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dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
After finishing the Abhorsen trilogy, I was very excited to jump into Clariel. Unfortunately, this book was not as adventurous as I had hoped. The world building is great and it was interesting to see how different the Old Kingdom is in this era. I had more issues with our main character and plot progression. Clariel is not the most likable character and she is very fixated on returning to her Great Forest and living by herself. This on its own is fine but when half the book beats you over the head on this one goal it becomes tedious. About half way through the plot really starts to move and I couldn't put the book down. I liked getting to know Bel and Kargrin and seeing Mogget is always a joy. I still would recommend this book to fans of the trilogy even with it's very slow beginning.
My biggest issue is that this book was supposed to be about Clariel's tragic descent into becoming Chlorr of the Mask. While we do get the origin of her fall into Free Magic, the story very suddenly ends as she is exiled to the North. I know some more details about Clariel's return to Free Magic is given in Goldenhand but I really wanted to see it happen. I also thought perhaps a timeskip would come and we could see Sabriel and Chlorr's battle. Or even an older Bel confronting her and we see his disappointment or possible regret in his involvement in her escape and he tries to stop her. It would have been tragic but way more interesting than what we got.