The Other Merlin

The legend of King Arthur, by way of Twelfth Night, Beverly Hills 90210, and Monty Python & the Holy Grail. Emry Merlin secretly takes her brother's place as the new apprentice wizard at Camelot and falls for Arthur, but if anyone finds out she is female the punishment will be deadly. Bookish Arthur wonders what the hell he's supposed to do now that he's pulled the sword from the stone, but is still a disappointment as an heir to his father.

I appreciated the twisty road to Emry and Arthur finding true love. But I felt even more invested in the fate of Lancelot, who was demoted to guard after being caught kissing another man; Gawain, who is morally ambiguous for most of the story; and Guinevere, who is a pawn in a political game. The characters frequently bemoan how their parents are ruining their lives and warn that drastic change in the social order is needed, which seems about right for a YA novel. Fortunately the angst is leavened by snarky humor and banter among this medieval friend squad.

There is no cliffhanger ending, but there are multiple plot threads that are very much still hanging. I had a lot of fun reading it and eagerly await the next book in the series.