Reviews with content warning for Incest - The Mists of Avalon

This book has been recommended to me again and again and again. The truth about the author is well known, and it only takes a quick google search to find out the truth. However, since it has been recommended to me so often, and I was assured that there was very little in the book to suggest that the author was anything other than perfectly normal, I decided to read it anyway. That was a mistake, I found The Mists of Avalon to be a deeply nauseating read and I deeply regret picking it up. I actually gave up after about 500 pages, after two rape scenes occurred in a relatively short space of time. I understand that this is still a very important book to a lot of people, particularly those who read it before the truth about MZB was revealed. Reading it today with the prior knowledge of the author's sickening crimes makes it difficult to appreciate the novel as the original Arthurian inspired feminist fantasy. This novel is full of incest and rape, described quite explicitly. I believe that MZB used her version of paganism to justify her own sick way of thinking, and it saddens me to think that someone would use any religion in this way. The debates between Christianity and paganism were interesting at times, but most of the time it felt like the author was just continuously bashing Christianity. Gwenhwyfar is the most religious of the Christian characters, and she was often used as an example of how repressed the Christians are in the novel. Archbishop Patricius is apparently supposed to be an example of Saint Patrick, but in reality although Patrick brought Christianity to Ireland he was much more liberal than the character described in this book. There is also a lot of talk in this novel about virginity, as well as fertility, sometimes to the point where it felt a bit obsessive. The 'feminist' aspect of this book was completely lost on me. There were few female characters in this book with bodily autonomy. There was also very little sisterhood. Characters who are friends for a few chapters begin to hate each other soon after when they're getting too much male attention. On a less disturbing level, I did not like the writing style of this book. It felt overly long and drawn out. The way that the characters speak felt unrealistic and over-complicated, for the sake of sounding old-timey.

Content Warnings

khaleesimod93's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I'm a little unsure of how to rate this book. On one hand, the imagery and writing were absolutely stunning. I could feel the wind and the cold. I felt like I was there reliving all that was happening during this time. At the same time, it was a pain to get through. Some of the characters were just disgusting. And the description of needless things made this a difficult book to get through. It's a confusing story. On one hand, absolutely beautiful imagery of the world around and told from the viewpoint of the women living through this time. On the other hand, some very needless descriptions and boring flat characters. While I adore Arthurian legends, this one didn't make it on my favorites. Beautiful imagery in cases, loved the point of views of the women, descriptions on the wars and the fight between druids and Christianity. Could have been edited better and maybe some more depth to some of the male and female characters.

Content Warnings

caterwaul's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

5.0

I greatly enjoyed this book. I've always loved King Arthur and was super excited to read this book when I got it as a gift. However, I highly recommend you read the content warnings because it is not a happy-go-lucky, unproblematic read. The overall story combines a lot of different stories from Arthurian Legend, but I think it's most similar to Le Morte D'Arthur for much of the plot. There's a lot of politics, a lot of religious back and forth between goddess worship and Christianity, and a lot of ethics/morality questioning. Like I said though, highly enjoyed! It primarily focuses on the women of Arthurian Legend- Igraine, Morgaine, and Gwenhwyfar, along with some others- and their POV on the events, which is definitely a fresh take on the story.

Content Warnings

morganrie's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

decembermagpie's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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