Reviews

Avalon by Nell Zink

hebrin's review against another edition

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2.0

Bought knowing nothing of the author nor the book. Reading the summary at the book store sold me on it, thinking it would be a fun journey. Normally I like "day-in-the-life-of" stories, but this one was kind of pretentious and boring. Little was done to make any character likable or show much growth.

steve_32's review against another edition

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3.0

Avalon is the story of Bran, abandoned by her parents, she grows up with the Hendersons. The Henderson’s are a criminal family who exploit migrant workers and use Bran as unpaid labour. They are racist bigots and Bran escapes and enters a world of quirky intelligent misfits.
The characters and scenarios are all quirky and too outrageous to be believable with a highly intellectual narrative that seems out of place with some of the characters. But, I guess, believability isn’t really what the novels about. I found I drifted in and out of the book without an attachment to the characters, some sections held my interest whilst I floundered on others.

oraclebykittie's review against another edition

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4.0

the fascist in me wanted to saaaaaaaave her

maukimodus's review against another edition

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emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

taurustorus's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

caty_murray's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

3.75

samikoonjones's review against another edition

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fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

dariannafv's review against another edition

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funny

2.5

i have no justification for the actions of any character. i did giggle a bit with some of the one-liners and social commentary but other than that i have no idea what happened in those 200 pages

lisaw17's review against another edition

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tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

gripyfish's review

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challenging medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0