Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

22 reviews

trollmila's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Self harm, Vomit, Stalking, and Car accident

monalyisha's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No

3.0

It’s been a while since I’ve read a YA novel; this one was more New Adult than YA, which suited me fine. I picked it up because the premise sounded, to me, like Buffy with booksellers (basically, booksellers patrol the Hellmouth). The fantasy focus in this was more fey than demonic (which isn’t typically my jam). Points added for the obvious Ursula K. Le Guin homage. Points detracted for the author’s weird obsession with the tv show The Professionals (is this just a weird British thing I don’t get?) & for falling into that fantasy-genre trap of too much plot/fighting, too little character/dialog.

I’ve read other reviews with comments to the effect of “there’s just something special about Merlin.” I don’t entirely agree. I think too much of his personality was devoted to his fashion obsession. My favorite characters were Susan and the even-handed booksellers. It’s possible that I’ll read the sequel…but it’s more likely that I’ll skip it.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Violence and Death of parent

pvbobrien's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Minor: Death of parent

ophycore's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Cursing, and Blood

Minor: Self harm

le3713's review

adventurous mysterious 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

3.75

This one lacked something for me. I was confused by the world building in a way that got in the way of me being gripped by the story's tension.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

macliffe's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cursing and Violence

Minor: Death of parent

minanonim's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Self harm, and Death of parent

norwegianforestreader's review against another edition

adventurous emotional lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

maidmarianlib's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

Amazing!  Love the characters and the world, so imaginative, could hardly put it down.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and War

claudiamacpherson's review

adventurous funny tense 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? Yes

Susan’s mom has always been a bit forgetful and has never been able to tell Susan about her father, so Susan decides to take matters into her own hands. When she visits her mom’s old friend (and mob boss) in hopes of help, she instead witnesses his death by hatpin and is whisked away from the scene by the handsome Merlin. With Merlin, Susan is plunged into the Old World, the layer beneath or New World, where all manner of creatures live and where she suddenly has many would-be murderers. She is protected by Merlin and the other booksellers: left-handed fighters and fieldworkers and right-handed scholars who protect humans from the Old World and its monsters.

As always, I love the mixture of folktales and mythology with modern life. I am particularly interested in the ancient sovereigns: beings that are like the personification of the places they rule over. I like the idea of the land as sentient and alive in that way, and I would love to read more stories that use this trope. The plot did feel a bit rushed, and I would have liked a bit more explanation and worldbuilding, especially about the booksellers. The story also occasionally felt like an advertisement for Penguin books; like, I get it, I like Penguin books too, but it really was a bit much, and don’t booksellers generally sell books from more than one publishing house?

Happy ending meter (no specific spoilers, just the vibe):

Happy! And definitely left room for a sequel...

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Drug use and Self harm