NetGalley Review: The Once and Future Queen by Paula Lafferty

Hey all, Sam here.

Happy Book Birthday to Paula Lafferty today for the trad pub release of The Once and Future Queen. Originally self-published as La Vie de Guinevere, this book was a fast success, after a massively successful Kickstarter, and lots of social media buzz. I read and reviewed the self-pubbed edition last year, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read it again.

I’ll just say that there’s a part of me that has always felt a pull towards stories based on or inspired by Arthurian legends, so it’s pretty easy to get me to pick up a book that’s Arthurian-centric. Plus the fact that the story is focused on Guinevere is certainly a fascinating one.

Anyway, let’s go ahead and jump into the review.

Outlander-meets-The Princess Bride plus Camelot in a fresh, big-hearted, feminist, timeslip adventure reimagining the epic saga of King Arthur, as told from the perspective of his spunky and surprising queen, Vera – complete with time travel and good running shoes!

Vera always knew she didn’t fit in. When she learns that she is meant to be in another time, she leaps at the chance to embrace a new life in a world of valor, intrigue, and unexpected magic in this bold and romantic retelling of Arthurian legend . . .

22-year-old Vera is at a crossroads: waiting tables, grieving her previous relationship, and jogging aimlessly each morning as if toward an uncertain future. Then an odd man shows up at her workplace, insisting that she was once the legendary Queen Guinevere of Camelot, and that her lost memories hold the key to changing both the past and the present. Somehow, it all feels like the direction she’s been looking for. But when she asks the mysterious man to tell her more about Lancelot, Arthur, and a faithless queen, he can only say that much of what she’s heard about Camelot is wrong. The truth, he claims, is something she must see for herself.

After jumping through a portal in Glastonbury’s historic center, Vera is not prepared for what she finds. Magic is everywhere, but a curse on the kingdom means it dwindles every day. She has no idea how to perform a queen’s duties. Her fast friendship with Lancelot sets gossip flowing, and the stranger she must call “husband” often refuses to meet her eye. Arthur is a puzzle: cold, forbidding, and, while angry to her face, keeps leaving secret tokens of tenderness in her chambers. Worst of all, Vera’s memories—and the answers locked within them—show no signs of returning. If Vera is truly destined to save Camelot, she’ll have to trust her instincts. And her king will have to trust her . .

My Thoughts

Rating: 4.5 stars

Once again I basically read this book across two days at work, but easily could have read it all in one go if I hadn’t been otherwise. I appreciate that this was a quick read that also quickly pulled me into the story, because work has been getting extremely stressful and it was nice to have a fantastical break from reality for a little while.

The only silly little gripe I’m going to make is that for a story set in the UK with characters born and raised there, it was weird to have everything written with US spelling and grammar. Which, yes, the author is from the US, so it makes a certain amount of sense, but a small part of me still would have wished for the UK spelling.

The characters remain the selling point for this whole story to me. Getting to see the relationships develop with Vera and the characters we know and recognize from Arthurian legends. My favorites in this story are obviously Lancelot and Gawain. But Arthur and Percival are also great. Merlin seemed a bit suspicious most of the time.

I did enjoy how the character of Vera was raised in our modern day, and lived in an area historically believed to be Avalon and connected to the legend of King Arthur, and yet Vera herself stayed as far away as she could from all of the stories and legends, only knowing small bits and pieces…something she came to regret after learning that she actually was Queen Guinevere and needed to go back to save Camelot.

This story is also a pretty slow burn and slow build-up romance. Obviously the legend of Arthur and Guinevere makes the legendary status of their love well-known, but watching as Vera met Arthur and tried to fake the relationship that the public expected while privately trying to learn about each other was rather nice.

The friendship between Guinevere and Lancelot was a fun one to explore, and really helped Vera and the readers learn about the realm of Camelot.

There was a bit of magic in this story, as well as mystery and a bit of action. All around it made for an enjoyable reading experience. I had a very nice time reading it, and I can’t wait to read the next book.

---

All right, well that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.