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A review by fulltimefiction
Sabriel by Garth Nix
3.0
Sabriel was probably the oldest (numbering wise) fantasy sitting on my Goodreads shelf. When I first came across it, I was in one of those weird periods where I only liked to read about female protagonists... yeah, don’t ask. And from the cover, I’ve assumed that Sabriel is a boy.. And then it just wasn’t the right time and it sat there until I mentioned to my friend that I want to read it this year. We ended up buddy reading it last week and we shared the same opinion basically. Both of us have read a lot of fantasy so this book simply wasn’t on the same level. But it had lots of potential. I was ready to love it. I was ready to give it 5 stars and it’s one of the rare cases where my I expect to love the book but don’t. And I would’ve… if I read it 6 years ago when I still new to this genre.
I understand why many who grew up reading Sabriel enjoyed it because it is for its time but now? Not so much anymore. This genre has evolved very much since 1995.
This book tells the story of Sabriel, the daughter of Abhorson. Her father sent her their necromancing kit basically meaning he was either dead or between life and death. Sabriel then leaves schools hoping to her father. What follows is her adventure as the new Abhorson (turns out this is a title) against one of the evil greater dead.
This was a nice book that can be read as a standalone because Lirael, the sequel, is a story about different characters. Which I will read. One day.
Okay now to the story itself, my main was the whole Charter thing was underdeveloped. I couldn’t understand if he’s a god or just a magic entity or what? It was almost like a religion. Almost. We discovered more about the world and the Old Kingdom thankfully in the second part of the book but I wanted more understanding about the magic and how it works. Some background about Charter Mages or anything.
The romance was very abrupt and there was no buildup whatsoever beyond a few passing words. Again, that was acceptable maybe in the 90s but not by today’s standards. Also, Touchstone? Seriously? What the heck is this name? I would’ve liked this book much better if the chemistry between Sabriel and Touchstone was better developed.
The writing was decent of course, I don’t think anything back then with not a good writing would’ve saw light. But I found myself getting distracted all the time and making little to no progress. I kept checking my social media instead of reading because I simply wasn’t feeling it. I mean the characters and the story were nice and interesting but something about the writing didn’t click with me. I wasn’t in a reading slump (if anything I’m on a roll) so the issue wasn’t “me”.
I wanted to love Sabriel so much that I feel bad about writing these things. I’m even annoyed at myself for not liking it more. I really wish I read this one when I first came across it but I also believe great books should be enjoyed regardless of how old you are when you read them. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed this book and I want this half star so bad I’m ready to organize a petition to demand Goodreads a half star rating already. The characters were likable and Sabriel was nice to read about. But at the same time, I would be unfair to the other fantasies that I’ve rated 4 stars because I liked them better. Yes we should sign a petition for the damn half star.
I understand why many who grew up reading Sabriel enjoyed it because it is for its time but now? Not so much anymore. This genre has evolved very much since 1995.
This book tells the story of Sabriel, the daughter of Abhorson. Her father sent her their necromancing kit basically meaning he was either dead or between life and death. Sabriel then leaves schools hoping to her father. What follows is her adventure as the new Abhorson (turns out this is a title) against one of the evil greater dead.
This was a nice book that can be read as a standalone because Lirael, the sequel, is a story about different characters. Which I will read. One day.
Okay now to the story itself, my main was the whole Charter thing was underdeveloped. I couldn’t understand if he’s a god or just a magic entity or what? It was almost like a religion. Almost. We discovered more about the world and the Old Kingdom thankfully in the second part of the book but I wanted more understanding about the magic and how it works. Some background about Charter Mages or anything.
The romance was very abrupt and there was no buildup whatsoever beyond a few passing words. Again, that was acceptable maybe in the 90s but not by today’s standards. Also, Touchstone? Seriously? What the heck is this name? I would’ve liked this book much better if the chemistry between Sabriel and Touchstone was better developed.
The writing was decent of course, I don’t think anything back then with not a good writing would’ve saw light. But I found myself getting distracted all the time and making little to no progress. I kept checking my social media instead of reading because I simply wasn’t feeling it. I mean the characters and the story were nice and interesting but something about the writing didn’t click with me. I wasn’t in a reading slump (if anything I’m on a roll) so the issue wasn’t “me”.
I wanted to love Sabriel so much that I feel bad about writing these things. I’m even annoyed at myself for not liking it more. I really wish I read this one when I first came across it but I also believe great books should be enjoyed regardless of how old you are when you read them. Don’t get me wrong I still enjoyed this book and I want this half star so bad I’m ready to organize a petition to demand Goodreads a half star rating already. The characters were likable and Sabriel was nice to read about. But at the same time, I would be unfair to the other fantasies that I’ve rated 4 stars because I liked them better. Yes we should sign a petition for the damn half star.