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A review by betwixt_the_pages
Avalon Tower by Alex Rivers, C.N. Crawford
5.0
Rating: 4.5/5 Penguins (rounded up)
Quick Reasons: Camelot/ King Arthur retelling; magically entertaining; believable, compelling characters; impossible to put down; third act miscommunication and make up trope warning; I NEED to know what happens next
HUGE thanks to C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers for the title! My review is voluntarily written and in no way altered or impacted by this gesture.
"Did you try this cheese?" I ask Tana.
She shudders. "I can't eat cheese. Sometimes, I glimpse dark visions of the future in it. I don't like that."
"We all know what that's like." Serana nods sagely. "It's a problem."
Tana sighs. "I'd be eating a fine French cheese, and suddenly, I'd see a broken heart in it. Or a flood. You can't enjoy cheese if it has a flood in it."
Let me start by saying that the SNARK IN THIS READ had me absolutely ROLLING. I am such a sucker for witty, snarky banter, and the authors use it in SPADES in this book--which made it so much easier for me to connect with the characters and their motivations. Even without the snark, though, these characters FLOOD these pages as if bursting to rip the book apart and leap into reality. By the end of this journey, I felt as if I knew, intimately, each character, what drives them, and what decisions they would make (within reason, of course...SOME things need to remain secret, as any reader well knows)
This retelling of King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot is entertaining and fast-paced. The world is filled with detailed descriptions; each scene seems to practically prance off the pages before the reader's eyes (which for me, who cannot "imagine" pictures of any kind, is saying a LOT.) The story is easy to follow, with just the right amount of "layering" to bring the world fully to life. Once this story opens, there is little room for slowing down, action after action after action.
"Sometimes, a particularly stupid student asks why we bother with knives and swords. After all, guns still work. The British military has them. And the answer is because we are not bloody soldiers, we are SPIES, you absolute fucking moron. Your job is to blend in, not to go into battle. The Fey use arrows, swords, and knives, so WE use arrows, swords, and knives. So, listen carefully when I tell you what you need to know about knives." She lifts her arm, and a long blade slides from her sleeve into her hand. She flicks it in the air. It twirls a few times, and she catches it, pointing to the tip. "THIS is the pointy bit, and you should stick it into your enemy."
I definitely recommend this to lovers of retellings (particularly Camelot/King Arthur), readers seeking their next action-packed adventure, and those who enjoy a well-written dark academia. The characters are realistic, the world and magic-building is well-done, and I CANNOT WAIT to see where book 2 leads us. Beware the stories you think you know, Penguins....are YOU ready to enter Avalon Tower?
Quick Reasons: Camelot/ King Arthur retelling; magically entertaining; believable, compelling characters; impossible to put down; third act miscommunication and make up trope warning; I NEED to know what happens next
HUGE thanks to C.N. Crawford and Alex Rivers for the title! My review is voluntarily written and in no way altered or impacted by this gesture.
"Did you try this cheese?" I ask Tana.
She shudders. "I can't eat cheese. Sometimes, I glimpse dark visions of the future in it. I don't like that."
"We all know what that's like." Serana nods sagely. "It's a problem."
Tana sighs. "I'd be eating a fine French cheese, and suddenly, I'd see a broken heart in it. Or a flood. You can't enjoy cheese if it has a flood in it."
Let me start by saying that the SNARK IN THIS READ had me absolutely ROLLING. I am such a sucker for witty, snarky banter, and the authors use it in SPADES in this book--which made it so much easier for me to connect with the characters and their motivations. Even without the snark, though, these characters FLOOD these pages as if bursting to rip the book apart and leap into reality. By the end of this journey, I felt as if I knew, intimately, each character, what drives them, and what decisions they would make (within reason, of course...SOME things need to remain secret, as any reader well knows)
This retelling of King Arthur and the Knights of Camelot is entertaining and fast-paced. The world is filled with detailed descriptions; each scene seems to practically prance off the pages before the reader's eyes (which for me, who cannot "imagine" pictures of any kind, is saying a LOT.) The story is easy to follow, with just the right amount of "layering" to bring the world fully to life. Once this story opens, there is little room for slowing down, action after action after action.
"Sometimes, a particularly stupid student asks why we bother with knives and swords. After all, guns still work. The British military has them. And the answer is because we are not bloody soldiers, we are SPIES, you absolute fucking moron. Your job is to blend in, not to go into battle. The Fey use arrows, swords, and knives, so WE use arrows, swords, and knives. So, listen carefully when I tell you what you need to know about knives." She lifts her arm, and a long blade slides from her sleeve into her hand. She flicks it in the air. It twirls a few times, and she catches it, pointing to the tip. "THIS is the pointy bit, and you should stick it into your enemy."
I definitely recommend this to lovers of retellings (particularly Camelot/King Arthur), readers seeking their next action-packed adventure, and those who enjoy a well-written dark academia. The characters are realistic, the world and magic-building is well-done, and I CANNOT WAIT to see where book 2 leads us. Beware the stories you think you know, Penguins....are YOU ready to enter Avalon Tower?