Scan barcode
A review by saestrah
Avalon by Nell Zink
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A free advanced reading copy of this title was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review:
While full of pretentous characters who think they're much smarter than they really are (as many twenty-odd year olds do), I did enjoy this book. It reflected a lot of my own struggles of leaving behind what I knew as home in search of something bigger, but took on a character arc I've not seen often, where the writer intentionally starts of with an interesting character feeling isolated from the world, and makes her conform to society and become, literally, a 'basic bitch.' Unfortunately, I think the constant references to other texts could only work so much, and by the end of the book felt over-done. Additionally, if the references are unfamiliar to the reader, then the entire exchange is rendered meaningless and makes the characters' pseudo-intellectualism more frustrating than endearing.
While full of pretentous characters who think they're much smarter than they really are (as many twenty-odd year olds do), I did enjoy this book. It reflected a lot of my own struggles of leaving behind what I knew as home in search of something bigger, but took on a character arc I've not seen often, where the writer intentionally starts of with an interesting character feeling isolated from the world, and makes her conform to society and become, literally, a 'basic bitch.' Unfortunately, I think the constant references to other texts could only work so much, and by the end of the book felt over-done. Additionally, if the references are unfamiliar to the reader, then the entire exchange is rendered meaningless and makes the characters' pseudo-intellectualism more frustrating than endearing.