Book Review: Clariel by Garth Nix

Clariel: The Lost Abhorsen by Garth Nix
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: October 2014
Pages: 400
Source: e-book from Edelweiss
For: Review
Series: Old Kingdom, Prequel

Summary from goodreads:

Sixteen-year-old Clariel is not adjusting well to her new life in the city of Belisaere, the capital of the Old Kingdom. She misses roaming freely within the forests of Estwael, and she feels trapped within the stone city walls. And in Belisaere she is forced to follow the plans, plots and demands of everyone, from her parents to her maid, to the sinister Guildmaster Kilp. Clariel can see her freedom slipping away. It seems too that the city itself is descending into chaos, as the ancient rules binding Abhorsen, King and Clayr appear to be disintegrating.

With the discovery of a dangerous Free Magic creature loose in the city, Clariel is given the chance both to prove her worth and make her escape. But events spin rapidly out of control. Clariel finds herself more trapped than ever, until help comes from an unlikely source. But the help comes at a terrible cost. Clariel must question the motivations and secret hearts of everyone around her - and it is herself she must question most of all.

Things I Liked:
Finally!  And I've forgotten pretty much everything about Sabriel and crew.  This book made me want to go reread all of those.  But I still fell into the whole world all over again.  I loved seeing the history of the abhorsens.  I loved the characters, though they had kind of an inevitable choices feel to them.  Like they would end up one way and there was no way it could be different.  Fated? I don't know.  It was a sad story.  I adore the magic and the way things are set up, even if I did pretty much forget everything I'd learned about the charter from before.  Such a great series.

Things I Didn't Like:
It was rather long and had a lot of extraneous detail, sometimes.  Also, very slow building.  Still, very well-written and hard to not enjoy :)

Read-alikes:
Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen by Garth nix

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none
that I recall :)

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: ->->
some

Overall rating: ****

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