Book Review :: La Vie de Guinevere by Paula Lafferty

La Vie de Guinevere by Paula Lafferty
ISBN: 9798990020108
Genres: Fantasy, New Adult, Retelling
Format: ARC
Source: From author
Goodreads

After the sudden death of her boyfriend, Vera would have been happy to spend the rest of her days curiously unnoticeable, washing bed sheets and cleaning toilets in present day Glastonbury.

But when the strange new guest at her hotel reveals himself to be Merlin and drags her back to seventh century Camelot, a place she knows only from legends, only Vera (or Queen Guinevere as Merlin calls her) can right the course of history and save Arthur’s kingdom from the will of a power-hungry mage.

There’s one enormous problem: Guinevere was the sole witness to the curse that’s now draining the kingdom of its magic, and Vera doesn’t remember anything of her supposed life as Queen Guinevere.With Camelot’s peace ebbing ever closer to shattering, the clock is ticking.

But working with Merlin’s magic to retrieve her long-lost memories and save the kingdom brings more questions than answers: why is it that King Arthur, who treats his subjects with loving benevolence, can’t even stand to look at her? And why does that make Vera’s soul feel like it’s splitting in two? What robbed her of her memories in the first place... And most importantly...Why?

As Vera is about to discover; in a world of legend and power, the secrets of her memories are only the beginning.

Last updated on 7 October 2024

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What is La Vie de Guinevere by Paula Lafferty about?

La Vie de Guinevere by Paula Lafferty is the story of Vera, a young woman living in the English town of Glastonbury. After the sudden loss of her boyfriend, Vera is perfectly okay with living a quiet life. But her world gets turned upside down when a quirky guest at her hotel claims to be Merlin (as in, the wizard from the legends of King Arthur and Camelot), and then whisks her away to seventh-century England.

Turns out, she’s not just Vera—she’s Queen Guinevere, and only she can save Arthur’s kingdom. There’s just one problem (okay there are multiple but…): she doesn’t remember anything about being Guinevere, despite being introduced to people she’s only known from the stories (like Lancelot, Gawain and other knights of the yet-to-be-formed Round Table).

With Camelot on the brink of chaos, Vera has to work with Merlin to unlock her lost memories and figure out how to help the best she can. But the more she learns, the more questions she has: Why can’t King Arthur, who’s super nice to everyone else, even look at her? And why is it taking so much effort to remember who she was? Is? As she digs deeper, she realises that the truth about her past might hold the key to saving the kingdom.

My thoughts on La Vie de Guinevere

I love a retelling of a legend, myth, or tale. If done well. And boy have I read some poor retellings in my day. The other thing I love is the story of King Arthur, Camelot, the Knights of the Round Table … I love it. So when I discovered Paula Lafferty on Instagram (and on TikTok) and started following her journey through the publishing world with her story about Guinevere, I was hooked.

So when an opportunity arose to be an ARC reader (Advanced Reader Copy), I was SO excited, and also honoured, to be able to have the opportunity. Thankfully, and I somehow knew this was going to be the case, I absolutely loved this story. 

There have been some interesting retellings of the King Arthur and Queen Guinevere story over the many years it has existed, and yet La Vie de Guinevere felt fresh, it felt new, it was well thought out and beautifully woven together, and I found myself devouring it probably a little too quickly.

Lafferty’s interpretations of characters that we already know pretty well already, were stunning. Vera/Guinivere was a brilliant take on the queen that doesn’t get as much limelight perhaps as she should in the old tales, and while Arthur was different to what I was expecting, he had good reasons for being cold towards Vera, which plays out in the story (no spoilers here). Lancelot was by far my favourite character. He was fun and funny and their friendship was so well done. I also appreciated the magical aspects of things. I don’t want to go too much into it, for fear of spoilers, but it was really well done.

Speaking of characters, though, I really appreciated their relationships across the board, throughout the story. While some of them were similar to some of the Arthurian legend versions we’ve possibly read before, others were really, really different. There were friendships, romances, tensions between characters, misunderstandings, and characters who you should love but end up being super mad at.

All these things brought a whole other dimension to the story, and it was pure joy to read. I also grinned like a crazy person when characters were introduced that we know about from the legends. It was familiar yet refreshing.

Overall, while I’ve given it 4.5/5 stars (the ending didn’t quite sit with me that well – perhaps it was too rushed? I feel like there was something missing there), it’s been one of my favourite reads of the year. I’m looking forward to the next one already!

La Vie de Guinevere comes out in October 2024. Will you be picking up a copy? 

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Disclaimer: Thank you so much to Paula Lafferty and Netgalley for this Advanced Reader Copy. This gift does not affect my opinion, and all thoughts are my own.