Reviews

Avalon by Anya Seton

bethsponz's review against another edition

4.0

This is not about the fabled Avalon, or King Arthur, but referenced to through out the story. Another great story by Anya Seton. She just does not write anything bad! This book travels from England to Iceland, Greenland, and back. The Norseman and their raids on England are woven through the story as two main characters Merewyn and Rumon, go on their journeys seeking each other. I haven’t read of this location in any time period.. thought it was interesting.

groadie's review against another edition

adventurous informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

I appreciate the research and the historical accuracy in this book. Anya Seton has a gift for transporting her readers into the past and reflecting the mannerisms and speech of people of that time. However, I feel like the premise of this book - an enduring love which spans decades, was lost about a third of the way in. The story after Rumon falls out of love with the queen Alfrida becomes very meandering, and it's unclear what the point of the book is, whether the discovery of new worlds, viking civilisation or spiritual enlightenment. While I enjoyed the details of Merewyn's life in Iceland and then Greenland, it seemed almost as if this was another book tacked onto the first. Her return to England is without any if the resolution the reader craves and it makes the ending quite disappointing. I feel like Seton had the opportunity with this to write a fantastic, sweeping epic, of yearning and adventure, but this never fully comes to fruition. I also found the writing sometimes a bit bland, especially in some dramatic moments like Rumon and Merewyn's confrontation at Glastonbury tor, which was a frustrating missed opportunity to pull the reader in emotionally. Despite this, there were some really enjoyable moments, like the aforementioned viking story, and I particularly enjoyed the chapters in the Abbey and the character of Merewyn's aunt. It's meandering and a bit frustrating, but has its good moments and is worth reading for anyone interested in 10th century civilisation. 

bibielle's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious relaxing sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

turning_every_paige's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The good:
1. Loved the historical setting. I’m fascinated by Viking history, so this was particularly interesting to me.
2. Merewyn’s story hooked me. I very much wanted to know what was going to happen to her!
3. A pretty telling look at how despicable the Catholic Church was in medieval times. Absolutely unbelievable.

The bad:
1. The sexuality, though not particularly graphic, was gross.
2. Rumon. I hated him from the beginning.
3. Some very slow parts.
4. The storyline is very frustrating, and doesn’t feel like it resolves well at the end.

CW: language, mentions of sexual assault, sexual abuse of a disabled person, a vague rape scene, racism, a few scenes of domestic abuse

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Slavery, and Racism

Minor: Rape

leyxbramel's review against another edition

1.0

Ummmm… sir. What was the point? Plot went one way… characters went the other and floated around for a bit and just kinda stopped.

sassyredca's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

rjhartigan's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

bernadette_rose's review against another edition

adventurous informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

daemonad's review against another edition

1.0

I really could care less about the tedious point of this book.

mareeta_rose's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Easily one of my favorite books! It is an engaging and surprisingly historically accurate story of adventure and of a tragic love. The characters are very convincing and I found myself affected emotionally by their struggles. I highly reccomend it to fans of historical fiction!