Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Sabriel by Garth Nix

63 reviews

arthur_dragon's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark hopeful tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Fantastic read, a really unique take on fantasy zombies with established rules that you learn as you go. Magic,(good and bad), the dead, creatures of indeterminable origin. The main character uses the powers of a necromancer for good. High recommend.
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eleanorjpm's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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erikajoy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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trintrin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

The most paradoxical book ever. So very interesting, yet so very boring. The writing is good, and simultaneously bad. Decent plot, unimpressive characters. Intriguing world building, bland romance. Binge it for several hours, forget about it for months on end.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been reading it for a long, long time. Maybe it’s the excessive praise people have for the series, creating an unrealistically high expectation. Maybe it’s got to do with the author’s fascination in describing Sabriel’s breasts and nakedness at every opportunity. But I can’t really see what makes people rave about this series to this extent.

I wanted to love the book, I really did, but it failed to click with me. There are plenty of fantasy novels out there with better characters, writing, world-building, and romance. The characters were one-dimensional and their motives were unclear. The protagonist keeps swaying from knowing nothing about anything and having zero experience, to beating every hurdle in the path and every force of evil ever. Because destiny. The writing felt like it was trying too hard to be intimidating that it came off as condescending at times. The world building was such a near-miss. Why create something as intriguing as necromancy and Charter magic and the thing with the bells, only to thrust the reader into it instead of explaining it properly? The “romance” that came out of nowhere can barely be called a friendship. Acquaintances at best.

I can acknowledge it’s probably because this book was written in the 90’s where there weren’t too many fantasy books with a female main character and romance, but is that a valid excuse? Shouldn’t a good book stand the test of time, regardless of when it was written?

Audiobook is great, though. For that, and for the fact that I have a cautious hope that it will get better with the next book, I’ll nudge the rating up a star.
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booksemmahasread's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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briely's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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kasaya_mt33's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Sabriel comes from a respected line of necromancers who are called Abhorsen. Instead of raising the dead, the Abhorsen puts them to rest, sending the spirits beyond the many gates of death. 
The world is unique & interesting and the book has no smut etc which I appreciate. Can't wait to read the rest of the series. 

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businesswife's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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wharj's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

The worldbuilding, atmosphere, and overall vibes of this book are so unlike any other I've read and in a way that makes me disproportionately enjoy it. It feels a bit like Dark Souls meets His Dark Materials and probably a few other things that I'm missing.
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mageofvoid's review against another edition

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

3.0

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