Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

Sabriel by Garth Nix

3 reviews

sarahhoward's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

A shame I didn't discover this when I was younger - if I read this as a teenager, I think it would have become part of my personality.

The worldbuilding immediately drew me in. The magic system wasn't ever really explained, but it clearly operated on a concrete set of rules - both narratively and in-universe - that made me curious. Sabriel herself is a wonderful character, emotionally mature and yet sheltered to the world of Old Kingdom. She struck a wonderful balance between being competent and still out of her depth.

I didn't realize this was part of a series, but even though this first book can stand on its own, I'm definitely picking up the next one. I wanna know more about Old Kingdom! And Charter magic! And I definitely want to see what happens to Sabriel as she steps into her role as Abhorsen.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Animal death and Sexual content

shieldbearer's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I really liked this one more than I expected. The worldbuilding is superb, and the magic system is extremely interesting. However, loses points for a few unnecessary lines and the weird Vibes that were in the last confrontation with Kerrigor

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, and Death of parent

Moderate: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, and Slavery

Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Child abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Sexual content

Death- the entire book is centered around necromancy,

Spoiler

Sabriel dies at the beginning and end, her father dies, the officer from the start of the book, Touchstone describes the death of his Queen, many unnamed characters and slaves die,

, Violence- people are slashed and impaled, the army uses bayonets at one point, Child death-

Spoiler

Sabriel, at the beginning and end, though it doesn't take. Some of her classmates die. Unnamed children are implied to die as part of being used as bait.

Death of parent-

Spoiler

Sabriel's mother dies in childbirth, Sabriel's father dies at the end

Body Horror- some of the dead spirits have bodies or forms that are warped- mouths too wide, arms too long that drag, etc. Injury-

Spoiler

Sabriel gets bruised severely, stabbed through the stomach, Touchstone breaks a leg

Fire- a spirit in the form of flame appears a few times Confinement-

Spoiler

Touchstone is confined in a wooden figurehead

Slavery- a few scenes where the dead use living slaves or where humans force children to be their decoys when scavenging in the dead areas,

Spoiler

Mogget is enslaved by his collar

. Child abuse- aforementioned child slaves Sexual content- Sabriel admires a naked male and hears a couple having sex through the wall of her room Sexual assault- the

Spoiler

villain forces a kiss on Sabriel

Pregnancy- Sabriel's mother dies in childbirth at the start of the novel, Infidelity-

Spoiler

Touchstone is the bastard son of the Queen

Vomit- Sabriel feels she may vomit at one point Alcohol- characters consume beer Animal death- Sabriel feels an animal die, hunted by its natural predator Gun Violence-

Spoiler

the army combats the dead with guns

totallyshelfaware's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.25

It's been maybe eight years since I last read this and I still love it as much as I did then. And not even in an oh-my-i'm-swimming-in-a-sea-of-nostalgia way.

Okay, yeah, that too.

Sabriel is still as wonderful as I remembered. The magical system is still one of the best I've come across. Mogget is still as snarky and sassy as ever and this is only Book #1.

Between the Abhorsen Chronicles and Keys to the Kingdom, Garth Nix just wins all the awards for his world-building.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Death of parent, Gun violence, and Slavery

Minor: Trafficking