Rating: 4 out of 5.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

This is a fun YA Fantasy re-telling of Camelot. Arthur is an intelligent bookworm that isn’t much of a fighter. Lancelot is a gay castle guard that was demoted from a page (on track to becoming a knight) after a misunderstanding. Both we content bumbling along until Arthur accidentally pulls the sword from the stone, and now everyone thinks he’s some kind of hero. Emry Merlin poses as her twin brother at court to learn magic and serve Arthur. It’s supposed to be temporary, but nothing goes to plan and she’s there permanently. Princess Guinevere is betrothed to Arthur, but neither wants to marry the other.

I listened to this book and enjoyed it. The author does a pretty good job worldbuilding and the main characters are well developed. There is plenty of court intrigue and action. I loved the interaction between Arthur, Lancelot and Emry, especially before they knew that she was a woman. It’s the type of interactions that good, life-long friends have and it was fun to read. The magic system was not as well-defined, but we may learn more about that in future books. There are the usual bad guys, each serving their own nefarious purposes, and even a supposed bad guy that actually turns out to be on Arthur’s side. The book ends on a good cliffhanger. I look forward to reading book 2.