A review by lennatheunicorncat
The Camelot Betrayal by Kiersten White
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Oh man, what to even say about this book?
Well, at least it was a library book and I didn't buy it, I guess. This was such a disappointment. Like complete disappointment. I honestly DNF-ed it around 65% of the way in because nothing freaking happens! It's made me reanalyze why I gave the first book such a high rating, so much so that I lowered the rating on that one to 3 stars and this one sits at a big fat one star.
Normally I'm more clear and concise in my thoughts about books, but this one frustrated me to no end that I did the unthinkable, which was read the ending of this book and the ending of the third book because I didn't want to waste anymore time if the ending was terrible. And it was.
I do not understand why the author made Guinevere choose Arthur time and time again, when Arthur is shown to be a generally terrible guy. Like he has his head in the right direction, but doesn't treat people correctly. Guinevere constantly complained about having to be forced to fit in a mold that Arthur made and expected of her, that he did not trust her fully or even believe in the things she could do. He was a constant negative nelly who, as Guinevere put it in the first book "would pay more attention to me if I was wearing armor and fighting in the ring with the other knights." Adding in that the rest of his personality was as soggy as bland wet bread and I was done and confused over why she kept choosing him. Apparently she kinda chooses Lancelot, but also Arthur. However, even then, things were iffy. Lancelot, our female knight, is treated like garbage by the rest of the knights and has to constantly prove time and time again that she is just as worthy as them to fight and actually was in a draw in battle with Arthur, so she knows her shit. But Arthur and the rest of the knights view her as not as worthy, like they view Guinevere. The one person that Guinevere felt the most freedom with was Mordred, and even then, he was treated like a horrible character who had backstabbed her and betrayed her at the end of the first book. I didn't see any betrayal. He didn't force her to wake the trees, in turn waking the Dark Queen, he just believed and cheered her on when she embraced her magic to save them. In this book, Mordred was treated constantly like he was the worst kind of human to walk the earth when all he did was state that he was done dealing with Arthur's ruling where magic was banned, done with the way Guinevere was being treated, and wanted to live his life back in the forests where magic ruled the world. Throughout it all, Guinevere just had this melancholic attitude towards the choices made for her and where her life was going, but even though the ending was supposed to pick back up in pace, I was done. I can't care enough to continue, and I did not like that this really wasn't even a reimagining of the legends surrounding Arthur. If it was, there were so many ways things could have been tweaked to play out differently. The biggest gripe I had was the fact that the actions the characters took did not reflect the crap they were all claiming and saying. Overall, this wasn't worth the amount of time spent and now I'm hesitant to read anymore series for a while from this author.
Well, at least it was a library book and I didn't buy it, I guess. This was such a disappointment. Like complete disappointment. I honestly DNF-ed it around 65% of the way in because nothing freaking happens! It's made me reanalyze why I gave the first book such a high rating, so much so that I lowered the rating on that one to 3 stars and this one sits at a big fat one star.
Normally I'm more clear and concise in my thoughts about books, but this one frustrated me to no end that I did the unthinkable, which was read the ending of this book and the ending of the third book because I didn't want to waste anymore time if the ending was terrible. And it was.
I do not understand why the author made Guinevere choose Arthur time and time again, when Arthur is shown to be a generally terrible guy. Like he has his head in the right direction, but doesn't treat people correctly. Guinevere constantly complained about having to be forced to fit in a mold that Arthur made and expected of her, that he did not trust her fully or even believe in the things she could do. He was a constant negative nelly who, as Guinevere put it in the first book "would pay more attention to me if I was wearing armor and fighting in the ring with the other knights." Adding in that the rest of his personality was as soggy as bland wet bread and I was done and confused over why she kept choosing him. Apparently she kinda chooses Lancelot, but also Arthur. However, even then, things were iffy. Lancelot, our female knight, is treated like garbage by the rest of the knights and has to constantly prove time and time again that she is just as worthy as them to fight and actually was in a draw in battle with Arthur, so she knows her shit. But Arthur and the rest of the knights view her as not as worthy, like they view Guinevere. The one person that Guinevere felt the most freedom with was Mordred, and even then, he was treated like a horrible character who had backstabbed her and betrayed her at the end of the first book. I didn't see any betrayal. He didn't force her to wake the trees, in turn waking the Dark Queen, he just believed and cheered her on when she embraced her magic to save them. In this book, Mordred was treated constantly like he was the worst kind of human to walk the earth when all he did was state that he was done dealing with Arthur's ruling where magic was banned, done with the way Guinevere was being treated, and wanted to live his life back in the forests where magic ruled the world. Throughout it all, Guinevere just had this melancholic attitude towards the choices made for her and where her life was going, but even though the ending was supposed to pick back up in pace, I was done. I can't care enough to continue, and I did not like that this really wasn't even a reimagining of the legends surrounding Arthur. If it was, there were so many ways things could have been tweaked to play out differently. The biggest gripe I had was the fact that the actions the characters took did not reflect the crap they were all claiming and saying. Overall, this wasn't worth the amount of time spent and now I'm hesitant to read anymore series for a while from this author.