I found the concept of this book quite interesting. An Arthurian legend featuring a forgotten woman in history, giving a voice to those who fall into the shadows of legend and are NEVER talked about??? Heck yeah. This is a tale of duty, sorrow, grief, and how women fight in men's battles through the loss of their agency in favor of the patriarchal agenda.

The plot was relatively well-paced, though I wasn't a big fan of the writing style, but I think that is just a personal issue. You were, however, able to form an understanding with Anna through these elements.

My biggest issue was how aspects of this book felt like they dragged a bit. The most exciting bits were in about the last quarter of the book, but by that point, I'd kind of stopped caring.

Totally loved this, it was refreshing to read a female character in a fantasy setting who was not about 18 years old. The main character is tenacious and in many ways (in my opinion) quite like her brother but... smarter. I loved how the author took us from our MC being and feeling used and abused to slowly taking her own power. Excellently done, would highly recommend! My only gripe is I don't think the cover gives it justice!

Thank you to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for the ARC.

Unfortunately, I'm having to DNF this book. I want to make it clear that this is not a bad book by any means, and I think it's one many people will love, it's just not for me and trying to read it is starting to put me in a reading slump.

I do really like the concept of this book (and I presume the series that will follow), exploring the untold stories of the women of Arthurian legend, and I do think Barron has achieved this quite well. However, Barron's writing style is very much focused on telling, and not showing, and so, to me personally, this felt like reading a history textbook or a non-fiction book on Arthurian legend rather than a fictional retelling. It's also very slow in pace, with very very long chapters, which might work for some people, however for me this just isn't something I enjoy and I found myself very bored whilst reading. I didn't find myself connecting to any of the characters either, and it's hard to read from a character's POV when you find them quite annoying and can't bring yourself to route for them. There's also far too many side characters for me (personally, but I think others have shared this opinion), to keep track of. I understand there are many figures in Arthurian legend, and Barron likely wants to explore a great deal of them, however it just all felt too much in this book.

This is not a bad book at all, and I'm sure die-hard Arthurian legend fans are going to adore this, it just personally wasn't for me.

This was a very hard book to put down and totally drew me in. Based on Arthurian legend we get the story of Anna , sister to Arthur and her struggle to actually claim her own destiny. It's at times very poignant as Anna is used as a political pawn who is expected to accept she isn't entitled to choose happiness for herself and time and time again she suffers. Yet in spite of the men being large and in charge as so often is the case the women in the background make their own plans.
This was unexpected as it truly made me so sad for Anna and I hadn't expected to feel such strong empathy. I very much enjoyed this unusual take on the Arthurian legend and although it isn't exactly a romance there is an ending that left me with hope.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I am always intrigued in finding new arthurian based books, and when i saw the description of this one i knew i had to read it.
But unfortunately, as with all the other ones i tried, i couldn’t for the life pf me concentrate on the story or care about the characters

And trust me i really tried to like this

Thank you netgalley for the arc 🫶🏻🫶🏻

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC. I thought I would enjoy this since the concept seemed intriguing. It was alright. Anna's character and prophecy intrigued me. While I loved her character, I wish the story had a little more of something to it. Hardly anything happened and I barely cared.

This book was such an interesting take on the Legend of King Arthur. The perspective from a female POV is refreshing, as well as endearing. We all know that King Arthur, Merlin, and all the King's men were made out to be popular, all-good, characters, but this book tells a different story. This book tells of the sacrifice that the long forgotten, supporting, wallflowers had to play in order for King Arthur to thrive.

The suffering that the females had to go through during this time (although fictional) was tragic, but was relatable in the sense that in our own human history, women were treated unfairly. Used, abused, and forgotten. We have to fight for what we want, and sometimes we end up being the villain, or the opposite of a happy ending.

I enjoyed this retelling and the FMC POV on King Arthur. I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good retelling. The world building, character development, plot twists, and political intrigue were amazing. I cannot dive into the next book, that will give us another POV from a female character from the Legend of King Arthur.

Thank you NetGalley, Natania Barron for the e-ARC, in exchange for my opinion.

It's been a while since I've read any Arthurian legends. I picked this up because the author's name sounded somewhat familiar - it seems I've stumbled across some of her Twitter threads on medieval clothes (?) or something of that sort. Besides, I'd never heard of Anna Pendragon before.

Queen of None is the story of the powerless women in King Arthur's court. They seem to have titles, prestige, and honour, but their lives are orchestrated and ordered by the men around them. In Anna's case, her brother King Arthur and his advisor, Merlin. It is a powerlessness that the men around them do not - and sometimes cannot - understand. For them, there is always a choice, always a decision they can make and unmake to shape their destinies. Anna's eldest, Gawain, keeps failing to grasp this lesson.

Where the legends of Arthur that I recall reading/watching make out Merlin to be a benevolent sage, the Merlin here is much darker. There is a menacing tone to his watching and meddling, the idea that he is evil in his machinations.

Anna Pendragon herself has a tragic life - because Arthur listens to Merlin over the happiness of his own sister. Arthur tries to make amends, but it is always too little, too late. I do not like the Arthur in this; then again, I do not think I am meant to like him. It is not his story.

No, this is the story of Anna finding her hidden strength, discovering the magic that runs through her mother's blood, and uncovering the battle between her mother's line and Merlin that has scattered her half-sisters and her aunts and twisted prophecies to their own ends. And in this, with her prophecy to be forgotten, Anna finds the chance to change history - if she can manage to make the magic work for her.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Solaris/Rebellion Publishing via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really liked the premise of this book. A long-forgotten sister of Arthur, Anne Pendragon and his only full blooded sibling. I loved that the focus, although set around the familiar tales we all know and love, but focused on the woman of the times rather than Arthur and his Knights.

The narrative was a little different than what I have read before, where it feels like we are following a character as they recall their past rather. than living in the moments with them. The beginning chapter was amazing, but then I felt the pacing was a bit off as I struggled to grasp what was happening and it got vey boring in the middle before it picked up again at around the 75% mark.

However, I did enjoy Anna as a character and seeing her growth throughout the story.

3.5 ⭐️

Anna Pendragon is to be forgotten. Married off at age 12. A mother at 13. She becomes a widow. Married off again for someone else’s selfish gain.

This poor girl deserves a break!

Beautiful Nimue will be the tool she wields to exact revenge, but will it accomplish what she hopes for?

👉🏻 I wanted to be obsessed with this book… and I just wasn’t. There were plenty of moments that were well written and lovely and made me want more. Unfortunately there were many more moments where I found myself skimming or reaching for my phone while reading.
I appreciated the commitment to the time period, but it felt like it was pushed too hard. Like at times, it felt forced, and like an over abundance of words to make it fit in the time period.

Queen of None is a retelling of King Arthur from the point of view of his sister, Anna, following her return to court after her husband's death.

This is a story of subtle rage and scheming, Anna was shipped off at 13 to marry a man in order to benefit her brother, and her return 20 years later is filled with pain and suffering. Used as a pawn, Anna desires to have more and enact revenge in ways she does not even realise. Once more she is married off by her brother, but this time she uses her power to create changes alongside her sisters.

Anna is more than just a sister, a wife, a mother - she is schemer and has the power to wield shadows to not be seen, allowing her to move pieces on the playing court to create change. The nature of the story itself is refreshing, Anna is willing to go to extreme lengths to not fall into a pit of desperation and allow men to keep using her.

The narrative is told in an interesting way, it seems as though Anna is recalling her past, and we see nudges and hints to the events to follow from the way she remembers certain events.

I did feel that the last third of the story was very different to the rest, and struggled to fully understand why everything was being done and the purpose of such a change.

This isn't a fantasy romance in my opinion, whilst there is romance the story is much more focused on Anna's growth as a character and her identity within the narrative. And the little romance that is in this is mostly about arranged marriages, something that Anna explicitly does not like.

This was an enthralling fantasy story on female identity, and I really enjoyed all the different character interactions!

This book was interesting. As someone who knows nothing about Arthurian tales, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up with the story. However, I was pleasantly surprised that I could. Lady Anna is quite the character. I wouldn’t say she was super likable, but I was rooting for her. She’s stronger than I could ever be under her circumstances. My heart ached for her in more ways than one.
One thing I will say is this is absolutely NOT romance. I’ve seen it categorized as such in a few places, but I think that’s misleading. This book is about Lady Anna taking back some power for herself and the women around/before her.

*Spoilers*
My biggest problem with this book was around the end. The first half of the book was strong, but it started to slack once Nimue came to be. I found that I couldn’t wait to get back to Anna’s Pov and when we did get back to her, she gave nothing.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.
3.25 stars

First, I love the cover of this book, it's so well done and eye catching. Second, this is an interesting take on Authorian legends. I'd not heard a lot about this side of it so it was cool to see it fleshed out.

I was intrigued by this re-release of a story from the world of Arthurian legend, focusing on the less written sister of Arthur, Anna.

When she was born, Merlin prophesied she would be forgotten about, and when Arthur marries her off to the much older Lot of Orkney, it seems to have already come true.

The plot thickens when she finally returns to court, hoping to be with her childhood sweetheart when Arthur (under Merlin’s influence) marries her off again, this time to the mysterious knight Lanceloch.

Barron perfectly highlights how women’s agency was often stifled in the medieval period, but women’s magic was a powerful force to be reckoned with, especially when women could work together. Various women characters in Carelon utilise magic to try and divert their destinies and fight back against Merlin, including Anna.

As I don’t have a huge amount of Arthurian knowledge, a few scenes slipped past me without a lot of context - two babies got swapped at birth without resolution and an eminent lady of the court disappears without explanation - I don’t know if that’s because a certain amount of knowledge if the myths is assumed, or their stories will get picked up in the remaining two books of the trilogy.

Throughout the book I really felt for Anna - her struggle with her prophecy became self fulfilling and she failed to see her own importance to those who cared about her, a flaw that clearly impacted her children and the course of history as she almost lost her sense of self. I’d definitely be interested to see how the story unfolds!

I will post a review on Instagram on the 8th May.

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc copy of this book for an honest review.

Such a pretty cover! It's detailed and it's blue. Definitely had me intrigued.

If you love the show Merlin and you love a good Arthurian retelling. Than you will love this book.

4/5- I would recommend

DNF at 76% because it was just not very interesting.

This was a very interesting concept about the forgotten sister of King Arthur which I found intriguing but nothing about the actual story actually lifted off the page for me in anyway for this to be interesting or engaging or exciting.

We all know varying tales of Arthur and his knights and Merlin and Guinevere etc., so it was nice to see these characters in a different light i.e. from a different perspective but it just wasn’t exciting enough to warrant any real investment. The pacing was too slow so I wasn’t sure what we were trying to achieve. There were too many names, too many strings of plot that didn’t amount to anything and then the magic that was there wasn’t particularly appealing or seemingly well thought out.

There was little to no romance which again is fine. It’s not a necessity but I tend to lean on romance when other aspects of a plot or characterisation or world building is lacking so when there was no romance it just continued to get more boring.

At one point, there’s a baby switching scandal that I’m still not sure why it was done because we don’t discuss it much again. There’s somebody switching magic that I don’t know why she’s done it. There was a blood magic book that she was able to read and I don’t actually know how or why she was able to read it. There was some incest that noone cared about so it was just constant confusion with no drama or action or engagement and it was just not pulling me in enough to continue or see how it ends because there was nothing for me to care about ending.

Thanks, to netgalley for the arc, but this was not for me.

It was interesting to see the perspective from other's person eyes.. I have to admit that somethings didn't feel properly okay for me and I know is fiction but the 12y old married part, sorry about the spoiler, made me a lot of confusion and I do love a good Merlin and King Arthur re-telling just wasn't the one I expected

This was a great retelling of the Arthurian story. It was a lot like The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker in that it tells about the women behind the crown. Almost all the characters around Arthur are more compelling to me than Arthur himself- Lancelot, Guinevere, Merlin, Morgan Le Fey, etc. But I’d never heard of Anna his sister. Being female in that era (or most others!) and as royalty to live your life as a political pawn wasn't easy. This was a thought-provoking and absorbing read.

2.75/5

I remember being enthralled with the world of King Arthur and Camelot as a kid. As I grew up, that fascination stayed with me. All these years later, I still read and watch anything I can get my hands on that relates to Arthurian legends.

'Queen of None' is an interesting story inspired by the well-known tales. However, there was some weird stuff that really detracted from the book, including some very uncomfortable intimate scenes. The timeline jumps were also off-putting. Despite this, I will probably end up giving the sequel a try at some point.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ebook ARC of the updated first installment of Natania Barron's 'Queens of Fury' series.

DNF. Will not post review to social media.

As much as I was very excited by the premise of this book, I was very turned off by the voice the author chose to use. It had a VERY strong "not like other girls" feel. Not just vibes, but directly in the text. I'm sure a lot of readers will identify with this feeling, but for me, it verged on a whining, self-superior voice that begged the reader to understand how *unique* the main character is. I made it to the end of chapter two, but I nothing truly hooked me enough for me to WANT to work through the aforementioned voice issues. Between that and the abuse in her backstory that isn't engaged with meaningfully beyond to give her a traumatic history (at least up to the point I read. I concede that perhaps the author engages with it later in a way that is complex and interesting), I have to strongly say that this book is not the right fit for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for the ebook ARC. All opinions are mine alone.