favorite scene of mine, and it wasn’t because I ‘ship’ him and Guinevere but more that I just loved their interactions even just as ‘not enemies’ as I don’t know that I’d call them friends lol as much in real life, it’s complicated for these two characters.
Once again I think White wanted US to know what Guinevere didn’t about certain characters so things that seem like plot twists, are indeed but not for us, they’re there to shock and surprise Guinevere and like last time I was pleased to be able to figure it out.
The truth is a very complex creature and I feel like Guinevere is really starting to realize this, that there’s more than one version of the truth and there isn’t really one right one, but there is a sense of something being wrong and Guinevere’s going to have to learn to trust her instincts and her gut more. I look forward to that growing in book 3!
Saying all of that, I do believe this is a slower-paced read than book one, we have not as much action and the plot is taking its time, strolling toward the ending. BUT that ending was such a whopper, I NEED BOOK 3 NOW!
3.75/5 (3.5 for ease on my coffee cup graphics), Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an eARC of this in exchange for my honest opinion and a full review is on my blog!
The Caffeinated Reader 