Lirael by Garth Nix | book review

✧ This review is spoiler-free! ✧

Title: Lirael
Series: Abhorsen, #2
Author: Garth Nix
Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: April 21, 2001
Category: YA
Genre: fantasy
Pages: 487
My Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
Goodreads page

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Synopsis

Lirael has never felt like a true daughter of the Clayr. Now, two years past the time when she should have received the Sight that is the Clayr’s birthright, she feels alone, abandoned, unsure of who she is. Nevertheless, the fate of the Old Kingdom lies in her hands. With only her faithful companion, the Disreputable Dog, Lirael must undertake a desperate mission under the growing shadow of an ancient evil.

[ This synopsis was taken directly from Goodreads. ]

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Thoughts

I said in my review for Sabriel that I wasn’t sure if I was going to continue this series, but when I saw that my local library had the audiobook, I just threw caution to the wind and decided why the heck not?

I really liked Sabriel as a character, so when I realized that this book no longer follows her, I was kind of sad. Around two decades has passed since the events of the first book, and now we’re following Sabriel’s son Sam a girl named Lirael. While their stories are separate for most of the book, their paths eventually cross.

Much like with Sabriel, this was an okay book. It’s your average, no-frills, early 2000’s YA fantasy. It was a good story, but it wasn’t super exciting or anything.

Maybe I’ve just gotten used to today’s YA fantasy books, but the casual time jumps in this series is a little jarring. Like I mentioned before, Lirael takes place ~20 years after Sabriel. It also jumps forward five years in the middle of Lirael.

Overall, my opinion on this series is still the same. It’s a good story with an interesting world, but I still have books that I’m more interested in reading. I will probably read the next book, but it won’t be high up on my TBR.

TL;DR

✅ good, interesting story
➖ the series no longer follows Sabriel
➖ large time jumps you don’t normally see in YA books nowadays

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Rating

I give Lirael 3.5 stars!

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Stay awkward and amazing!