Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

25 reviews

sh543's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0


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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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

4.25

I love a silly and eccentric merlin!!  I enjoyed the character interactions and the world building!! The plot was a bit simple but flowed well and made logical sense. Keen to read the next one 

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helfire124's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Gripping story that had me laugh out loud at parts.

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tamara_joy's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-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

4.0


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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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

3.0

This started so well, but in the end, The Left-Handed Booksellers of London just left (pardon the pun) me a little cold.

Objectively, it is extremely well-written, and the world-building is (for the most part), very well done. I initially reveled in the world that Garth Nix created, the descriptions were so vivid it felt like I could visit the places described (particularly the
New Bookshop
). Nix's love for books and stories is also evident on every page, and I enjoyed all the sly in-jokes and authors that were oh-so-casually name-dropped. The action scenes were nicely paced.

The problem was with the characters - they were mildly amusing and witty, but that was about it  (although I did like the fact that Susan is an art student). I couldn't connect with any of them, or care too much about what happened to them. The
romance between Merlin and Susan also felt as if it were an afterthought because it was so barely there at all
. And while I initially enjoyed the descriptive details, it ended up slowing the narrative right down. And did I mention things just felt a little too Deus Ex Machina-ey at the climax?

This was an interesting but ultimately unsatisfying read, and I will probably not read the sequel. Sorry Mr Nix!

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amazelan's review against another edition

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

5.0

j'ai ADORÉ
ça faisait longtemps qu'un roman fantastique ne m'avait pas autant transporté, si j'en avais eu l'occasion je l'aurais lu d'une traite !

l'histoire est vraiment originale, + qu'un premier tome qui pose le décor, on part directement dans des péripéties pour percer des mystères et en découvrir d'autres.
les personnages sont réalistes, je les ai trouvé vraiment attachants (Merlin purée MERLIN).
la fin est peut-être un peu trop rapide, mais en même temps elle se clôt très bien, et j'ai hâte de pouvoir lire la suite !

le seul point négatif que je peux trouver à cette histoire c'est la place beaucoup trop importante/essentielle accordée à la police, franchement on aurait pu s'en passer et faire même mieux sans...

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nekoshka's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted fast-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

4.25

Omg this was so cute???
It does suffer from the usual YA problems like underdeveloped characters and a predictable plot, but otherwise it’s unexpectedly good. 
Susan, the MC, is very much the "chosen one" with special powers and special parentage but it’s not annoying and they don’t make her overpowered. And she’s punk!
Merlin is a delightful love interest. Loved the approach to his gender and how the fact that he’s questioning it doesn’t make him any less attractive, flirty and self-assured. Again, I would have loved a bit more elaboration on this topic, but maybe we’ll get it in the next book. 
I thought at first that the constant clothes descriptions would annoy me, but the ended up being a really fun detail. 
The worldbuilding is interesting but sparse. Not developed enough. 
Overall, very easy and light read. 

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pattyblom's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Story about Susan whose life is turned upside down after meeting Merlin. Very nice read. Diverse cast of people. Funny as well. 

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trollmila's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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


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ijustreallyliketrees's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-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

3.5

I probably would have loved this if I'd read it as a teen but as I am not a teen anymore this was just okay. Fun, but probably won't bother reading book 2 unless the library gets a copy.

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