June 28, 2026sarahylockwood

The Faerie Morgana by Louisa Morgan

Rate: 2.5/5

Medium: Audiobook

Overview (No Spoilers):

While growing up, my friends and I would obsess over a new genre almost quarterly. We would dive head first into mythology, before soon giggling at romance novels to quaking at horror. One of my favorite of our fixations was anything and everything Arthurian. It has been so long since I have last read anything that was inspired by King Arthur, but The Faerie Morgana was a nostalgic fueled blast from the past.

The Faerie Morgana follows a young Morgana as she is being sent away from her mother to the Isle of the Apples to train with the priestesses that reside there. Demonstrating true magic from a young age, the promising acolyte is subjected to bullying and jealousy by her peers that lives long in Morgana’s perfect memory.  As she grows, arrogance and pride is often associated with the talented Morgana. Even her mentor the Blackbird attributes these faults with her but I found these descriptors grew tiresome as Morgana can wield power and do good for the masses like no other priestess in the Temple. 

Pride and stubbornness is a theme for so many of these characters. As the story evolves, this book lost some of the magic for me due to the continual lack of communication between characters despite all that is at risk of being lost. Blackbird and Morgana held so much power but their inability to mend bridges leads to the outcome they both have spent their lives trying to keep from happening.

This story casts Morgana in the role of a heroine, but Arthur is relegated to a one dimensional mould. He is a shell that fills the expected role, and when predictable Arthurian events unfold, I hardly felt moved or emotional. Even the cast, whose lives had revolved around Arthur, hardly seemed to mourn his passing. 

The first half of this novel held me captivated. I could not stop listening, so curious as to where Morgan was going to take Morgana’s story. Then Gwenvere enters the story and the pacing slows. Morgana stops exploring her magic and Braithe is reduced to a hand servant. The danger is apparent but no one seems to have any urgency and the rest of the story becomes painfully drawn out. 

Overall, The Faerie Morgana starts off with a lot of promise, but gets lost in the mists around the Isle of Apples just when help is needed the most. 

Additional Insight (Spoilers Abound):

  • Who is Morgana’s father?
  • Will Arthur’s brother’s reign be short as prophesied?
  • Will Braithe become one of the Nine due to her magic?
  • Why did Braithe ignore her magic for so long? Even after she knew, Morgana did not champion it like I wanted her to? Will Braithe outgrow Morgana?
  • I was so rooting for Lancelin and Morgana to fall messily in love.
  • I wanted one moment for Arthur to acknowledge Braithe and what they shared together. 
  • The bathing requests were so strange. Why did Gwenvere need Braithe to bathe her?
  • Why did the Blackbird reject Morgana for so long? Both of these characters are to blame for Arthur’s death.

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