nmussarrat's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
cinnamonkat's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the story line, but found it really slow, especially at the beginning. When it got into the action in the last few chapters, I loved it though
rosetyper9's review against another edition
4.0
As most of my readers know, I am a HUGE Arthurian Legend buff. I read it all, or well as much as I can. I actually thought that Arthurian Legend set to a high school would be an excellent idea, looks like Ms. Cabot beat me to it. This book was pretty good. The plot kept an excellent pace and the explanation of the characters coming back was believable enough. The only thing that made me give this book 4/5 was because the Elaine went off on a lot of tangents randomly. I guess I did the same thing when I was a teen, but in a book it was distracting. Everything else was awesome, and I figured out who Elaine was early, I felt pretty smart for figuring it out.
triannamn's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
beth_s98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I have read this book before and I remembered loving it, but I was truly unprepared for how much I really really enjoyed it. Some of the Meg Cabot books I enjoyed as a teen didn’t live up as an adult, but this one still did. The pacing of the book did feel a little off to me, with the first 180 pages almost being a medium pace while the last hundred carry most of the flashy parts of the story and it gets high stakes and fast paced quickly.
so_intoreading's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-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
3.0
anjumstar's review against another edition
4.0
If I were rating it only for the target audience (preteens), I give it 5 stars. For anyone older, about a generous 3 stars. So, that averages to 4.
I'm realizing more and more that all of Meg Cabot's female characters are the same. Think about it. They are all moderately attractive people that don't think a whole heck of a lot about themselves and their romantic potential; but don't exactly lack self-confidence. Because of this, they are surprised when they immediately fall in love with the first hot guy that they're introduced to. They then try to fight the attraction before ultimately realizing that he's into her too. Literally. Every single one. Teen Idol, Avalon High, Princess Diaries, All-American Girl, The Mediator. All of them are exactly the same.
Aside from that rant, I thought that this book was interesting. It's always cool when an author tries to take one piece of literature (or history) and try to wrap a new piece of fiction throughout it, especially if they pull it off well. I thought that this book was done pretty well (for the age group) but because of what it was, it was very predictable. Connecting it to King Arthur was also kind of a cop-out for the characters motives. She even mentions it in the book that Marco mostly only felt like killing Will because of the prophecy. And that's also why Marco collapsed when the sword was there. Kind of pathetic, but I understand what she was trying to do. She kept the tension up really well too.
Oh, and the most annoying thing about reading this book, was that it was really, really firm, so I had to really pull on it to keep it from snapping shut. Nothing to do with the book, but so irritating, because I couldn't read it with one hand.
And who the heck would be okay with the idea of Spider Rock?! The heck?!
I'm realizing more and more that all of Meg Cabot's female characters are the same. Think about it. They are all moderately attractive people that don't think a whole heck of a lot about themselves and their romantic potential; but don't exactly lack self-confidence. Because of this, they are surprised when they immediately fall in love with the first hot guy that they're introduced to. They then try to fight the attraction before ultimately realizing that he's into her too. Literally. Every single one. Teen Idol, Avalon High, Princess Diaries, All-American Girl, The Mediator. All of them are exactly the same.
Aside from that rant, I thought that this book was interesting. It's always cool when an author tries to take one piece of literature (or history) and try to wrap a new piece of fiction throughout it, especially if they pull it off well. I thought that this book was done pretty well (for the age group) but because of what it was, it was very predictable. Connecting it to King Arthur was also kind of a cop-out for the characters motives. She even mentions it in the book that Marco mostly only felt like killing Will because of the prophecy. And that's also why Marco collapsed when the sword was there. Kind of pathetic, but I understand what she was trying to do. She kept the tension up really well too.
Oh, and the most annoying thing about reading this book, was that it was really, really firm, so I had to really pull on it to keep it from snapping shut. Nothing to do with the book, but so irritating, because I couldn't read it with one hand.
And who the heck would be okay with the idea of Spider Rock?! The heck?!
effectordinary's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve read this before, probably 10 years ago. I remembered the romance was sweet but couldn’t remember the plot beyond Arthurian legend and reincarnation. So the reveal at the end did surprise me, which was great! And the romance IS sweet.
swarmofbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Jak byłam młodsza kochałam książki Meg Cabot. Nie tylko "Pamiętniki księżniczki", z których jest najbardziej znana (i na podstawie których nakręcono fajny, aczkolwiek mało mający z nimi wspólnego film z Anne Hathaway w roli głównej). Pamiętam, że bardzo podobała mi się seria "Pośredniczka" (której brytyjskie wydanie idzie do mnie z eBay'a, yay!) i właśnie "Liceum Avalon".
Książka opowiada o Elaine, której rodzice są mediewistami. Świadczyć o tym może już samo imię dziewczyny, które otrzymała ona po Pani z Shallot, Elaine z Astolat. Elaine całe życie denerwuję się z powodu tego imienia, bo nie dość, że jest dziwne, to oryginalna postać z legend nie zrobiła nic poza śmiercią z powodu miłości do Lancelota. Dziewczyna wraz z rodzicami przeprowadza się i zaczyna uczęszczać do miejscowej szkoły - Liceum Avalon. Tam poznaje A. Williama Wagnera, Lance'a Reynoldsa i Jennifer Gold. Okazuje się, że nie jest to do końca zbieżność imion, tyle, że Ellie zakochuje się nie w tym chłopcu, w którym powinna...
Historia nadal mi się podobała. Wiadomo, była ona przyjemnym czytadełkiem, a nie książką, która wpłynie na moje postrzeganie świata. Okazało się jednak, że dość dobrze ją zapamiętałam, więc nic mnie nie zaskoczyło w tej historii. Jednak jeśli ktoś lubi poczytać coś lżejszego albo jest młodszym czytelnikiem - serdecznie polecam lekturę. Książkę można znaleźć w bibliotekach lub na rynku wtórnym - nowa jest praktycznie nie do zdobycia.
Książka opowiada o Elaine, której rodzice są mediewistami. Świadczyć o tym może już samo imię dziewczyny, które otrzymała ona po Pani z Shallot, Elaine z Astolat. Elaine całe życie denerwuję się z powodu tego imienia, bo nie dość, że jest dziwne, to oryginalna postać z legend nie zrobiła nic poza śmiercią z powodu miłości do Lancelota. Dziewczyna wraz z rodzicami przeprowadza się i zaczyna uczęszczać do miejscowej szkoły - Liceum Avalon. Tam poznaje A. Williama Wagnera, Lance'a Reynoldsa i Jennifer Gold. Okazuje się, że nie jest to do końca zbieżność imion, tyle, że Ellie zakochuje się nie w tym chłopcu, w którym powinna...
Historia nadal mi się podobała. Wiadomo, była ona przyjemnym czytadełkiem, a nie książką, która wpłynie na moje postrzeganie świata. Okazało się jednak, że dość dobrze ją zapamiętałam, więc nic mnie nie zaskoczyło w tej historii. Jednak jeśli ktoś lubi poczytać coś lżejszego albo jest młodszym czytelnikiem - serdecznie polecam lekturę. Książkę można znaleźć w bibliotekach lub na rynku wtórnym - nowa jest praktycznie nie do zdobycia.