god forbid a woman have hobbies

Heartbreakingly, breathtakingly beautiful. An absolute must for fans of legendborn and Arthurian legends. Beautifully written and absolutely heart shattering from the first few pages. 

This is a debut and it reads as such: there are rough patches and the book falls too much on telling instead of showing. As such, a lot of elements fall flat for me, as they don’t seem to be organic developments, but more so “because that’s what the script says.” 

A lot of the romances in this book were very insta-love, but a lot of page time was devoted to them. Since the romances didn’t really change, it made for a bit of a boring read. 

Speaking of things that didn’t change, most of the characters were rather flat and one-dimensional. Our protagonist, Morgan, doesn’t really have a character arc. To be honest, a lot of her character felt very modern—which contrasted with everyone else acting more “medieval.”

At one point, she says something about not wanting to be sold to the highest bidder, which just felt out of place with the setting.

 

I’m a big fan of the Arthurian mythos, and as such, tend to read anything that comes out in relation to it. This retelling didn’t really offer a fresh take on the mythos. If you have read The Mists of Avalon (ignoring MZB, if you can, for a second), this reads like a flat rendition of that book. The most unique element of this book, in comparison to other retellings, was

the convent element. I liked the way her time in the convent was portrayed: a place of learning and refuge, a mix of scholarship and religion. It reminded me a bit of The Book of Gothel in that sense.

The other element that I really enjoyed was

how Arthur and all of those going-ons were shoved off to the side. Guinevere isn’t named in this book; it’s just presented as “Arthur suddenly got married for love.” This also goes for Mordred—we can see how both Arthur and Morgause know about this, and her child is described as blonde, but there is nothing that Morgan knows about the situation.

If you are looking for something you can breeze through in a couple hours, maybe pick this up, but if you are looking for something fresh, I’d skip this one. 

I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't necessarily this. The author refers to it as a "feminist retelling" and I don't know if I necessarily see it that way? If it is it is very much not intersectional feminism and lives more in a women's lib type vain of feminism. I also see the author tweeted this is a planned trilogy, which I didn't know going in, but makes sense with the pacing. This is very slow and it isn't until near the end that Morgan actually takes some action and things in the plot stop happening to her and her making things happen. 

The synopsis is basically noble born girl who loves her quiet secure life and her father has her whole life turned upside down. Her father dies and she ends up with a cruel stepfather who just wants her gone. Unfortunately, he's king and she's just a woman in medieval times, so she has no say in anything. She rebels under the threat of death and gets sent to a nunnery where she makes her first true friend. She is called back to be wed and shit starts getting even worse from there. 

Basically, cruel man after cruel man is presented to her. Perhaps that is the feminist angle? I did like that Morgan is a healer and has a very strong ability in it which is consistently shunned, first as being of the devil and second as being unbecoming. Her best friend though is very much supportive of it and helps her out quite a bit. However, for the fact that she is her best friend there isn't a whole lot of them actually being friends. This is kind of an artifact of the narrative style and first person, but Alice still feels kind of empty. I felt that we know more about Arthur's nature once he is revealed than we do about Alice or Tressa (I am hoping that is the spelling because I just had the audiobook). For a feminist retelling the men are described in detail while the women are not so much? Save for the woman we see with Merlin the first time he is introduced. Most of the women in the story are cruel to each other, cold and callus. It was kind of exhausting. 

Near the end when Morgan finally starts taking charge, which I kind of hate the inciting event for this, it started to pick up a bit. The pacing increased, the detail in which things were described changed and Morgan started using her abilities and her rank to her favor. I will probably pick up the rest when they come out but I am disappointed to have this as my first Arthurian tale. Especially with how much I loved the BBC Merlin show. I think I may have to go back to the OG feminist Arthurian retelling: The Mists of Avalon and give that one a go. 

 First, a massive thank you to Netgalley, Sophie Keetch, and Penguin Random House for allowing me to read an ARC of Morgan is My Name in exchange for an honest review! I didn’t realize this book was the first in a planned trilogy when I read it, but once I realized that, everything made a lot more sense. This book is a solid setup for a series, and I can’t wait to see where it goes next.

I love Keetch’s take on the Arthurian setting. I think the success here comes from how rooted this book is in Morgan’s perspective; everything is filtered through her eyes. Tintagel Castle is given its atmosphere by Morgan’s experience of it, and so we as the audience are uniquely immersed in how it changes when Uther takes power.

Even when we see Arthur towards the end (which itself is fascinating and I can’t wait to see more of his interactions with Morgan in future books!) he doesn’t immediately consume the narrative, as I feel like often happens in Arthurian lit. Morgan quite reasonably has her own concerns about Arthur, but Arthur himself isn’t at the center of them, so he doesn’t overwhelm the story.

Every corner of the world that we see feels not only like we are there, but like we are there as Morgan, which I think is crucial to this book’s introspective narrative style. 

One particular detail about the setting I really enjoy is the worldbuilding around magic-- magic isn’t an over-the-top, wondrous gift of vibrance to the world as many versions of Arthuriana seem to prefer, rather an intensely powerful yet hushed, secretive force that’s almost ominous in its presence. Regardless of one’s familiarity with the title character’s story, the seemingly innocent against-the-rules allure Morgan initially finds in magic carries a sharp sense of foreboding that subtly curdles the rest of the world around it as the novel continues. This fascinating, darker Arthuriana roots its lighter moments in Morgan’s own lightness. The setting bends around her. It’s extremely satisfying, immersive, and engaging.

Keetch’s emphasis on Morgan’s voice drives the narrative forward in many more ways than the setting, though. I don’t know if I’d call Morgan a completely unreliable narrator, but the presentation of the supporting cast in this novel seems to be heavily influenced by Morgan’s own mindset. I think Sir Accolon, Merlin, the Lady of the Lake, and Morgan’s eventual husband are all great examples of Morgan’s perception lording over objectivity, mostly in a very good way. The prose itself reflects the centering Morgan is My Name commits to; there are paragraphs upon paragraphs delving into Morgan’s introspection in her own voice, and I for one adore the level of detail afforded to her thought processes through the novel. While I don’t think the writing is necessarily a total standout, it’s solid and approachable in its more languid moments of reflective stream-of-consciousness, and the moments where it is confrontational and action-driven work well without breaking the flow at all. The slow pacing complements the prose style and narrative focus. It reminds me a little bit of a more prosaic, less mythologically grandiose Circe by Madeline Miller.

Obviously, this book’s success hinges entirely on Keetch’s development of Morgan into a realistically flawed, well-rounded, interesting character; Keetch does a decent job on this front. My only issue here is that because this kind of feminist retelling of myth has become a lot more popular and widespread in recent years-- a trend I am extremely glad to see-- it’s a lot more difficult to make these stories and main characters stand out. Morgan, to me at least, is fascinating but not totally exceptional or unique for a work like this. Her relationships with Accolon and her eventual husband don’t help there; the romance in this book takes a lot of power away from its narrative for me, and even the subversion we see with the husband feels tired and a little overdone. The novel is aided in that regard by the remainder of its supporting cast (Morgan’s family, Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, and Lady Alys and Tressa add a lot of color in particular) and setting, but I feel like it isn’t quite as defined and distinct as it would like to be. 

With how well-written and interesting I found it to be anyway, though, I’m optimistic that future books in this trilogy will expand upon the world of Morgan is My Name and help it carve out its own space in the genre. This book and series have an absurd amount of potential to be phenomenal; I’m so excited to see Keetch’s work come into its own here! 

A fiery retelling of the legend of Morgan le Fay, which follows her childhood, adolescence, education, tumultuous marriage, and her role in the establishment in Arthur's court. 

In one word, it is a book about suffering. Keetch draws from familiar ground to create a healer type figure who struggles to find peace and purpose in a world where she is treated as property. Keetch's Morgan is courageous, brash, angry, and the story telling pulls readers into these headspaces with her. 

When she is harmed, you feel the snap of rage. When her expertise is stifled and dismissed, then forbidden, you experience the suffocation, the frustration of knowing what it is to be able yet forbidden from helping others. When she takes up defiance in her honesty and courage, you soar, and when trouble knocks on her door, you flinch. It is evocative.

Well-paced, movingly crafted--up to the very end, which felt sudden. There were a few plot threads that I had expected to be addressed and were not. Morgan's internality is teetering on a precipice of dark and light, and this feels more like the first entry in a duology or trilogy than a standalone.

Women's healthcare and agency is a thematic heartbeat underneath the story, and many readers might relate to Morgan's frustration that female bodies are so unstudied and unsupported by the medical field in comparison to male ones.