Reviews

Avalon by Nell Zink

georgiadoesbooks's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

2.5

hannah_s's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

addimop's review against another edition

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So boring lost the plot like half way through and just couldnt be bothered to pick it back up

j2408's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

sbbarnes's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

 Avalon follows Bran, an orphan raised by her not-abusive-on-a-technicality common-law-stepfamily. It's a coming of age story about a girl with very little understanding of the world, which is an interesting perspective to inhabit, and the matter-of-factness with which she takes in opinions and worldviews she gets from her friends shows that.

The supporting cast of characters is equally kooky, and frequently painted in a not very flattering light. I would call the tone of the book cynical, especially regarding Will's parents and anything to do with intersectionality, with the constant jokes-but-not-jokes about fascism.

The ending feels fairly abrupt and unclear, although based on the narrative voice, I like to hope she eventually ditched Peter. 

lornesausage10's review against another edition

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2.0

I think of myself as quite an intelligent person with a degree, but I was perplexed at quite a lot of this. I found this a bit of a chore to get through, but persevered through the characters' pseudo-intellectual bullshit to get to the incredibly predictable ending.

tess_dennison's review against another edition

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

3.5

meymanwhit's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

kteasley's review against another edition

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1.0

Not a great book :/

katieschorr's review against another edition

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funny slow-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

3.25