The Camelot Code by Mari Mancusi

The Camelot Code by Mari Mancusi

3 stars

Sophie Sawyer and her best friend, Stu, spend their days and nights trying to defeat the wicked Morgan Le Fay in their favorite Arthurian videogame, The Camelot Code. One day she receives a text about Camelot Code that sends her into a world where King Arthur and Merlin really do exist and they need her help. Arthur having no idea of his destiny decides to be the hero for once and finds himself in Sophie’s modern day high school. Merlin enlists in Stu to become King Arthur until the real Arthur gets back. They are running out of time. Will Sophie be able to find the scabbard, get Arthur back, and keep the future the way it is? Or will everything change as she knows it? I quite enjoy Mancusi books. I loved Boys That Bite and I have yet to continue the series, but I plan to. I even enjoyed a novella of sorts called Karma Kitty Goes to Comic Con. Suffice to say reading both of those books and both being very different, I was excited to read The Camelot Code. I think Mancusi is a hilarious writer with a funny style and worlds that are even more fun. I don’t have a lot of experience with Arthurian legend. I think it’s fascinating, but it’s never really piqued my interests. When I saw this on Netgalley, I thought it looked interesting and then when I saw it was by Mary Mancusi I knew I had to give it a shot. I’m glad I did. While out of the books I’ve read by Mancusi, this one is the weakest. I think there is a valid reason to it. The story is strong and the characters entertaining, but it’s targeted at a younger audience. A much younger young adult audience from her usual books. This is very obvious when reading. It’s still fun, but this made the book hard for me to get through. Why? Well because since it was targeted at a younger audience I felt that Mancusi dumbed down the book as well as her characters. I went from loving and thinking all the characters were fun and adorable to loathing them and wanting them to stop saving the day because they were doing a pretty crappy job of it. My feelings changed towards the end though. Thank God!


The main female character is Sophie. Sophie is a gamer all the way. She is a pretty cool girl, but there’s one big problem I have with Sophie. She’s dumb. She doesn’t see what’s right in front of her and she lets her fears get the best of her and it messes up her train of thought. It’s not a bad thing, but it just made me struggle with her POV. But, wait! There’s another female main character. Bet you didn’t see that coming! I didn’t when starting this book. Mancusi likes to write multiple POVs and she tackles more than she usually does in this book (you’ll see what I mean). Guinevere is also a main character. She’s the Arthur’s best friend. I really liked Guinevere for the most part. She wasn’t a particularly strong character, but she added to the novel. I liked her well enough.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: Sophie- 7 Guinevere- 6.5

The main male characters are Stu and Arthur. I really liked Stu. I thought he was adorable at times, but also a little infuriating. Then again all these characters were infuriating at some point or another. He was a good character and maybe my favorite of the novel. Arthur or King Arthur was also a pretty strong character, but he was just as much of an idiot as Sophie and he irked me to no end sometimes.


Swoon Worthy Scale: Stu- 6.5 Arthur- 6

The Villain- Morgan Le Fay is obviously the villain of this novel and it’s stated in the summary. It’s no surprise and therefore not a spoiler. She also gets her own POV. I actually enjoyed the insight to Morgan and her reasons for villain-ry. She had a great backstory.


Villain Scale: 7

The supporting characters include Merlin, Lucas, Mortimer, and Elaine. Merlin, of course, is a given. He’s actually a pretty cool character and I liked him enough. Lucas also showed to be more than just a football jock and I really liked him in the end. Mortimer was lame and I have nothing to say him and his stupidity. Elaine was a girl who supposed to die and she was clingy and annoying and I just couldn’t. I really couldn’t deal with her, she was so obnoxious.


Character Scale: 7

This is a good novel for younger readers or even reluctant high schoolers who don’t read often. It’s a quick and simple read. Entertaining and definitely worth the read if you’re not one of the above mentioned but enjoy Arthurian tales or Mancusi’s novels. Give it a shot if you’re in the mood for something fun because you definitely won’t be letdown.


Cover Thoughts: I love the cover! It’s cute and fun. It definitely fits with the book and it’s what caught my eye in the first place.

Thank you, Netgalley and NLA Digital LLC for providing me with a copy of this book in an exchange for an honest review.