Official Review: The Girl from Avignon

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kandscreeley
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Official Review: The Girl from Avignon

Post by kandscreeley »

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Girl from Avignon" by Bradley S. Compton, Praveen V. Arla.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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What if you had the ability to live forever? What if there were others around you that were not given that ability? What if those that lived a natural life served those with immortality? Having been blessed with immortality, would you live out your life in happiness never questioning why you were one of the chosen? Or would you perhaps try to find a way to grant everyone this never ending life?

Those are some of the questions in The Girl from Avignon by Bradley S. Compton and Praveen V. Arla. Ansley is a scientist working in the Institute. He is one of the lucky few that receives nanocyte treatments to keep him alive and healthy. Though outwardly he appears to be only 35, he is in fact much older. The Overseers control who receives the nanocyte treatments and thus control everything. Ansley is unhappy that there are only a select few who are able to obtain immortality. He has been developing a way to change all of this.

Arian is a young professor at The Institute. He idolizes Ansley as one of the most brilliant scientists to ever exist. When Ansley approaches Arian about helping in this project, he is intrigued. However, he is happy in his life. He enjoys being a professor and does not want to buck the system. Will Ansley be able to convince him that this is a gift best shared by all?

The first thing that I would say about this novel is that the premise is very intriguing. Those that are not graced with eternal life (and have not been specifically created by The Institute) are known as Natural Borns. Natural Borns exist merely to serve those with eternal life. This is a theme that has been explored many times, but these authors put their own unique spin on the story.

I will say that the science in the novel was overwhelming for me. The authors do a good job at making these fictional ideas seem like something that could be realistic. There is a great deal of scientific explanation included in parts of the novel. I admit that, for me, this simply caused my eyes to glaze over as I went into a kind of daze. I appreciated the fact that the authors were trying to make this seem plausible (and I know that there are those who will enjoy this), but it didn't add much for me.

The characters were quite realistic. As in life, there were some that I enjoyed and some that I didn't like quite so much. I think the thing that I found most intriguing is that the bad guys weren't necessarily all bad and neither were the good guys all good. The authors almost seem to blur the line between good and bad in their characters. While I knew which side I stood on, I empathized with characters on both sides. This is the mark of great characterization, in my opinion.

The plot of the novel moved along at a steady pace. I wasn't on the edge of my seat the whole time, but I didn't find myself bored either. This is one of those rare novels that I believe had a happy medium between the two. It also manages to build to a climax that makes you want to keep reading.

The ending, however, left much to be desired; it was a cliffhanger. I tried to find information on whether this was planned as a series, but I found nothing on OBC or Amazon. I hope that the authors are planning to continue the story. If not, there will be a lot of disappointed people out there once they reach the end of this novel.

In the end, I rated The Girl from Avignon 3 out of 4 stars. I felt that the story was good, the characters were lifelike, and the pacing was steady. The cliffhanger ending kept it from getting the last star. I also feel that I must issue a warning that there are adult situations and graphic violence in this novel. Therefore, it would not be suitable for a younger audience. Still, I would recommend it to those that enjoy a good dystopian, rebellious read and don't mind having to imagine your own ending.

******
The Girl from Avignon
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Post by Juliet Esther »

I must say the cover and the title of the book is a little misleading, when i first saw the book i thought the main character was somehow a girl but reading your review i can only tell that the characters you've talked about are men. I like the story and the easiness of this book and I'm definitely going to read it. Nice review

-- 29 Aug 2017, 04:16 --

I must say the cover and the title of the book is a little misleading, when i first saw the book i thought the main character was somehow a girl but reading your review i can only tell that the characters you've talked about are men. I like the story and the easiness of this book and I'm definitely going to read it. Nice review
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Post by MarisaRose »

I contemplated reading this one for a review as well. The premise sounded really different, and I'm glad you found it unique, although I could definitely do without the overwhelming scientific explanation! Too bad about the cliffhanger ending too with no promise of a sequel. Nothing worse then feeling absolutely no closure when finishing a book. Always a pleasure reading your reviews!
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Post by kandscreeley »

Juliet Esther wrote:I must say the cover and the title of the book is a little misleading, when i first saw the book i thought the main character was somehow a girl but reading your review i can only tell that the characters you've talked about are men. I like the story and the easiness of this book and I'm definitely going to read it. Nice review

There is a woman in the story, but the cover and title are definitely somewhat misleading. Thanks for commenting!

-- 29 Aug 2017, 07:34 --
MarisaRose wrote:I contemplated reading this one for a review as well. The premise sounded really different, and I'm glad you found it unique, although I could definitely do without the overwhelming scientific explanation! Too bad about the cliffhanger ending too with no promise of a sequel. Nothing worse then feeling absolutely no closure when finishing a book. Always a pleasure reading your reviews!
I do hope the authors are planning a sequel because there was a lot that was unanswered. Thanks for commenting! :)
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Post by The Researcher »

Very nice review. I think this is my kind of book with so much science involved.
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Post by kandscreeley »

Thanks The Researcher. If you know anything about physics or something like that, you might understand it better than I did. :)
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Post by ritah »

The way the authors used the concept of immortals and mortals sounds captivating. Thank you for the review.
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Post by kandscreeley »

It was interesting. Thanks ritah!
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Post by Rebecca_Rivera »

Juliet Esther wrote:I must say the cover and the title of the book is a little misleading, when i first saw the book i thought the main character was somehow a girl but reading your review i can only tell that the characters you've talked about are men. I like the story and the easiness of this book and I'm definitely going to read it. Nice review
These are my thoughts exactly! Thanks for saying them for me, Juliet.

Even though the story sounds decent, I now feel mildly disappointed since I was expecting something completely different.

I love the complex characters. At the same time, I understand that glazed-eye feeling, so I'll have to tread carefully on deciding to read this one. (And a cliffhanger with no continuation in the series? :o That may keep me up at night. :D )
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Post by kandscreeley »

Thanks for commenting Rebecca. At least I did find out that this is planned to be part of a trilogy. The next one isn't coming out until 2018, though. :(
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Post by Rebecca_Rivera »

Oh no! You're gonna have to hold your suspense for a while. That's good though. A perpetual cliffhanger does not pull in more readers.
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kandscreeley
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Post by kandscreeley »

Very true. I was worried they weren't going to finish at all. ?
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Post by Kelebogile Mbangi »

I love the theme and the plot, but most of all, I enjoyed reading your review! Your reactions to the book prove to be useful in ascertaining whether or not I will enjoy it. I think I would.
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Post by Booklovertoinfinity »

For once I actually liked the plot. Nice review!
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Post by kandscreeley »

Thanks kelebogile and booklovertoinfinity. If you do read this one, let me know if you like it. :)
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