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

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

20 reviews

queerreaderchaos's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I work in a bookstore and this book just came out in french so, with the recommendation of a colleague, I started The Left-Handed Booksellers to share my thoughs and see if it was worth recommending so near to the Spooky Season! I'm not the best at reviews, so bear with me!
It is normal to find this book a bit confusing at first: you're dropped right into the action, with very little info as to how we got there. But don't worry, it's coming. The story is riddled with action, mixed with a lot of explanation and backstories because, like Susan, we know only a fraction of this world. Some readers might finds some parts repetitive

(aka the kidnappings, even I thought it started to get off hand)

, or slowed by the ever-coming flow of trivia, but it reads well and we are rewarded with a story rich of folklore, history, and magic. I loved the character of Merlin, with his non-gender conforming sense of fashion and his very peculiar personality (balanced by his sister Vivien)! Susan was interesting, although she took in too well what was happening to her. Don't get me wrong, she responded in her own fashion and had a believable learning trajectory, but I would have freaked out if I was in her place (but that's just me :P ). All in all, I really loved the book, and will definetly talk about it to anyone who wants to hear (or not).

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fantasycat's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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mandkips's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

charlottebreads's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

4.75

CW/TW: Injury/injury detail, gun violence, kidnapping, murder, blood
Age Rating: 13+

- I loved Merlin. He was the best character and I thought he carried most of the book. He was so chaotic and unique, and I loved everything about him. He also had a CRAZY wardrobe, which was fantastic.

- Susan was a nice main character. She made good life decisions.

- Vivien was also good, but I think she needed a few more things to separate her from Merlin. Her and Merlin's sibling relationship was fantastic though. I also kept calling her Viven for some reason.

- I though the romance was sidelined too much. It was brought up a few times via some half-hearted flirting/pining, but not enough for an actual relationship. It could have been improved with more pining, more angst, and more cute moments together.

Like, Susan was kidnapped ten billion times, Merlin could have at least a bit more protective over her afterwards. And SUSAN, MERLIN BROKE BOTH HIS LEGS AND YOU JUST KISSED HIM AND WENT! WE COULD HAVE HAD A BIT MORE FROM YOU!

- The magic system was really interesting. I liked that the left-handed and right-handed had different abilities, and that they used modern things as well as magical. There were also lots of interesting mythical creatures that I hadn't read about before. However, I thought that they could have used the hatpins more, because they were cool.

- I thought the villain twist was pretty good, however, I thought they needed a bit more motivation. We may find out more later (*hint hint, nudge nudge*), or maybe I missed something while reading.

- Obviously this book includes booksellers who love books, and books about books/booksellers/bookshops are always good.

- They mentioned lots of songs and story titles, so that was nice.

- Overall, I loved it. Nice balance of chaotic shenanigans and important stuff.

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maregred's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous funny tense fast-paced

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

Susan’s mom has always been a bit forgetful and has never been able to tell Susan about her father, so Susan decides to take matters into her own hands. When she visits her mom’s old friend (and mob boss) in hopes of help, she instead witnesses his death by hatpin and is whisked away from the scene by the handsome Merlin. With Merlin, Susan is plunged into the Old World, the layer beneath or New World, where all manner of creatures live and where she suddenly has many would-be murderers. She is protected by Merlin and the other booksellers: left-handed fighters and fieldworkers and right-handed scholars who protect humans from the Old World and its monsters.

As always, I love the mixture of folktales and mythology with modern life. I am particularly interested in the ancient sovereigns: beings that are like the personification of the places they rule over. I like the idea of the land as sentient and alive in that way, and I would love to read more stories that use this trope. The plot did feel a bit rushed, and I would have liked a bit more explanation and worldbuilding, especially about the booksellers. The story also occasionally felt like an advertisement for Penguin books; like, I get it, I like Penguin books too, but it really was a bit much, and don’t booksellers generally sell books from more than one publishing house?

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe):

Happy! And definitely left room for a sequel...

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jenny_librarian's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

For a story with an 18 years-old protagonist, this had a very distinct MG feeling at some points. Kind of a Nevermoor vibe.

I always love books set in London, because of the memories that of my time there. So I obviously wasn’t going to hate that book. However, it felt a bit muted and I didn’t connect all that much with the characters. I mostly kept reading for the plot.

I liked Susan, as well as Merlin. They were interesting as separate characters, but I didn’t see the chemistry between the two.

This story is well set in the 80s. I suspect this is mostly because none of what happened would fly today. Interestingly, Merlin’s gender-bending didn’t raise eyebrows because of the era. I would have liked to get more on how he identifies, but the vocabulary wasn’t exactly how it is today, back then. I appreciate that Nix didn’t try to force a label deemed offensive by today’s standards.

It was a good book, but I wasn’t blown away by it.

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