Anew (The Archers of Avalon) Review

I am incoherent. I am speechless. I am blown away. And now I have to TRY and attempt to write a review. Just so you know in advance, I refuse to apologise for the enthusiasm and ultimate fangirling that follows. Anew (The Archers of Avalon) by Chelsea Fine AKA my new favourite book in the world EVER is a book that was published at the end of last year which totally slipped under my radar and this is not an easy thing to accomplish! I will admit to seeing Suzie Townsend (agent extraordinaire) mention it on Twitter recently and then I realised that she was her agent. Is it wrong to admit that I trust Suzie and so I know that anyone she represents, I am likely to enjoy their books? So anyway, I bought the book for my kindle and it was really cheap, too cheap considering how good the story is but at the time, I hadn’t heard of the author and wondered why she wasn’t better known so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Considering the start of my review, I think you know where I’m going with this so here’s the synopsis:

“Two years ago, Scarlet awoke in the forest alone, afraid, and unable to remember anything. Lost and confused, her life was a mystery...until she met a boy with a familiar voice.

Gabriel Archer has a voice from her past, and Scarlet's determined to remember why. She immerses herself in his life only to discover he has a brother he's kept hidden from her: Tristan Archer.

Upon meeting Tristan, Scarlet's world becomes even more muddled. While she's instinctively drawn to Gabriel, she's impossibly drawn to Tristan--and confused out of her mind. As she tries to piece together her history Scarlet realizes her past...might just be the death of her.”

I read a lot of books and it has been a LONG TIME since something invoked such a strong reaction from me. I have been shouting, gasping, laughing, crying. I was desperate to get to the end of the book but also desperate not for it to end, you know, one of THOSE books. I started reading last night until my eyes started closing and then the first thing I did this morning when I woke up, was pick up where I left off. I’m absolutely blown away by this story and I need you all to read it!

I’m trying to be really careful about what I give away here in terms of plot and characters as I don’t want to spoil it for you. I read this book knowing nothing; I couldn’t even remember the synopsis to be honest. I will tell you that it’s about two brothers and a girl and you can figure out the rest on your own. Gabriel is just lovely, the perfect boyfriend but his brother Tristan? There’s just something about a tortured soul that speaks to mine.

I really liked Scarlet in that she’s not some silly little girl. She’s intelligent, brave and basically just trying to figure out what the hell is going on and it’s not without surprise and consequences. I really enjoyed her best friend Heather and having seen a VLOG of Chelsea recently, I can definitely see some of Heather in her ;)

Scarlet’s guardian Laura is conveniently away on business ALOT but I do wonder if there isn’t something more to that, that we’ll see in the next book and oh be still my heart because THERE IS A NEXT BOOK!!! I believe that Anew is part of a trilogy but don’t quote me on that. I am DESPERATE (and by desperate I mean I would sell my left kidney) to read the next book called Awry which will be published in summer this year!!!

I need to mention one thing. If you’re the type of person who gets hung up on realism, you might have a teeny problem with a particular scenario in the book that might just be impossible from a physics point of view but you have to remember that there is MAGIC involved so let it slide and enjoy the wonderful story that will engross you from start to finish. If I had a rating system, this book would get five stars as it kept me entertained and focused on the story the entire time.

If you could see me now I think you would laugh. It’s like I’ve just been told that I’ve won the lottery or something, my heart is pounding (just like Scarlet’s!) and I seriously need to calm down because this is silly but any book that invokes THIS kind of crazy reaction? BUY IT. BUY IT IMMEDIATELY is all I can say.

Anew was published on 7th December, 2011 and is available in the UK and the US. To find out more about Chelsea Fine and her books, please click here to visit her website and here to visit the series website. Chelsea is also active on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads. Totally forgot to say that I have now ordered the paperbacks from a US website because even though I have them on kindle, I REALLY want these books and if that doesn't tell you something? Then, I don't know what will!