Review: Avalon by Mindee Arnett

Title: Avalon

Series: Avalon #1

Prequel novella: Proxy

Author: Mindee Arnett

Genre: YA, sci-fi

Publication date: January 2014

Published by: Balzer & Bray

Source: Paperback ARC for review from publisher

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Synopsis: Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

My rating: ★★★☆☆

I first read this book about ten years ago and I remember absolutely loving it! I re-read it recently because after all of these years, I still had not finished reading the duology and my recollection of this book was pretty nonexistent 😅

Listen, I’m bad at finishing series, we all know this 😅 So I gave this a re-read to refresh my memory and honestly, I didn’t love it as much the second time around.

That made me so sad because I remember really enjoying this book all those years ago! But I guess that happens sometimes when you re-read an old favorite. But that being said, it wasn’t a bad book! I still liked it and had fun reading it, just not as much as I did 10 years ago. (Although I also re-read the prequel, Proxy, and I enjoyed that novella much more 👀)

I love a sci-fi book, so I really enjoyed that aspect of this book! Jeth and his crew are tasked with finding a lost ship in the Belgrade Quadrant... which is the space equivalent of the freaking Bermuda Triangle!

I can’t! 😂 I absolutely loved that! I also really liked the premise of the book of looking for said ship and then getting more than they bargained for 😬

This time around, I wasn’t as big a fan of the characters and their relationships with one another. I liked Jeth well enough. And I did like that even though he’s cocky, his younger sister Lizzie knocked him down a couple pegs. Lol. Sierra, I wasn’t a fan of and I did not ship her and Jeth at all. I don’t know what it was about her that I didn’t like... just the way she acted and the things she did. I could not excuse her actions despite her motives.

I also noticed that the other side characters, like Celeste, weren’t very fleshed out. Which was a shame because I feel like Celeste is someone I would’ve absolutely loved had there been... just more to her.

But, I mean, this was a fine read. I liked the premise and the action, and the ending was actually really sweet. But I honestly don’t think I’m gonna bother reading the second book. I just lost interest, and that makes me sad.

BUT another series by this author that I did finish and enjoyed was her Arkwell Academy series!!

All that being said, younger me gave this book a resounding FIVE stars! So do with that what you will. Lol.

Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it? If not, what do you think? Does it sound like something you might want to read? Leave me a link to your review or comment below! 😊