Avalon by Mindee Arnett: Review

Title: Avalon (Avalon #1)
Author: Mindee Arnett
Publisher: Balzar & Bray
Buy This Book: Amazon/Book Depository

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.(Goodreads Summary.)

I need to start by saying that this became a DNF for me at 36%, which was a real shame because I'd been looking forward to reading this since I got accepted for the arc. I will try to explain why I couldn't finish this one, and also why I think others might still love this book. I couldn't finish this because I didn't feel like I was invested in the story or the characters. For whatever reason, I couldn't seem to connect with the characters and that made it hard for me to want to continue reading. I was surprised I didn't like it, it has a lot of fast-paced actions and the plot doesn't let up, taking you on one adventure after another. It just didn't work for me.

This has an fast-paced start and the action keeps going, but it didn't grab me and pull me into that action. Jeth and his crew work for the crime-lord Hammer Dafoe; stealing spaceships for him. The book begins with Jeth and Celeste attempting to steal one such spacecraft, but it doesn't go according to plan. It's a great introduction to the characters and the job that they do. I can't help but wish I was able to get into this book, because I can't imagine where it was going. A big part of me wishes that this book had let me get inside Jeth's head more, to understand what he was thinking and feeling on a more personal level. I think that might have helped me connect with him more as a character.

This seemed like a book that was absent of a love interest, which seemed quite refreshing and I quite liked that aspect of it. But on one of their missions for Hammer, the team meet a girl who is clearly a love interest for Jeth. It was all very sudden and I got the impression that this was going to be an insta-love situation. I think my interest in the book officially fell to zero after that and I gave up soon after.

If this is a book you were looking forward to or were thinking of reading, then I would still recommend that you do. As I've said, it was action-packed, fast-paced with lots of characters and the plot develops really quickly. It really seems like a book lots of people will love, but it didn't work for me.

DNF at 36%

*I received a copy of this novel from the author/publisher/publicist via Edelweiss in exchange for a free and honest review and received no monetary compensation for this review.