Book Review: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

 

Title: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London

By: Garth Nix

Genre: Paranormal

Pages: 416

Release Date: September 22nd, 2022

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Rating: ★★★☆☆

 

Summary from Goodreads:

A girl’s quest to find her father leads her to an extended family of magical fighting booksellers who police the mythical Old World of England when it intrudes on the modern world. From the bestselling master of teen fantasy, Garth Nix.

In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn’t get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.

Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.

Susan’s search for her father begins with her mother’s possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.

Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan’s. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.

 

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Review:

I'm sad this is a Garth Nix Book.

I love Garth Nix. I've said it time and time again that his books got me into reading, but this book was a little boring for me. I found it hard to stay with the story and it took me a while to get through.

Not saying that writing wasn't wonderful, because Nix has an amazing way with words, but I think it was the long drawn out storyline. It seemed slow paced and the characters unremarkable. This just goes to show, No matter how much you love an author, they don't always write something you are going to like.

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