Book Review #78: Fall of Avalon by J.R. Froemling

Hello Dear Reader!

Welcome to another book review! This one is on yet another self-published book, titled Fall of Avalon by J.R. Foremling. I actually met her at my first-ever convention in Louisville, KY last year, and she was an absolutely amazing table neighbor! If she ever reads this, I hope I get to see her and be table neighbors again.

With that being said, let’s get onto the review! But first, the back-cover summary: (from Goodreads)

I wish…Two words with more power than the magic of True Love’s Kiss. Everything you think you know about the stories is wrong. The kingdom of Nodd has existed since the beginning of time. The stories we weave makes the world they live. The world they live makes the stories we weave. But what happens when one of those worlds falls apart? Follow the tale of a young girl fighting to save her home from becoming just another legend in the pages of time.

On to the review!

To start this review off, I’ll say there is a lot in Fall of Avalon. A lot of perspective, a lot of different stories that are somehow intertwined, and a lot of characters! Because of that, this review is going to be a little bit different, as all character play a prominent part in the story, and everyone is the main character of their own tales.

The world of this book is an amalgamation of many fairy tales and fantasy stories. From the land of Oz to Wonderland to Lloegyr, these settings and more make up the different places in the world. It was super cool to see what was essentially a huge crossover between familiar characters mentioned and portrayed throughout my childhood, like the bubbly Glinda from Oz and the blood thirsty Queen of Hearts from Wonderland. As a result of these many worlds coming together, there’s also a wide variety of magic, some of which is explored in the book. I have a feeling there’s so much more that hasn’t yet been featured!

In regard to the story itself, there is a ton going on all at once, so it takes a while for everyone’s individual stories to eventually come together cohesively. While everyone’s parts were enjoyable on their own, at the beginning, it was a bit difficult to see how it would all come together in the end, which does leave off in a cliffhanger.

I found myself asking a lot of ‘why’s’ throughout the book, especially at the very beginning. You’re thrust into the story without much of an explanation for anything, which is fine as I’ve read other books that started with this kind of opening, but I don’t believe much was revealed about why the events at the beginning happened. This is only book one of this series, chapter 1 of this chronicle as it’s called, so I bet much more will be explained in the next book, especially about the prophecy mentioned throughout.

So, Fall of Avalon rating:

3.5/5 and highly recommend if you like fantasy with a twist and like seeing a lot of different fantasy worlds and fairy tales combined in one place!

Thanks for reading!