Smooch!

Pose inspo from theposearchives

The Left-handed Booksellers of London, by Garth Nix

Sorry to any Garth Nix fans (*Marina is weeping in the background*) but we have bad news: We didn’t all finish this book because, in four words, we didn’t like it. Here’s a brief summary of why.

Ariadna: If you have read other Fa3 before, you know me: the roast queen *insert The Office gif*. But I feel this one is going to be a… different roasting. It doesn’t appear to be so blatantly bad as The Guest List’s plot, but I just couldn’t bring myself to finish it. Actually, I only got to half of the book. I started reading it weeks ago in hopes of finishing it soon and starting with The Light Brigade (I got it for this year’s Book Day and couldn’t get my hands on it till last week). My first thoughts were “wasn’t this a young YA book? Why does it seem like a Middle Grade?”, and second “how come I can’t even finish one page without losing track.” I kept reading the same pages over and over again ‘cause I kept getting distracted. Having read half of the book, one may think I had gotten at least what the book is about. Well… Yes, the main character finds herself right in the middle of a fantasy “scuffling” because of who her unknown father is… and that’s it! We don’t know what else is going on or why are there two different types of booksellers or even what is it that they do! But, mind you, I’ve read 5 pages of the main characters going through a book shop (which I read in a tenth of the time, because I skimmed it as a nutritionist with her breakfast latte, if you know what I mean). They even feel the presence of a veeeeery bad evil being (highlighted by the characters themselves) which… disappears and reappears some scenes later and is not that of a big deal? And the romance.. Oh god, haven’t read such a cringe-y romance in YEARS. Characters just met and they start being jealous and having “naughty” (cuddling or kissing) thoughts after just ONE day? COME ON! I don’t know if it is the plot, the writing, the characters or a trail mix (in your face, skimmed-milk nutritionist!) of all of them, but this book was a massive no for me from the first pages: too messy, too childish, too over the place. Bad, bad decision, very disappointing. Sorry, Garth Nix, 2/5 stars.

Alicia: My opinion in these folie a trois is usually the most neutral one of the three, I think. I am not one to hate books. I always try to look for the bright side. Even if I am aware of their flaws, I excuse many things in novels for the sake of my overall feelings about the story. It does take a lot for me to completely abandon a book, I usually just put it off for a while and end up finishing it at some point sooner or later. I don’t like starting a book and not finishing it. So, here’s the thing. I didn’t finish this book, but also wouldn’t mind it if I never got to finish it. And I am here to explain why.

While the plot seemed very interesting prior to actually reading the book, once I started actually reading it it felt a bit too chaotic for me (at least to the point where I left it off). It kind of didn’t make sense to me, felt a bit rushed and poorly elaborated. Not that I was expecting it to be extremely realistic, I knew it wouldn’t be, but even in fantasy things need to add up. For me, it didn’t. I think I just didn’t quite enjoy the writing style of the author as much as I thought I would. The characters were quite charming, I got to admit that, but the development of the story left me a bit underwhelmed.

For me it wasn’t particularly hard to read, that was not the issue. I read the chapters quite quickly and could probably finish it fast if I put my mind to it. But that’s the thing, what was hard for me was to find the motivation to read the book. I just felt no urge to grab the book. It was entertaining but nothing more, not a book I would choose if I had others around. I have read quite a bunch of fantasy books, used to be my favorite genre growing up, so I have seen plenty. I need something new, something good and exciting and addictive. This was not it. I have very little free time these days and I don’t invest all of it in books, truth be told. Netflix is not going to watch itself. So, for me to spend my free time reading a book, the book has to be worth it. I need a story that captivates me and makes me want more, an intriguing story that doesn’t leave me unimpressed and wanting to read it quickly to get it over with. I want a book that I can’t put down to the point of choosing the book over sleep. I don���t think this book was it and that’s enough reason for me not to read it or even recommend it.

Marina: I actually did finish the book, read the whole thing, and boy oh boy do I regret it! First of all, if while you’re reading a book, at any point, you’ve asked yourself “are chips a good dinner option for today?” instead of actually reading I have news: that book is not doing it for you. I found myself constantly distracted, re-reading sentences and trying to follow the narrative. It’s not just that it’s a jumbled mess of plot-twists but also it felt rushed and slow at the same time. How? you may ask, simple, sometimes it felt like the characters were jumping/rushing through the different narratives/actions, while others dragged on forever. Example: what is supposed to be Merlin and Susan “falling for each other” (which btw didn’t make sense to me) is summarized in a couple of lines of flirting from the characters and Susan being emotionally constipated; while the whole “who is your dad” bit dragged on forever, and may I add it wasn’t even that relevant to the plot, just a means to move things along because, again, it was super slow. Sure, I was surprised by some of the plot twists that were presented throughout the book but by the end of it, it felt like a mess and I just wanted to skip to the ending.

So, in summary, this book made me wish we’d chosen a different one for this month’s discussion because I expected something else. I expected magic and adventures, what I got was some little shows of whatever power the booksellers have and a weird (YA) romance in the middle. I’m sorry, but I will not be recommending this book to anyone. And that hurts me because it makes me look back on the Abhorsen saga and think: was it really as good as I thought when I was younger or was I just an inexperienced reader? Whatever it might be, I won’t be reading it again anytime soon after the fiasco that was this book.