"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?"
I did not like this book too much. The basic plot was good and well thought out. The storyline was quite innovative and interesting. However, I hated the main characters and the predictability of how things were going to turn out. I am not a great fan of the writing style either. A lot of the things were unclear and some things have been conveniently forgotten.
I hated everything about Guinevere. Most of all how dependent and whiny she was. Brangien, her maid, would fuss over her at all times, and rather than finding it annoying, Guinevere welcomed it. Her irrational fear of water was taken to such an extent that it got fake and annoying. The author claimed that water had never touched her skin in a long time. An impractical explanation had been provided for how she bathed using magic, but how she washed her hands, drank water and did so many other things was ignored. She could not perform magic in the open for fear of getting caught, so she could not have washed her hands the way she cleaned her body. And while drinking water, it is highly unlikely that not a drop has touched her hands, face or lips in so many years.
Arthur's personality remained unclear and kept changing throughout the book. Sometimes he acted as if he cared for Guinevere, other times he ignored her. Sometimes he put his kingdom before anyone else, and other times it was said that he strived for the safety of men above all else. I had like Mordred, but he too got boring fast. While around Brangien and Guinevere, his only words were "You wound me" whenever they said something he did not approve of. He acted as though he was hiding his feelings for Guinevere so well whereas I could tell right from the start that he liked her. The author should have developed him more and made it either less obvious that he liked her, or shown that everyone could tell he did.
There were also quite a few unclear events and mistakes. Guinevere had been at one place in one line, and suddenly in the next, she was somewhere else. There was a scene in which Guinevere had been healing an injured woman with her magic. The woman had a cut on one side, which was oozing blood. It is simply said in the book that Guinevere cut off and strip of her own skin and attached it to the woman with her magic. It is not specified from where or how she cut the skin, and furthermore, there is no explanation for how she herself is not wounded. One would think that cutting off a patch of skin would cause at least a little blood to come out, but Guinevere is puzzlingly unharmed.
Launcelot's character was unnecessary. She was extremely overrated. Most of the times, she just happened to be in the right place at the right time and did what any knight would. It was quite boring to read the description of her trial fights since it was obvious that she was going to win and be knighted. All the descriptions of her fights seemed fake and the author was randomly making her win.
Ultimately everything that happened in the book had been just like any of us could have predicted from the start. It ended on a partial cliff hanger, but I feel no urge to read the next book. I think I already know what will happen at the end, and the second book will just lead up to it.
Despite all this, I would give the book a three-and-a-half or four-star review because I liked the plot and it was enjoyable to read. The book was fast-paced and the storyline kept me hooked where the characters could not. Although most parts of it were like all the YAs out there, it was still fun to read. I also really liked the way the book had been printed, and the cover was very cool too.
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