Reviews

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

snacksandstacks's review against another edition

4.0

This was a readalong with my ten year old where we listened to the audiobook every night. We both enjoyed it, but my son found some of the pacing to be slow. This is definitely one of the first times we read a book of this length, so that might be more of the issue than the book. There are also great opportunities for kids to learn new vocabulary words.

indevinite's review against another edition

adventurous funny 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

4.75

gio__'s review against another edition

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

darling_robot's review against another edition

3.0

I thought that this book began slow and I was displeased with the apprentice, Nathaniel, by the 4th or 5th chapter. He became cocky and arrogant. It was unpleasant. I enjoy character development but didn't feel like that happened with Nathaniel. The highlight, and why I kept reading, was Bartimaeus himself. He was quick witted and amusing. I'm happy that it's the Bartimaeus Trilogy because if it was all about Nathaniel, I'd be done. Overall, the book felt stagnent until the very last 50 or so pages. Things sped up and I was excited to read the ending. I'm beginning the next because now that I've started, I have to finish.

soph22's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I should have loved this, it had all the right elements to be a hit, but something about it just didn’t grab me. It’s not bad my any means, just not something I’m rushing to read the rest of the series because of. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

lasagna12's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

3.0

fantasynovel's review against another edition

5.0

After, like, 12 years, I've finally finished this book! And I loved it so much. Reading it almost gave me the same experience I used to have reading fantasy as a kid. This book gave me such a feeling of wonder. I love the worldbuilding so much. I'm not even into England anymore like I was as a kid, but I still loved how British it was. Since I'm not a kid I did notice all the places where there could have been commentary on colonization and there wasn't, but also, this is a book for kids and maybe I'm overthinking it. Still, it would have added an extra layer of meaning that would have been really cool. There was definitely commentary on social class, so it wouldn't have been a stretch to talk about how all these Asian amulets and other magical objects ended up in Britain.

Whatever, colonization aside, this book made me so happy to read. I was so invested in Nathaniel's story. When you're a kid you have so little agency, and the book captures so well how bad that feels. Also, the book has so many great parallels. Yeah, it's simple, but I still love how the book starts with Nathaniel summoning Bartimaeus and ends with him releasing him. And Nathaniel's moment where he saves the day felt earned, if super obvious. But it's a kid's book, so it was perfect.

This seems to me like the beginning of Nathaniel's villain origin story, which I'm obsessed with. I have the next two books right here and I can't wait to read them and see how much worse he gets.

rhrie38's review

2.0

the characters were so annoying, i hated it

bolsbooklooks's review

adventurous funny medium-paced

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

3.75

Enjoyed the story LOVED the footnotes 

mkhare's review against another edition

3.0

3.25 stars