Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

17 reviews

ptaradactyl's review against another edition

adventurous funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I was worried about characters being too chaotic for me at first, but it settled in to a fun read. The dangers were never too scary, there was just the right sprinkle of romance, and the magic system was unusual and fun.

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helfire124's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Gripping story that had me laugh out loud at parts.

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amazelan's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

j'ai ADORÉ
ça faisait longtemps qu'un roman fantastique ne m'avait pas autant transporté, si j'en avais eu l'occasion je l'aurais lu d'une traite !

l'histoire est vraiment originale, + qu'un premier tome qui pose le décor, on part directement dans des péripéties pour percer des mystères et en découvrir d'autres.
les personnages sont réalistes, je les ai trouvé vraiment attachants (Merlin purée MERLIN).
la fin est peut-être un peu trop rapide, mais en même temps elle se clôt très bien, et j'ai hâte de pouvoir lire la suite !

le seul point négatif que je peux trouver à cette histoire c'est la place beaucoup trop importante/essentielle accordée à la police, franchement on aurait pu s'en passer et faire même mieux sans...

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nekoshka's review against another edition

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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? No

4.25

Omg this was so cute???
It does suffer from the usual YA problems like underdeveloped characters and a predictable plot, but otherwise it’s unexpectedly good.
Susan, the MC, is very much the "chosen one" with special powers and special parentage but it’s not annoying and they don’t make her overpowered. And she’s punk!
Merlin is a delightful love interest. Loved the approach to his gender and how the fact that he’s questioning it doesn’t make him any less attractive, flirty and self-assured. Again, I would have loved a bit more elaboration on this topic, but maybe we’ll get it in the next book.
I thought at first that the constant clothes descriptions would annoy me, but the ended up being a really fun detail.
The worldbuilding is interesting but sparse. Not developed enough.
Overall, very easy and light read.

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cj13's review

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adventurous fast-paced

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

4.0

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trollmila's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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monalyisha's review against another edition

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adventurous dark lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No

3.0

It’s been a while since I’ve read a YA novel; this one was more New Adult than YA, which suited me fine. I picked it up because the premise sounded, to me, like Buffy with booksellers (basically, booksellers patrol the Hellmouth). The fantasy focus in this was more fey than demonic (which isn’t typically my jam). Points added for the obvious Ursula K. Le Guin homage. Points detracted for the author’s weird obsession with the tv show The Professionals (is this just a weird British thing I don’t get?) & for falling into that fantasy-genre trap of too much plot/fighting, too little character/dialog.

I’ve read other reviews with comments to the effect of “there’s just something special about Merlin.” I don’t entirely agree. I think too much of his personality was devoted to his fashion obsession. My favorite characters were Susan and the even-handed booksellers. It’s possible that I’ll read the sequel…but it’s more likely that I’ll skip it.

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