Avalon by Mindee Arnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis: A ragtag group of teenage mercenaries who crew the spaceship Avalon stumble upon a conspiracy that could threaten the entire galaxy in this fascinating and fast-paced sci-fi adventure from author Mindee Arnett.
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.
Avalon is the perfect fit for teens new to sci-fi as well as seasoned sci-fi readers looking for more books in the YA space-and a great match for fans of Joss Whedon’s cult hit show Firefly.
My Review: From the moment I picked up this book, I was hooked. I love books about space. Although there weren’t any aliens in it, the story sucked me in until the last page. I know it took me a couple months to finally finish this book, but when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it. Jeth and Lizzie are siblings who have a less than legal job stealing spaceships for their metadrive’s, and Jethro is also the captain of a ship called Avalon, who belonged to their parents before they passed away. This book had a little bit of an awkward start for me, the sentences didn’t feel quite right reading them out loud, but that quickly changed and it was a smooth read from then on. I found myself wondering why there were only humans on the planets, but that was swept away as I got further into the book. It’s a very exciting story, filled with twists I didn’t expect and lots of action. It progresses along at a nice pace, and the characters really grow throughout the book. I haven’t read anything like it before, and I really like the cover. The characters are full of depth and backstory, and the new characters that are introduced fit right in with everyone else. Jethro is a strong and interesting character, and he’s a fitting lead for the story. I feel like everyone in the book could be real people out there somewhere, and that’s awesome. I mean sure, not flying around in spaceships like the story, but you know what I mean. I chose to read this book especially because I like space, and my little cousins name is Avalon and I thought it was funny. I really got attached to the characters, and I felt bad for all the heartache and betrayal they have to go through, but the story really was a good read. I definitely recommend it if you haven’t read it already! I’ll definitely check out the next book. Thanks for reading.
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