Name: The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights
ISBN: 9780759554580

Alexandria Rogers

Much to their initial dismay, a twelve-year-old boy and girl discover they are destined to become knights of King Arthur's legendary Round Table, but first they must find and reforge Excalibur and break a curse that has weakened the magic of the Twenty-Five and a Half Realms.

The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights

A charming middle-grade fantasy debut that put a new spin on the legend of Camelot, perfect for fans of The School for Good and Evil and A Tale of Magic… Twelve-year-old Ellie can’t help that she’s a witch, the most hated member of society. Determined to prove her worth and eschew her heritage, Ellie applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy—her golden ticket to societal acceptance. But Ellie’s dreams are squashed when she receives the dreaded draft letter to serve as a knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. She can get out of the draft—but only if she saves a lost cause. Enter Caedmon, a boy from Wisconsin struggling with the death of his best friend. He first dismisses the draft as ridiculous; magic can’t possibly exist. But when Merlin’s ancient magic foretells his family’s death if he doesn’t follow through, he travels to the knights’ castle, where he learns of a wicked curse leeching the knights of their power. To break the curse, Ellie and Caedmon must pass a series of deathly trials and reforge the lost, shattered sword of Excalibur. And unless Ellie accepts her witch magic and Caedmon rises to become the knight he’s meant to be, they will both fail—and the world will fall to the same darkness that brought King Arthur and Camelot to ruin.

The Witch, The Sword, and the Cursed Knights

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc and arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Witch, The Sword, and The Cursed Knights

Author: Alexandria Rogers

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For...: middle grade readers, fantasy, retelling, King Arthur retelling, magical boarding school

Publication Date: February 8, 2022

Genre: MG Fantasy Retelling

Recommended Age: 11+ (gore, death, grief

Explanation of CWs: There is some mention of gore here and there throughout the book. There is talk about death and characters dealing with grief. 

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Pages: 422

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Ellie can’t help that she’s a witch, the most hated member of society. Determined to prove her worth and eschew her heritage, Ellie applies to the Fairy Godmother Academy—her golden ticket to societal acceptance. But Ellie’s dreams are squashed when she receives the dreaded draft letter to serve as a knight of King Arthur’s legendary Round Table. She can get out of the draft—but only if she saves a lost cause.

Enter Caedmon, a boy from Wisconsin struggling with the death of his best friend. He first dismisses the draft as ridiculous; magic can’t possibly exist. But when Merlin’s ancient magic foretells his family’s death if he doesn’t follow through, he travels to the knights’ castle, where he learns of a wicked curse leeching the knights of their power.

To break the curse, Ellie and Caedmon must pass a series of deathly trials and reforge the lost, shattered sword of Excalibur. And unless Ellie accepts her witch magic and Caedmon rises to become the knight he’s meant to be, they will both fail—and the world will fall to the same darkness that brought King Arthur and Camelot to ruin.

Review: For the most part I thought the book was ok. I thought the book read a lot like The School for Good and Evil and was a decent fairytale book. I loved the magical boarding school feel to it and have added it to my HP Recovery List on my blog. The book also did so well with the King Arthur themes. The world building was good and overall it’s a great story that I could see a lot of middle graders loving.

However, I had a lot of issues with the book. I found it really hard to get into and the book was very chaotic at times. There was a lot going on with the plot points and it was just hard to keep everything straight sometimes. The characters are, in my opinion, not well developed and a bit weak. There’s really nothing I can think about either of the main characters to distinguish one from another except for maybe one or two things. The book is interesting, but it wasn’t enough to keep me intrigued.

Verdict: It’s good, just not for me but maybe for you!


The Witch, the Sword, and the Cursed Knights

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