Thank you Simon & Schuster Audio for the ALC and SimonBooksBuddies / Simon and Schuster / Netgalley, #partner, for the advanced copy of Here in Avalon in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Simon & Schuster / Simon & Schuster Audio
Published: January 2, 2024
Summary:
A New York City fairy tale about two sisters that fall under the spell of an underworld cabaret troupe that might be a dangerous cult—but one that makes the materialist world left in its wake feel like a sinister cult itself.
Rose has come a long way. Raised—and often neglected—by a wayward mother in New York City’s chaotic bohemia, Rose has finally built the life she’s always a good job at a self-help startup, a clean apartment, an engagement to a stable if self-satisfied tech CEO who shares her faith in human potential, hard work, and the sacrifice of childish dreams.
Rose’s sister Cecilia, on the other hand, never grew up. Irresponsible and impetuous, prone to jetting off to a European monastery one month and a falcon rescue the next, Cecilia has spent her life in pursuit of fairy-tale narratives of transcendence and true love—grand ideas Rose knows never work out in the real world. When Cecilia declares she’s come home to New York for good, following the ending of a whirlwind marriage, Rose hopes Cecilia might finally be ready to face compromises and all.
But then Cecilia gets involved with the a cultish-sounding cabaret troupe—one that appears only at night, on a mysterious red boat that travels New York’s waterways—and soon one of a growing number of suspicious disappearances among the city’s lost and loneliest souls. The only way Rose can find Cecilia is by tracking down the Avalon herself.
But as Rose gets closer to solving the mystery of what happened to her sister, the Avalon works its magic on her, too. And the deeper she goes into the Avalon’s underworld, she more she begins to question everything she knows about her own life, and whether she’s willing to leave the real world behind.
My thoughts:
This is the first book I’ve read by Tara Isabella Burton and it certainly will not be the last. While this is not my typical type of read, I was drawn to the summary and was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying this one!
I am forever drawn to books with cult vibes, and I totally got that with this book. While a bit out of my comfort zone with the whimsical and magical realism elements, I did love that it also had some elements of suspense and mystery, too. And let’s not forget the NYC setting and the story of the two sisters. They have such a complex relationship, and this was what really kept me invested in the story. When Rose goes missing and Cecilia started tracking her down, I was all in. Having to solve clues that were left for her really kept this reader on the edge of her seat and the way The Avalon called to Rose and then to Cecilia was just too much to walk away from.
I loved the themes that were woven into this story, such as sisterhood, identity and self-exploration, and I also loved the note that the author includes at the beginning of the book. She states that this is ” her love letter to cults.” As if I wasn’t already intrigued by the book, that would have sold me right there!
Audio thoughts:
This was narrated by Devon Sorvari and I thought she did a fantastic job bringing the book to life. Her pacing was spot on and she infused just the right amount of tension and emotion into her voice as needed.
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