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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Read for Cybil Awards YA Speculative Fiction. Did not nominate.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
While I appreciate that it makes sense for this book to focus more on Susan and her coming to terms with her identity after the last book, what I really loved about the first book was Merlin and I wanted more of him. What I really wanted was more of Susan, Merlin and Vivien being a bad-ass trio, but I think this got muddied with so many other side characters that basically served the same purpose and could have been condensed down to give more focus on our main three characters. I still enjoyed the story and the adventure because Garth Nix is a pro at those, but this one didn’t seem to be as good as his others with his treatment of his characters.
This is a fantastic follow up to The Left-handed Booksellers of London! It was worth the wait :)
A year on from the events in book 1, Susan is settled into student life in London. 1983 is coming to a close and she is looking forward to spending Christmas at home, near Bath, with her mum. But a fragment of a magical map changes her plans when the booksellers ask for her help. Merlin has has been transported into the domain of a malevolent ancient entity and Susan is the only one who has the skills to help his sister, Vivien, free him before time runs out.
Susan has spent the last year trying to ignore her potential power, but now she has no choice but to face what she can do as the entity sets its sights firmly on her as its' next victim.
All my favourite characters are back and this book builds the world of the Booksellers and the somewhat alternate version of 1980's England in greater detail, and I enjoyed every moment!.
I like the fact that Garth Nix has chosen to build a much more equitable alternate reality - this is a diverse cast and there are multiple female characters that hold civil and military / police positions of rank that simply would not have happened (not commonly) in our reality. Sexism just doesn't seem to really exist in this history and I am 100% loving that. There are also a few more diverse characters that are introduced so I look forward to this world getting wider.
This series is giving me minor Rivers of London vibes and I like it!
I will happily recommend this series to 12+ readers (there is some violence, but mostly not too graphic/ no sex)
A year on from the events in book 1, Susan is settled into student life in London. 1983 is coming to a close and she is looking forward to spending Christmas at home, near Bath, with her mum. But a fragment of a magical map changes her plans when the booksellers ask for her help. Merlin has has been transported into the domain of a malevolent ancient entity and Susan is the only one who has the skills to help his sister, Vivien, free him before time runs out.
Susan has spent the last year trying to ignore her potential power, but now she has no choice but to face what she can do as the entity sets its sights firmly on her as its' next victim.
All my favourite characters are back and this book builds the world of the Booksellers and the somewhat alternate version of 1980's England in greater detail, and I enjoyed every moment!.
I like the fact that Garth Nix has chosen to build a much more equitable alternate reality - this is a diverse cast and there are multiple female characters that hold civil and military / police positions of rank that simply would not have happened (not commonly) in our reality. Sexism just doesn't seem to really exist in this history and I am 100% loving that. There are also a few more diverse characters that are introduced so I look forward to this world getting wider.
This series is giving me minor Rivers of London vibes and I like it!
I will happily recommend this series to 12+ readers (there is some violence, but mostly not too graphic/ no sex)
I loved the first book in this series, but I just found this one lacking. The relationship between Merlin and Susan felt completely without any chemistry at all, and the plot didn’t feel that interesting to me :(
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thanks again to PRHaudio for this complimentary audiobook! I was immediately into the sequel of Left Handed Booksellers and it was fast paced right from the start! Not having to rebuild characters and their powers made for a more exciting entry into this book! I still kind of drifted in and out of the action a bit. There is a lot to these books and for some reason I kept losing the beat. It picked back up toward the end and finding out even more about what Susan can do is awesome!
What do you say?
What do you say?
I flipped through my library copy of this briefly before coming to the conclusion that I don’t need anything from this universe outside of the first in the series.
I enjoyed my time with the first one but it works well enough as a standalone and I don’t feel a need to explore the world as much as I thought I did.
I enjoyed my time with the first one but it works well enough as a standalone and I don’t feel a need to explore the world as much as I thought I did.