I enjoyed this book quite a lot. I loved the take they had of Viviane and Morgana. Any book where the two female leads ignore all the men around them to go and get together with each other, is good in my opinion!

The only thing is, and I’m finding this in a lot of the books I’ve been reading, is that they have so much misogyny and sexual assault. So many fantasy books, especially mythology retellings, just have the characters under relentless abuse from the men around them. This one was a bit better than some of them I’ve read, but it felt like every man in the book was a prick. I want to have fun sapphic mythology and get away from the presence of men, rather than being constantly reminded of the worst parts.

Otherall though, this book did some interesting things with the mythology and at least one of the pricks was rooted in the original stories, which did make me feel a bit better. I might have been less annoyed if I hadn’t had a string of books with similar things.

Read for strong female sorceresses and mysterious fae water magic!

Lady Vivianne has had to leave the lakes of the far North for Camelot. Here lives Arthur and she has been verbally requisitioned by her father to capture his heart. In these uncertain Mediaeval times pacts between neighbouring kingdoms was essential to keep ones kingdom and inheritance. It was the norm in Mediaeval Society. However, Viviane is enraptured by Morgan, Arthurs half-sister. Morgan who has always been fierce and contrary sees a different path for Vivianne and herself. In this Mediaeval land of knights and Kings, can these two women rewrite the rules of love and magic.

In this poignant and evocative rendering of one of the Arthurian legends, Menzies tells the reimagined story of the Lady of the Lake. It is first and foremost, Vivianne’s life story. Here, in Camelot Viviane discovers herself and her destiny. Or maybe, she chooses what her destiny should be. This is a bold and imaginative sapphic retelling of the Arthurian legend. In doing so Menzies portrays a vastly different persona of Vivianne and Morgan. She has deftly woven the magic and gore of this period into the plotline. I read each page with my heart in my mouth. I was egging both protagonists onward to triumph in their various trials.

Menzies has sensitively portrayed the issues that these two women faced. Woven into her narrative were all the other characters in the Arthurian legends. Against this backdrop it certainly wasn’t easy for both women to forge a new path. I liked how Menzies was aware of the problems they would encounter in hitherto a world of men only. The entire novel evolves around these two women and the decisions they make. Vivianne and Morgan take centre stage while the rest of the cast are relegated to the side lines. This is a bold statement. As any reader of Mediaeval fiction knows it’s usually the opposite. The darkness and danger was palpable. I invite readers to delve into this spellbinding and courageous reimagining of Mediaeval times.

The Lady of the Lake is a new arthurian retelling, focusing mostly on a blossoming love between Lady Vivienne and Morgan.

I really enjoyed this novel and the way the magic was woven throughout, I also particularly enjoyed the different portrayal of Merlin in this retelling.

We follow Vivienne and Morgan as they grow up around Camelot and learn magic from Merlin. The prose is beautiful and kept me reading, I could not put this down!

The only drawback was in the exploration of Vivienne and Morgans relationship, some times it felt a little rushed and I didn't get to know them in their relationship very well.

I am absolutely in love with this sapphic retelling and cannot wait to read more from Menzies,

I have been watching Jean’s YouTube channel for a while, and really enjoy the content she makes, so I was excited when she announced she had an adult novel being published. When I discovered that it was a sapphic retelling of an Arthurian legend, I knew it would be exactly my kind of read.

The prose was poetic and a delight to read, as I would expect from the way Jean speaks. The characters were beautifully imagined, with complex relationships which felt very realistic. Magic was gently woven throughout the book, and I enjoyed reading about Viviane and Morgan’s exploration of their skills. The friendship that develops into much more between the two protagonists was lovely to read and really felt like a genuine experience of a first love. I adored this retelling of a familiar story with the feminist focus. There were events in the book, that although set a long time ago, will be chillingly familiar to most women. It was incredibly uplifting to see Viviane overcome setbacks and find her own freedom and happiness. A truly magical read, I highly recommend this book and am keen to read everything the author writes in the future.

Unfortunately this ended up being a DNF for me...

I really wanted to love this and to support it's Scottish author (being Scottish myself) but I couldn't get past the very basic writing.

It reads painfully YA and I didn't find myself drawn to any of the characters. They all felt too childish to me. I think with more fine tuning, this may have been good.

I hope the author continues to improve her craft, but having read some excellent Arthurian retellings, this one doesn't stand out at all for me.

3.5 ⭐️ - I really enjoyed the book and the premise of a sapphic retelling of Arthurian legend. The author did a good job with Viviane and Morgan’s relationship and it’s journey felt natural and not rushed. I also enjoyed the portrayal of Merlin we rarely see in the media and I felt pulled into the world. But toward the end some scenes felt a little unnecessary and the dialogue slightly dulled higher impact moments of the story

A mesmerising read that drew me in from page 1. Beautiful author craft, a captivating story and some really great characters.

The Lady of the Lake reimagines the myths of Camelot, focusing mainly on the women of the tales. It’s fun and entertaining, with a central relationship and fresh perspective that develops the original content. You can tell that a lot of research went into this book and I loved reading the author’s note at the end, which provided insight into the creative process.

Although I loved the overall idea, the writing in this felt very young to me, especially for a book being marketed as an adult romantasy. The central romance progressed far too quickly and I didn’t feel like we got enough of it — I would’ve liked to see more scenes between the two characters. I very much enjoyed the sapphic love story, I just wanted a bit more from it.

From a plot perspective, there were lots of interesting storylines and the narrative was very fast-paced and exciting. Characters were reinvented in new and interesting ways, with a few surprises across the book.

If you’re a fan of the medieval period, enchanting characters and a magical setting, then this is a good one to add to your tbr!

Thank you to @michaeljbooks for the NetGalley arc!

I really loved this Arthurian retelling focusing on Viviane and her love of Morgan Le Fay and also seeing Merlin from a different perspective. This book is so well written and I did not want to put it down.

This is a fun, sapphic remaining of the arthurian story following the Lady Vivianne as she navigates growing up in camelot, becoming a sorceress, falling in love and learning how to live with all of that in Arthur's Camelot. There are some nice plot points in this, some interesting takes on magic, and the character interactions were enjoyable. Morgan was the love interest and arguably i would have liked the story more from her POV. It was a little slow for me, lacking in tension at times but overall a fun read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Michael Joseph Penguin Random House for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a clever queer retelling of the Arthurian myths. I loved the characters, the settings and that the author decided to show a more realistic version of Merlin.

One of the best mythology retellings I've read in a long time! The characters, pacing, magic and plot all hit perfectly, I loved my time reading this. I also appreciate that it's a stand alone novel. I would thoroughly recommend this for fans of mythology retellings in general but specifically Sophie Keetch's 'Morgan Le Fay' series, and TV shows like Merlin and Once Upon a Time. Thanks so much to Netgalley and Penguin for this ARC and of course to Jean Menzies for writing this fab book.

Wow what a book I have been following Jean since her early booktube days and I loved this book.. Her writing is so very atmospheric a wonderful Arthunian retelling.. I loved the slow burn romance and magic world building.
I loved the dynamics of the characters who came alive on the page. I wold recommend this book to anyone who has an intrest in or has watched the tv series Merlin. I also love they way her Scottish influences enhanced and already maystical,amgical story.
Thank you to Netgalley and Publishers for the advanced copy of this book it was amazing.

I was so excited to read this book, but I ended up being disappointed. There were a couple of real stand-out moments, but on the whole I was underwhelmed.

Firstly, the things I liked! I did like that we got to explore an Arthurian character who is less familiar to us, as well as exploring different aspects of the other more well-known characters. I particularly enjoyed seeing the darker side of Merlin, and the more nuanced side of Guinevere; they were both explored in unexpected ways which I really liked.

Everything else fell a bit flat for me. The writing style was inconsistent and often tonally at odds with the setting, which is a shame as I have enjoyed what I’ve read of Jean Menzies’ non-fiction. The actual romance barely seemed to feature, and didn’t have any emotional impact on me. There was an interesting attempt to include mythology from other countries too, which would have been very effective if it had been executed slightly better. As it was, it felt very jarring.

Overall I was disappointed from this book, perhaps because I had such high hopes going in. There are some interesting and thought-provoking moments but on the whole I wasn’t particularly taken with it.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

'The Lady of the Lake' is a divine piece of storytelling. It tells the tale of the women of Camelot in an enchanting retelling. With a whimsical medieval setting, we follow our main character Viviane on a quest to discover herself, learning elemental magic along the way, as well a beautiful sapphic bond unfolding between her and the King's sister, Morgan.

This novel was a wonderful and unique twist on the classic Arthurian legend. I loved the blend of mythology and folklore. I felt the wholesome and heartwarming inspirations from the bbc's Merlin, which I adored as a child, although the version of Merlin we see is a much darker one. The bonds between our female main characters were strong and powerful and perfectly displayed. Our female leads were courageous and spectacular.

This author's writing style was vivid and magical. The storytelling had such a dream-like quality. I have a critique that feels like a positive and negative one at the same time, which was that the plot felt quite 'hazy' to me. It's the only way I can think to describe it. The story didn't feel as though it was powering through or being strongly lead anywhere. It felt like the progression of the story was very natural and free flowing - following the lives of the characters as they grew. There weren't any large conflicts or anything confidently pushing the plot ahead until the very end, other than of course the impending prophecy that hovered over our story.

The pacing was quite slow for this one, despite the book not being super long. A part of me feels like it could have been even longer, so more background about Camelot could have been included for those unfamiliar with the original tale.

Despite my thoughts on the plot and the slower pacing, I never found myself bored, and I definitely felt transported to another realm while reading this. The author has captured a very special feeling for this story. It was a beautiful reading experience.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher for giving me the chance to read and review this!

*I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) for free in exchange for an honest review*

4.5*

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of the eBook.

This is the first Arthurian retelling I’ve read and I loved it. My retellings up until now are only from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and BBC’s Merlin. So, the Lady of the Lake was quite a new character for me.

I loved Jean’s telling of the story and Viviane was a brilliant character to follow around Camelot. Viviane and Morgan are meant to be and I will not accept any other version now. This book was beautifully described and has made me want to delve more into the legend (although maybe I want it to stay this way).

I do wish we got to know some of the other characters a bit better as I bet Jean would put an even better spin on them too. That’s me just being greedy though!

I read Jean’s debut fiction novel a while ago and I love how diverse her writing can be. I do have her queering of the Greek myths book out of the library so can’t wait to give it a read. An author who can do incredible fiction and amazing non-fiction is hard to come by but Jean is one of them!

P.s. The authors note made me laugh

If you watched BBC’s merlin and always thought Morgan to be quite sapphic this is the book for you!

A brilliant new reimagining of the Arthurian Legands, focusing more on the often neglected character of The Lady of the Lake, or Vivienne as she is called in this imagining.

I really enjoyed this retelling and I loved the focus on Vivienne and her being Scottish and pulling in the lore of Selkies.

In this version Arthur, Morgan, Gwenivere and Vivienne are all friends at court, after Vivienne arrives at court to try to win Arthur’s hand in marriage to make her future Queen. Unfortunately for her Dad and Step-mother, Vivienne doesn’t really have any interesting in marriage or men.

We also meet Merlin who is wildly different to the BBC show, more similar to the old legands and sword in the stone where he is a much more mature man of unknown age or origin but very powerful and not always the nicest guy. Morgan and Vivienne seek his tutoring on becoming sorcerer/ sorceress and so our story unfolds over several years.

I loved the way the author weaved in so many of her own reimagines with the traditional legend.
The stakes felt so high throughout and I enjoyed every moment! It was so well written and constructed I will happily refer to this as the og legend now


Thank you to netgalley and penguin house for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely loved this new spin on Camelot.
The slow development of magic and a sapphic romance.
I haven’t seen such a unique take on Merlin’s character before, this book makes you really question who is the villain.
I really enjoyed the dynamic between ( I want to say) the 2 FMC’s.
A book I would recommend to all lovers of Camelot and the tales of Arthur but who would prefer a badass FMC’s point of view!

Thoroughly enjoyed this, a great twist on the story and the writing was so engaging. Can't wait to read more my Jean!

Fairies, magic, medieval, legends, saphic, feminist, myths with a Scottish taste.

A story that wound me in magic and a taste of the world of the Fae. Absolutely enchanting.

So I knew little about Arthurian legends, bar the image of the wee boy in the Disney film pulling the sword from the stone. I knew there was a round table and some Knights and it wasnt necessarily all that appealing.

However, I loved Jean Menzies' Flames of Albyion, so was chuffed to get accepted for a digital arc. And I am even more pleased about that now having just finished it.

Although the story felt slow to get going and the characters took a wee while for me to connect with, I did fall for Viviane and her life at Camelot. May this world be fill yours with magic, intruigue and justice.