Avalon (Avalon #1) by Mindee Arnett

Title: Avalon
Series: Avalon #1
Author: Mindee Arnett
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Release Date:  January 21st 2014
Pages: Hardcover, 418 pages
Source: ARC from ALA Mid-winter

Summary from Goodreads:
A ragtag group of teenage mercenaries who crew the spaceship Avalon stumble upon a conspiracy that could threaten the entire galaxy in this fascinating and fast-paced sci-fi adventure from author Mindee Arnett.

Of the various star systems that make up the Confederation, most lie thousands of light-years from First Earth-and out here, no one is free. The agencies that govern the Confederation are as corrupt as the crime bosses who patrol it, and power is held by anyone with enough greed and ruthlessness to claim it. That power is derived from one thing: metatech, the devices that allow people to travel great distances faster than the speed of light.

Jeth Seagrave and his crew of teenage mercenaries have survived in this world by stealing unsecured metatech, and they're damn good at it. Jeth doesn't care about the politics or the law; all he cares about is earning enough money to buy back his parents' ship, Avalon, from his crime-boss employer and getting himself and his sister, Lizzie, the heck out of Dodge. But when Jeth finds himself in possession of information that both the crime bosses and the government are willing to kill for, he is going to have to ask himself how far he'll go to get the freedom he's wanted for so long.

Avalon is the perfect fit for teens new to sci-fi as well as seasoned sci-fi readers looking for more books in the YA space-and a great match for fans of Joss Whedon's cult hit show Firefly.

What I Liked

• The various characters.Jeth's team is composed of various characters with such distinct personalities with an array of talents and skills.  It made it easy to visualize each person and really feel the dynamic between the characters. 
• The narration. It is refreshing to read a book that has a male POV.  The danger and action in the story is seen through a male's eyes giving a different view of things.  Not to mention the backseat romance story is quite entertaining from Jeth's point of view. 
• The ending.  While Avalon is a series, the ending is the perfect amount of resolution.  Arnett satisfied my need for some closure while still leaving open storyline for the next book. 

What I Didn't

• The beginning.  It was rather slow at the beginning, I actually debated a couple times whether I was going to keep going.  The characters were not really capturing my attention and I simply was not invested in the story line.    
• A bit predictable.   Some the the aspects seems un-original, granted I mean that in the nicest way but I felt like I could see traces of other stories within Avalon.  The romance was also easy to predict but then again it typically can be.      

Bottom Line

I can easily see why there is a comparison to Firefly; Avalon is a group of unique young thieves just working to get by in space.  If you can endure the slower beginning, Avalon is a fun, space adventure book worth checking out.