Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
You probably know Meg Cabot because she wrote The Princess Diaries. I personally really enjoy those books and like to indulge in them sometimes and appeal to the teenage girl inside of me who loves these kind of sappy dramatic stories about friendship and love and all that. So I decided to read another of her books that had sparked an interest.
I remember catching snippets of the movie for this book on the Disney Channel and being kind of disappointed with how it went down. But this was years ago, so I read this book with a very fresh mind.
Ellie Harrison is the daughter of medieval scholars who are on sabbatical to write books about their speciality – Arthurian legends. Because of this, Ellie has always had an aversion to all things medieval, and especially all things related to King Arthur. She’s even named after The Lady of Shallot. Ellie, however, is thrilled to get the opportunity to start off at a new school with a new image, something that every girl her age dreams about.
Things take a turn when she falls in love with the star quarterback, Will, who surrounds himself with popular people such as Lance (his best friend) and Jennifer (his girlfriend). Everybody loves Will, even people who hate sports, because Will has always been the champion of the people at school. Couple that with his eternally faithful dog Cavalier, his prize boat Pride Wynn, and a step-brother who hates him named Marco, the entire story reeks of Arthurian reincarnation, and it really is that.
What I loved about this story was how accurately the legend of the King Arthur was given to us and how well it played it considering the modern circumstances. What I also loved was that there was a genuine twist when it comes to Ellie’s character (but not like the movie did it). Speaking of twists, though, I was genuinely expecting that Marco wasn’t going to turn out to be Mordred, but rather Merlin, and that Mr Morton would be Mordred rather than a member of the Order of the Bear. I was hoping for a bit less predictability, but honestly it wasn’t a terrible book otherwise.
Overall I give it a 3/5. It is, after all, a book written for people way younger than me, so maybe I’m not the intended audience for this kind of book. But still, an entertaining and quick read!
I remember catching snippets of the movie for this book on the Disney Channel and being kind of disappointed with how it went down. But this was years ago, so I read this book with a very fresh mind.
Ellie Harrison is the daughter of medieval scholars who are on sabbatical to write books about their speciality – Arthurian legends. Because of this, Ellie has always had an aversion to all things medieval, and especially all things related to King Arthur. She’s even named after The Lady of Shallot. Ellie, however, is thrilled to get the opportunity to start off at a new school with a new image, something that every girl her age dreams about.
Things take a turn when she falls in love with the star quarterback, Will, who surrounds himself with popular people such as Lance (his best friend) and Jennifer (his girlfriend). Everybody loves Will, even people who hate sports, because Will has always been the champion of the people at school. Couple that with his eternally faithful dog Cavalier, his prize boat Pride Wynn, and a step-brother who hates him named Marco, the entire story reeks of Arthurian reincarnation, and it really is that.
What I loved about this story was how accurately the legend of the King Arthur was given to us and how well it played it considering the modern circumstances. What I also loved was that there was a genuine twist when it comes to Ellie’s character (but not like the movie did it). Speaking of twists, though, I was genuinely expecting that Marco wasn’t going to turn out to be Mordred, but rather Merlin, and that Mr Morton would be Mordred rather than a member of the Order of the Bear. I was hoping for a bit less predictability, but honestly it wasn’t a terrible book otherwise.
Overall I give it a 3/5. It is, after all, a book written for people way younger than me, so maybe I’m not the intended audience for this kind of book. But still, an entertaining and quick read!
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The writing was a bit repetitive at times, and even though it felt as though the story was fast-paced, it took forever to get where it was going. We don’t even really get to the part about them being reincarnations until like the middle of the book, and it would be one thing if that wasn’t literally the hook of the book that they were reincarnations and it was supposed to be a surprise, but I knew from the beginning that that was gonna happen and it just took forever to get there.
Also there didn’t really seem to be very much development between the two love interests, like I didn’t really care about their love story.
Another thing that doesn’t really make any sense to me is that the story kind of wrapped itself up really quickly, and I kind of just wish there was more time kind of putting two into together about the reincarnation stuff.
I also want to kind of mention that there was a little bit too much of “I’m not like other girls“ from the main character. Like, she’s actually most of the time putting herself down because she’s not like other girls but I just think that kind of narration is a little bit outdated and it just made me feel kind of weird to read that. I did have to remind myself that this book was written in the early 2000 so I’m sure that that trope was pretty common back then.
The thing that I think is kind of cool is the last few lines of the book though, which is
And I remembered some things that I had forgotten up until that moment— something that I knew Mr. Morton had also realized, downstairs. Some thing I decided not to mention to Will:
And that was that, in the legend of Camelot, the Lady of the Lake didn’t just bring Arthur his sword.
No, she performed one other service for him, too.
When it was all over, she brought him home.
To Avalon.
Like, it’s just so spooky and foreboding compared to the rest of the book in my opinion and it’s a bit out of place but it made me hope that there’s a second book, even though I don’t think there is. I’m not too familiar with the legend of King Arthur other than the movies and other various media I’ve seen so I don’t know too much about the Lady of the Lake in particular and this last couple of sentences intrigued me.
Overall, I’d say it’s a pretty decent novel if you want something light and decently short.
Also there didn’t really seem to be very much development between the two love interests, like I didn’t really care about their love story.
Another thing that doesn’t really make any sense to me is that the story kind of wrapped itself up really quickly, and I kind of just wish there was more time kind of putting two into together about the reincarnation stuff.
I also want to kind of mention that there was a little bit too much of “I’m not like other girls“ from the main character. Like, she’s actually most of the time putting herself down because she’s not like other girls but I just think that kind of narration is a little bit outdated and it just made me feel kind of weird to read that. I did have to remind myself that this book was written in the early 2000 so I’m sure that that trope was pretty common back then.
The thing that I think is kind of cool is the last few lines of the book though, which is
And that was that, in the legend of Camelot, the Lady of the Lake didn’t just bring Arthur his sword.
No, she performed one other service for him, too.
When it was all over, she brought him home.
To Avalon.
Like, it’s just so spooky and foreboding compared to the rest of the book in my opinion and it’s a bit out of place but it made me hope that there’s a second book, even though I don’t think there is. I’m not too familiar with the legend of King Arthur other than the movies and other various media I’ve seen so I don’t know too much about the Lady of the Lake in particular and this last couple of sentences intrigued me.
Overall, I’d say it’s a pretty decent novel if you want something light and decently short.
i dont know quite what i was expecting from this book but i can say it was much better than anything i pictured.
Ellie Harrison has to go to a new school, Avalon High, because her parents, both professors, are on a sabbatical. She develops a crush on Will, the quarterback and one of the most popular guys in school, but he already has a girlfriend. They become good friends but Ellie longs for more. Then, Ellie finds about a group called the Order of the Bear who believe that King Arthur will be reincarnated and save the world... and they think that Will is King Arthur.
This book was better than the Disney movie version that I think I watched half of a long time ago. The movie changed quite a bit.
The book starts off really slow and boring, but then it becomes interesting. It also sometimes seems like the author is an old lady trying too hard to sound young and hip, which leads to some cringey moments.
I liked it though, I like the romance between Ellie and Will and I liked the plot. I like Ellie because she's brave, speaks her mind and stands up to people.
This book was better than the Disney movie version that I think I watched half of a long time ago. The movie changed quite a bit.
The book starts off really slow and boring, but then it becomes interesting. It also sometimes seems like the author is an old lady trying too hard to sound young and hip, which leads to some cringey moments.
I liked it though, I like the romance between Ellie and Will and I liked the plot. I like Ellie because she's brave, speaks her mind and stands up to people.
First read (01/23/2018):
I read this book a few years ago, and I just listened to it. I forgot how amazing this book was.
That is all.
Update (08/04/2020):
Okay so this book isn't all that good. While I am by no means a very critical reader, I have become somewhat more critical within these last two years. I loved the idea behind this book, but the execution was poor. The kinda "lead-in" or intro to the story, if you will, felt really rushed. The second our girl Ellie got to this new school, she knew something was up. I dunno. Somehow it almost felt rushed and slow at the same time. Kinda like when we learned new information, it was DUMPED but then we'd have a lot of less important scenes that didn't really add anything to the story.
The entire conclusion was also rushed. To wrap up the story, it was just one of the characters literally saying everything that we may have been unsure of. Tying all the loose ends up in a quick, blunt way.
Also the main character is very "not like other girls", but what kind of female protagonist wouldn't be in a 2006 book?
I read this book a few years ago, and I just listened to it. I forgot how amazing this book was.
That is all.
Update (08/04/2020):
Okay so this book isn't all that good. While I am by no means a very critical reader, I have become somewhat more critical within these last two years. I loved the idea behind this book, but the execution was poor. The kinda "lead-in" or intro to the story, if you will, felt really rushed. The second our girl Ellie got to this new school, she knew something was up. I dunno. Somehow it almost felt rushed and slow at the same time. Kinda like when we learned new information, it was DUMPED but then we'd have a lot of less important scenes that didn't really add anything to the story.
The entire conclusion was also rushed. To wrap up the story, it was just one of the characters literally saying everything that we may have been unsure of. Tying all the loose ends up in a quick, blunt way.
Also the main character is very "not like other girls", but what kind of female protagonist wouldn't be in a 2006 book?
Having seen the Disney Channel adaptation of this book, and having never read anything by Meg Cabot, I didn't hold high hopes for this book when I picked it up. I thought it would be fun, in a cheesy kind of way, and it was. However it was much better than the film; the plot made more sense and the writing was better than the acting. I liked this so much, I think, not because of what it is, but because it would have been right up 16 year old me's alley.
2.5 stars. I listened to the audio book and liked the whole King Arthur twist, but thought the "this is just crazy" thinking of the main character got a little old.
A fun, light, breezy read. I seem to enjoy Cabot's books only if they have some sort of fantastical or paranormal element, and Ellie is one of Cabot's only heroines that I don't find completely insufferable (the other being Suze Simon). Avalon High is a book I pick up and reread when I need something quick and easy to read, almost like a palette cleanser. (Though this time, reading it right after finishing The Broken Earth trilogy seems to have been a mistake, as the contrast in quality threw Avalon High's shortcomings into even sharper relief than normal. Plus, it was a bit harder to empathize with these characters' problems this time around, because like....y'all think you have problems? NOTHING compared to the Broken Earth characters. But again, this was more bad timing on my part, as this book was never meant to be on the same level as Broken Earth....but I digress.)
A solid 3 stars. Nothing spectacular, but it's not trying to be.
A solid 3 stars. Nothing spectacular, but it's not trying to be.
OMG Amazing! The story was easy to follow and you were never confused and rereading parts (except when you loved it!). I like the way things turned out, way better than the movie, which didn't even make sense. So, anyways, a great book that most people would enjoy!