Reviews

I feel like the Debbie Downer of books lately... but it has just been awhile since anything has excited me.

While I really liked the ideas and storyline behind Sabriel, I wasn't as in love with it as I would have hoped. Cheers for having a strong female figure at the center of it. Cheers for the new take on the necromancer and her duty to keep the Dead away. Something, though, was just not there. Maybe it felt a bit too empty. Something, I can't put my finger on it, something just didn't catch me. I guess I expected more from it. I know this is a series... and I feel I owe the author the chance to read the rest... but I have to take a break before I try that endeavor.

If you read this book I hope you love it, but for me it just wasn't quite there.

narcissia's review against another edition

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5.0

High fantasy. Necromancers. Spirits. Amazing magic system. Awesome world. Heroine of quiet strength. If you haven't read it, do.

rgardull's review against another edition

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4.0

Great read but it took me a couple times of picking it up to finally get involved. But I'm glad that I did.

questsandquietude's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

sorumn's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-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

2.5

I didn't dislike the book. But I wasn't over the morning on about it either. Many times while reading it I caught myself looking at how much was left because I was bored. I was never able to fully get immerse myself into the book frequently my mind woupd wander while listening to it. Alot of the time it felt like a man writing a woman in the worst way.

I'm pretty baffled with the world building. In the beginning it seemed like it was the Middle ages to me. No one has running water. They use horses to get from place to place and then as the story progressed they got guns and tractors and buses??? And if that's the case, why does no one have hot running water? It just seemed very counterproductive to me I still don't fully understand the magic system and I think that is a flaw for the book. What makes a mage? Can anyone become one?? Do you have to get marked to become a mage? Why do you get a little shiver every time someone touches your little birthmark?

The characters were nothing really to write home about sabriel was kind of two-dimensional in my opinion. I wanted her to have more personality than what we were given. Cat was fine sometimes Obnoxious. I think I liked Rosetta Stone the most cuz he had an actually interesting kind of thing going for him being a figurehead and also a king???? It does feel like a case of because there's a male and female character they have to get together. Like I don't know how strong I would consider that chemistry between Sorbet and Rosetta Stone. But I mean they are cute together.

I'm kind of floored that they beat the big bad. That has been bad for 200 years with a cat collar. I felt like that was very anticlimactic. My other question is can she just keep doing this with everybody that pops up in the next several books in the series like? Oh there's a bad guy. Guess I got up. Put a little ring around their neck and then make him a new pet. Do you get to collect all the coat types?

All in all, I didn't think that sabriel was a bad book. I think it was probably a product of his time and I can understand that there is a lot of nostalgia and intrigue wrapped up in a story like this More than once I thought "I'm surprised that this isn't a movie or something" however, the confusing world building the men writing women tendencies and the anticlimactic ending is the reason why I'm giving it the rating that I am.

kathleenabby's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

I had so much fun with this world however I do think I would of liked this more when I were younger.

📚 We follow Sabriel who was sent to boarding school as a young child. She has little experience with the random power of free magic or the dead who refuse to stay dead in the Old Kingdom. But when her her father, the Anhorsen goes missing she knows she must enter the old kingdom to find him.

📖 The best thing about this is the world-building. It's interesting and complex. And the magic system is so imaginative I loved it!

Exploring the Old Kingdom in her search was great, the world was vibrant filled with the dead, necromancy I loved the use of bells within the magic system. It felt really fresh and unique. The way death was represented as a river I loved it.

The downside is the characters. They had their moments while interacting with each other and I loved when we were first introduced to mogget because overall they really are pretty dull and bland. Sabriel herself I don't think I could really tell you anything about her other than she's a necromancer. They were lacking spark and personality.

There are also some things within the story telling that didn't work for me. The romance was well freshed out, it was rushed and abrupt but it didn't take up a lot of the book so it was easy to ignore.

I also like my villains to come with a point. And I don't think the big bad was ever established well enough to have any kind of impact. The ending and fight was fun to read I just wanted it to have more meaning.

Overall I had alot of fun, and I will pick up the next book soon. This is the kind of series that once I'm finished I will put it on my son's shelf ready for when he's a bit older.

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