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A review by verymom
Sabriel by Garth Nix
5.0
2015 review (when most of my kids were still little):
I'm so glad I finally read this. I bought it months ago to read aloud to the kids, but school started and life got busy. Now that I've read it, I think it might be too scary for the littles, but the big boys will enjoy reading it on their own. (Update, I did end up reading this to the kids [with just a tiny bit of parental censoring] and they LOVED it.)
It is a different book, and I can see from the reviews that it falls flat for some. I found it beautifully written and once the pace picked up, was unable to put it down-- first time in a long while I've lost sleep reading.
I am forever studying the art of novel writing, and as such, this book fascinated me on a couple of different counts. For one, it seems like Nix breaks a lot of the supposed writing "rules." Eg: There isn't a lot of emotion described, and the character development is very subtle. Nix does not go "deep POV," yet I found myself engrossed.
I cared about Sabriel and Touchstone. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Mogget (my kids loved, loved, LOVED Mogget. He was so fun to read aloud). I was riveted as the mysteries of the Old Kingdom were unraveled and we found out more about the Abhorsen title and the role he/she plays.
I found myself asking frequently -- "How did Nix do that? How do I care about these characters when Sabriel's reaction to a major event is written without an overabundance of descriptive imagery?"
I can't wait to read the next one. Downloading it just as soon as I finish this review.
2021 review:
This series has remained a major favorite in our house. My daughter went as Sabriel for Halloween one year. No one knew who she was, but we were so delighted and I had such fun making the costume. Back when I had twitter, I tweeted the photo and Garth Nix shared it--it was a major fan girl moment for both my daughter and me.
My kids are no longer tiny, and they've all read and re-read these books on their own (no more parental censoring--not that I ever did much). We got the audiobooks not too long ago and I'm listening to them this time. Tim Curry does a fantastic job (though my kids say my Mogget voice is better, ha ha); I highly recommend!
I'm so glad I finally read this. I bought it months ago to read aloud to the kids, but school started and life got busy. Now that I've read it, I think it might be too scary for the littles, but the big boys will enjoy reading it on their own. (Update, I did end up reading this to the kids [with just a tiny bit of parental censoring] and they LOVED it.)
It is a different book, and I can see from the reviews that it falls flat for some. I found it beautifully written and once the pace picked up, was unable to put it down-- first time in a long while I've lost sleep reading.
I am forever studying the art of novel writing, and as such, this book fascinated me on a couple of different counts. For one, it seems like Nix breaks a lot of the supposed writing "rules." Eg: There isn't a lot of emotion described, and the character development is very subtle. Nix does not go "deep POV," yet I found myself engrossed.
I cared about Sabriel and Touchstone. I THOROUGHLY enjoyed Mogget (my kids loved, loved, LOVED Mogget. He was so fun to read aloud). I was riveted as the mysteries of the Old Kingdom were unraveled and we found out more about the Abhorsen title and the role he/she plays.
I found myself asking frequently -- "How did Nix do that? How do I care about these characters when Sabriel's reaction to a major event is written without an overabundance of descriptive imagery?"
I can't wait to read the next one. Downloading it just as soon as I finish this review.
2021 review:
This series has remained a major favorite in our house. My daughter went as Sabriel for Halloween one year. No one knew who she was, but we were so delighted and I had such fun making the costume. Back when I had twitter, I tweeted the photo and Garth Nix shared it--it was a major fan girl moment for both my daughter and me.
My kids are no longer tiny, and they've all read and re-read these books on their own (no more parental censoring--not that I ever did much). We got the audiobooks not too long ago and I'm listening to them this time. Tim Curry does a fantastic job (though my kids say my Mogget voice is better, ha ha); I highly recommend!