A review by bibliophilecats
The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix

adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

This was the second time I picked this book up from the library (first time not reading it at all). I cannot remember the first book and thought I found it mediocre (but I actually gave it 4 stars as I see now). So I started this more out of a whim, not expecting to like it very much but having nothing better to read. And then I was sucked into the story. I had a fantastic time, loved the story, enjoyed the characters (Susan coming to terms with the fact that she will never be normal). I do not often visualise in detail what is described on the page, so the clothes went over my head most of the time (except for general concepts) but I did not find it annyoing or distracting.
I liked that the focus was not on the romance between Susan and Merlin. Not remembering the first book was actually no problem, I did not feel lost or that I missed anything at any time.

Even more so than with the first book, I would not classify this as pure YA. Some themes can be classified as YA but the writing, words used, descriptions (especially architecture styles), and characters (also taking into account their age and stage of life in the book) make it more of an adult novel.