Review: Avalon by Mindee Arnett

I have mixed feelings about this book. I have wanted to read it ever since I heard of it, because I adore the author Mindee; she's amazing. I thought that Avalon sounded amazing and that the cover was gorgeous. And I still think that. But Avalon was not as amazing as I wanted it to be. Giving it a three star, and will explain why below. There will be no spoilers, I think.

I don't know how to describe this book. Some say it's great for fans of Firefly, but I have never watched Firefly so I can't say anything about that. But I can say that it is unique and not like anything I have ever read before. Reminded me one time of another book, but it isn't anything like it at all. It's a good book.

But even though it is good and unique I still wasn't able to enjoy it. Which makes me sad, because I really did want to love it. But I just could not get into the writing or feel anything for the characters. It took me three days to finally read more than 90 pages. But then today I wanted to finish it, so I read the rest of the book right away. And I am glad I finished it. Because I liked the ending better than the beginning, and although I did not love it I still enjoyed the book quite a lot.

Avalon is told from the point of view of Jeth. Whom I kind of liked. I had a hard time connecting to him, but I did enjoy reading about him. I liked his love for his little sister, Lizzie. And I loved his love for the spaceship Avalon. Although I felt like it got talked about a little too much, and it wasn't all that perfect. But I loved its speed and such. Their parents are dead, and we learn a lot about them. Not enough and yet just enough. I liked reading about them, but hated knowing how they died. It was good, though.

Jeth and his crew, three other teenagers, work for this crime lord named Hammer. Was a bit weird, but I did like it. I enjoyed reading about his crew for the most part, though I found them a tiny bit boring at times. But I did like the relationship they all had. They are great friends. And I liked that. We also get to meet Milton, whom I at first did not like much at all. But he was pretty awesome in the end. There are other characters too. Like Sierra. I'm conflicted about her. I wish she had been more honest.

What I did not like about the writing was that the name Jeth is mentioned way too much. Well, it might not be, but I noticed it a whole lot. Probably because I didn't feel like reading and I had so much issues with getting past the beginning in this book. Some things were described too much for me, yet some things I didn't get to know enough about. I wanted to know why they were all living in space. I wanted to know more about the homes on the sort-of-planets and not just living life on the spaceships.

But even though I did not get all my answers, I did enjoy reading about most of the things in this book. There are bad guys. Evil people. Jeth is too trusting and it gets him hurt a lot. There is torture in this book, so be aware of that. Not too bad, but there is some. I liked it, but I like that sort of thing, lol. But it was heartbreaking as well, just so you know. There was this one space place I liked reading about, and I wish we had gotten to spend more time there. A creepy and awful place. I loved it very much, hih.

That is all I'm going to say about this book. I did not love it, but I enjoyed it for the most part. And I am excited about the sequel, because I need to know what happens next :) I liked most of the characters. I enjoyed the writing at times. And I'm not too sure how I felt about the romance. It was good, but a bit fast. Anyway. Avalon is an interesting and unique book that I think you all should read. It isn't out until January next year, but I think that the wait will be worth it. You should buy it when it comes out :)

Thank you to the publisher, Balzer & Bray, and Edelweiss for the chance to read and review it early. <3

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