A review by charlottebreads
The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

4.75

CW/TW: Injury/injury detail, gun violence, kidnapping, murder, blood
Age Rating: 13+

- I loved Merlin. He was the best character and I thought he carried most of the book. He was so chaotic and unique, and I loved everything about him. He also had a CRAZY wardrobe, which was fantastic.

- Susan was a nice main character. She made good life decisions.

- Vivien was also good, but I think she needed a few more things to separate her from Merlin. Her and Merlin's sibling relationship was fantastic though. I also kept calling her Viven for some reason.

- I though the romance was sidelined too much. It was brought up a few times via some half-hearted flirting/pining, but not enough for an actual relationship. It could have been improved with more pining, more angst, and more cute moments together.
Like, Susan was kidnapped ten billion times, Merlin could have at least a bit more protective over her afterwards. And SUSAN, MERLIN BROKE BOTH HIS LEGS AND YOU JUST KISSED HIM AND WENT! WE COULD HAVE HAD A BIT MORE FROM YOU!


- The magic system was really interesting. I liked that the left-handed and right-handed had different abilities, and that they used modern things as well as magical. There were also lots of interesting mythical creatures that I hadn't read about before. However, I thought that they could have used the hatpins more, because they were cool.

- I thought the villain twist was pretty good, however, I thought they needed a bit more motivation. We may find out more later (*hint hint, nudge nudge*), or maybe I missed something while reading.

- Obviously this book includes booksellers who love books, and books about books/booksellers/bookshops are always good.

- They mentioned lots of songs and story titles, so that was nice.

- Overall, I loved it. Nice balance of chaotic shenanigans and important stuff.
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