Skip to main content

Daughter of Destiny (Guinevere's Tale #1) by Nicole Evelina: A Book Review

Daughter of Destiny (Guinevere’s Tale #1)
Author: Nicole Evelina
Genre: Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Lawson Gartner Publishing
Release Date: 2016
Pages: 328
Source: This book was given to me by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis: Before queenship and Camelot, Guinevere was a priestess of Avalon. She loved another before Arthur, a warrior who would one day betray her.

     In the war-torn world of late fifth century Britain, young Guinevere faces a choice: stay with her family to defend her home at Northgallis from the Irish, or go to Avalon to seek help for the horrific visions that haunt her. The Sight calls her to Avalon, where she meets Morgan, a woman of questionable parentage who is destined to become her rival. As Guinevere matures to womanhood, she gains the powers of a priestess, and falls in love with a man who will be both her deepest love and her greatest mistake.

    Just when Guinevere is able to envision a future in Avalon, tragedy forces her back home, into a world she barely recognizes, one in which her pagan faith, outspokenness, and proficiency in the magical and military arts are liabilities. When a chance reunion with her lover leads to disaster, she is cast out of Northgallis and into an uncertain future. As a new High King comes to power, Guinevere must navigate a world of political intrigue where unmarried women are valuable commodities and seemingly innocent actions can have life-altering consequences.

     You may think you know the story of Guinevere, but you’ve never heard it like this: in her own words. Listen and you will hear the true story of Camelot and its queen.

     Fans of Arthurian legend and the Mists of Avalon will love Daughter of Destiny, the first book in a historical fantasy trilogy that gives Guinevere back her voice and traces her life from an uncertain eleven year old girl to a wise queen in her fifth decade of life.

     My Review: Guinevere has been maligned for centuries. She is known for betraying Arthur and causing his downfall. The Tales of Guinevere Trilogy, by Nicole Evelina, tries to paint Guinevere in a more positive light. The first book of the trilogy, Daughter of Destiny, tells the story of Guinevere's early life before she marries Arthur. Guinevere is sent away to be a priestess of Avalon to learn the old ways. While she is there, she has a rivalry with another priestess-in-training named Morgan and falls in love with a Druid-in-training named Aggrivane. Guinevere hopes to one day marry Aggrivane, but her destiny leads her to marry Arthur and become his queen.

    I have read Daughter of Destiny twice. The first time was two years ago when I had to do it for a book tour. I have been a fan of many books with Guinevere as its main subject, such as Queen of Camelot, The Guinevere Trilogy by Persia Woolley, and Rosalind Miles’s Guinevere series. Each of them has portrayed their own version of Guinevere's early days. When I first read Nicole Evilena's version of Guinevere's youth, I was disappointed because it was very similar to Mists of Avalon with Guinevere as a priestess training in Avalon and learning the ways of the old religion. At the time and still today, I do not see her as a priestess of Avalon. Her being a priestess only seemed to be a set up just for her to meet Morgan and have a rivalry. It also was used to meet Aggrivane and for them to have a private tryst in the woods. There were no details of religion or the duties of being an Avalon priestess. What were the responsibilities of being a priestess of Avalon? I don’t know. Daughter of Destiny never answered that. All it showed was Guinevere and Morgan fighting to be the best priestess in Avalon.

      Two years later, I decided to read this book again to see if my views on this book changed. I bought the first two books and began to read. Reading Daughter of Destiny again made me dislike it even more. Guinevere was a very frustrating character. She was very selfish and arrogant. She is critical of others, especially of women. She constantly whines about how unfair her life is. Yet she makes no attempts to improve it. Guinevere is not only immature, but she is weak. She lets others manipulate her and quickly submits to their will without even attempting to put up a fight.

    Overall, this novel does not do any justice to Guinevere, portraying her as a weak-willed woman who is easily controlled. I thought the characters were very one dimensional. This was because there were only two types; either the person hates Guinevere or loves her. The love interest was trite and boring. He had no distinguishable characteristics except that he was handsome. Nothing happened in the plot except for the many and repetitive love making scenes between Aggrivane and Guinevere that did little to enhance the novel. Thus, out of all Guinevere books that I have read, this is by far the worst adaptation. I am definitely going to  read the rest of the series, but I have little faith. Read this if you are looking for a light and quick version of the Guinevere character. However, there have been so many versions that have portrayed Guinevere in a very human, sympathetic light that me understand her more and have done her justice. I suggest that you read those first in order to get a sense of who Guinevere may have been.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1) by Lucinda Riley: A Book Review

The Seven Sisters (The Seven Sisters #1) Author: Lucinda Riley Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance Publisher: Atria Release Date: 2015 Pages: 463 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: Maia D’Apliese and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, “Atlantis”—a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva—having been told that their beloved father, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings. Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to

Blog Tour: Clarissa: A Clean and Wholesome American Historical Romance by Jean Jacobsen

  Book Details: Book Title :   Clarissa: A Clean & Wholesome American Historical Romance by Jean Jacobsen Category :  Adult Fiction (18+) ,  324 pages Genre :  Historical Romance Publisher :  Jean Jacobsen Release date:    Feb 2020 Content Rating :  G: Wholesome Book Description:      Tragedy brings them together. Will love tear them apart?      New York City, 1832. Clarissa Tanner is carefree and lighthearted until the sudden death of her parents. Forced to pay off family debts or lose her horse farm, she's given one choice: auction off her beloved horses or reluctantly enter 1830s New York Society social season to face the dreaded marriage market.      Nicholas is a man on a mission, searching for his missing brother. Fearing Liam may be the victim of foul play, Nicholas needs to keep a low-profile while conducting his search. He takes a position as a dance instructor, providing refresher lessons to the beautiful but distracted Clarissa.      ​Clarissa and Nicholas find a con

Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife (Six Tudor Queens #6) by Alison Weir: A Book Review

Kath arine Parr: The Sixth Wife (Six Tudor Queens #6) Author: Alison Weir Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Ballantine Books Release Date: 2021 Pages: 544 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis : Bestselling author and acclaimed historian Alison Weir brings her Tudor Queens series to a close with the remarkable story of Henry VIII’s sixth and final wife, who manages to survive him and remarry, only to be thrown into a romantic intrigue that threatens the very throne of England.      Having sent his much-beloved but deceitful young wife Katheryn Howard to her beheading, King Henry fixes his lonely eyes on a more mature woman, thirty-year-old, twice-widowed Katharine Parr. She, however, is in love with Sir Thomas Seymour, brother to the late Queen Jane. Aware of his rival, Henry sends him abroad, leaving Katharine no choice but to become Henry’s sixth queen in 1543. The king is no longer in any condition to father a child, but Katharine is content to mo