A review by nerdatlas5
Sabriel by Garth Nix

dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Man, this could have been great. Like the world building was super cool. Like the opposing magic systems of charter vs. free magic, Death as a river with all the gates, and the contrasting Old Kingdom vs. New Kingdom stuff was super cool and unique. It also really picks up once Sabriel is in the Old Kingdom proper. Like once she has a companion with Mogget, someone to interact with, the plot picks up well and carries through to the end. But damn, Sabriel is a boring protagonist. She had all the set up to be a good one, but it felt like for the 1st third of the book she had no personality. Again, once we're introduced to Mogget, and then later Touchstone, having people to banter, argue, and build relations helped to show more character quirks from her. The worst part is that at the end of the copy I read, there was a short story set the summer prior to this book, and within that one short story, it filled in way more gaps to Sariels personality. It also gave more of an established relationship with her friend and her magic teacher at her school which would have made the end of the book hit way harder. I'd still maybe be interested in continuing the series, since book 1 ended on a high note, but man, I hope the other books don't stumble at the beginning like this one did.