Reviews

The Writing and Worldbuilding

I adore Garth Nix's writing. It's lyrical without distracting from the narrative and flows very well. He clearly has a very strong grasp on the language. I absolutely loved every bit of it. I have to admit that I thought this wouldn't be nearly as good as it was, because it came out before I was born and often older (and tbh even current) YA writing lacks strong narrative voice and relies heavily on tropes and cliches to convey the story. But this was totally unique and excellent in every way! I can even see the influence it has had on the genre, with books like Shadow and Bone and Throne of Glass clearly trying to emulate what this book had (though their success varied).

I AM IN LOVE with this world and its inhabitants. From the very beginning, this gave me White Walker and the Wall vibes from Game of Thrones and that's always been my favorite part of the show. The world was so intricate and amazing. Every element of this world was masterfully explained without being too vague or too obvious. The prologue gave me LIFE and started the story off strong. There was a part around 25% through that dragged just a little, but it ended quickly and gave way to a tight narrative with lots of adventure and action with some of the best themes ever.

The Characters

Sabrina the teenage witch:

Death and what came after death was no great mystery to Sabriel. She just wished it was.

OH MY GOODNESS WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN???? Everyone can stop trying now, we have had the perfect strong female character for well over a decade now. Sabriel's an actual human being who second guesses herself and gets too proud sometimes and is polite to ghosts and inanimate objects but is also willing to do what it takes to do what's right, and is a little too rash sometimes but makes up for it by trying to plan ahead when she can. She's tough and disciplined and has a heart of gold. TL;DR she's real and I appreciated that beyond measure.

Salem the sassy cat familiar:

"You may call me Mogget. As to what I am, I was once many things, but now I am only several."

This sassy demon cat was honestly the most iconic thing I've ever had the intense pleasure of reading. He's mysterious and otherworldly but is also a fluffy white cat, so what more could I ask for?

Pinocchio:

"I love you," he whispered. "I hope you don't mind."

While we never know his real name, Touchstone was definitely an excellent addition to the main cast. He was a great guy with a mysterious past that continues to haunt him even after being rescued from his two-century long sleep as a wooden statue by Sabriel. He's kind and caring but perhaps a tad unhinged in battle. I absolutely loved him.

Abhorsen: (aka Sabriel's dad)

"Let this be my final lesson. Everyone and everything has a time to die."

He wasn't really there most of the time, instead acting as the MacGuffin for most of the story. He was an effective MacGuffin, though, because I really did want him to be found. Sabriel's father was a great man with a lot of presence in the narrative despite his lack of physical presence. You can see a lot of his influence in Sabriel.

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed it and will without a doubt be reading the rest of the series! I'm so excited to explore more of this world.

Five Great Charters knit the land
Together linked, hand in hand
One in the people who wear the crown
Two in the folk who keep the Dead down
Three and Five became stone and mortar
Four sees all in frozen water.

justjeanettelee's review against another edition

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4.0

This was a long read.

I found that while I immensely enjoyed the whole concept of this world and it’s characters, the pacing of it all through me right off. It was only the last hundred pages or so that caused me to read and read this book until I finished it.

I remember picking this book up when I was maybe 12 or 13 from the school library. I had read the first chapter and I was like, “ok, what the hell? This is going to be bad.” I again kind of had that feeling this time round, but I think it’s because the prologue is quite jumpy, too much is dumped in a short time. It’s clunky. But then you get passed that and Nix takes his time to explain things.

It’ll be interesting reading the rest of this series, as it is all brand new to me. Love reading a book series when all of the books are already out too

drearyletters's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I wasn't sure how I would feel about this book because of the whole necromancy thing, but I really enjoyed Sabriel as a character and was interested in the world building! As for the necromancy, it doesn't really bother me because the whole point of her job is to put the dead back to rest, not wake them up.

taliesinhall's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

3.0

enjoysydneybri's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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