Back of Book: 

Igraine, destined mother of King Arthur, takes center stage for a powerful, feminist retelling of Camelot.

The stories of Camelot do not begin with the sword in the stone—but rather with a twisted chain of murder, magic, and deceit.

Igraine is happily married to Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall, even though his withdrawal from the Mysteries and the Goddess have created a strain between them, as well as friction between her and her mentor, the Lady of the Lake. While they are visiting Uther Pendragon, King of Britain, at his castle, Uther makes it obvious to the entire court that he desires Igraine to be his queen. Later, he grabs her in the hall, and when Igraine informs Gorlois of what happened, he gathers his people and abruptly leaves the festivities, later declaring war on Uther. England has only recently found peace, and Merlin pleads with Gorlois to pledge allegiance to Uther. But Gorlois’ pride will keep him bent toward war, no matter the cost to his people.

Igraine bravely assumes the role of leader at Tintagel Castle, encouraging the women left behind to continue working the fields to show their devotion to the Goddess and instructing her two daughters to harness their own powers. She plans a grand summer solstice celebration, inviting their allies. On the eve of the solstice, Gorlois unexpectedly returns to Tintagel. But it is only after she lies with who she thinks is her beloved husband that Igraine learns the full extent of the devious plot of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake.

Igraine is chosen by the Goddess, by the Lady of the Lake, by Merlin, by Uther Pendragon... but in the end, she will choose her own fate. 

Book Number: One 

Genre: Adult | Historical | Fantasy 

Review: 🌟🌟🌟

A novel penned from the perspective of Lady Igraine, the woman who will one day become the mother of King Arthur, that tells her little-known story. 

Igraine is content with her life married to Duke Gorlois of Cornwall. One day when they are visiting King Uther of Britain, the King makes it clear that he favors Igraine despite the fact that she is already married. Igraine tries to politely decline his advances, but Uther is a persistent man who will not take no for an answer. Gorlois and Uther engage in a heated battle for the hand of the fair Lady Igraine. Meanwhile, Igraine is doing everything in her power to please the Goddess despite her husband's lack of faith. In doing so, she begins to train her young daughters Morgause and Morgan in the arts of the mystic. Everyone tries to control her life, but in the end, Igraine will pave her own path to peace and freedom. 

I am always up to reading more stories about King Arthur and the kingdom of Camelot, so when this one popped up on my radar, I figured I might as well apply for it. My request to read this one was granted and I found myself on an educational deep dive into the life of Igraine and the beginning of a classic legend. 

I didn't find this one to be super entertaining, but I did find that it shone a light on many aspects of the legend that I knew little about. I knew nothing about Igraine except her name going into this one, so it is no surprise I learned a ton. One of the things that this one cleared up is Morgan's existence and how she comes to one day fall in love with her half-brother, Arthur. This book also gave me some background on King Uther and how Arthur was taken by Merlin and hidden away from the world. 

This one reads a bit like a textbook, which wasn't the worse thing due to the subject matter. It is certainly slow paced and got a bit repetitive at times though. All of the war politics were super boring to me and I found myself skimming through many of these parts of the book. The dialogue was a bit stilted too, which really reminded me of reading a textbook rather than a fictional story. 

Igraine's relationship with her daughters was my favorite part of this book by a landslide. Baby Morgan is honestly quite frightening, and it was fun to see just how powerful she is as a young girl. The magic of Avalon is cool, so I was the most absorbed by the parts of the book that featured it. 

I have to take a moment to mention just how creepy both Gorlois and Uther are. I pity the fact that Igraine is forced to be with either of them. Gorlois is a controlling husband and Uther is a freak who sticks his tongue between people's knuckles. I'm glad that Igraine eventually gets to escape these two, but I shudder to think she had children with both of them. 

Overall, "The Chosen Queen" was an educational read that taught me a ton about Camelot and the origin of King Arthur. I knew nothing about Igraine at the start of this book, so I certainly learned a bunch. I'm not sure if I'm overly inclined to read the rest of the books in this series, but I'm also not opposed to learning more about Camelot either. If you are a fan of slow-paced historical fiction brimming with magic, war, and politics, this one might be a great fit for you.