Review of ‘The Left-Handed Booksellers of London’

Synopsis

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.

Review

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London has a lot going for it. Unfortunately, it just failed to keep this reader's attention.

Distracting Dialogue

The most significant things that did not work for me was the dialogue. The most distracting thing any author can do is use ellipses far too often. That is what happens here.

The dialogue is distracting and slows the pacing down drastically. It would be different if it happened here or there, given the circumstances of the plot, but it happens almost all the time when the characters are talking. After a time, it becomes distracting and tiresome.

Perhaps it just is a pet peeve of mine, but after a time, it made me lose track of what these characters were even discussing. This made it hard to connect to the characters and their dynamics in the long run.

Storytelling

There is no disputing Nix’s imagination here. It was a good story, and the overall storytelling was engaging. It follows Susan as she embarks on a journey to find her father only to get swept up in the fantasy that hides underneath London.

It has the old-world feel and delves into the fantasy that is kept in check by booksellers. It has a strong foundation to it and builds up at a proper momentum; if only the dialogue did not slow down the pacing of the story so drastically, I would have loved this novel.

Nevertheless, it is an imaginative story that gives the reader something worthwhile. It has the fantasy to keep the reader intrigued.

Characterization

However, the characterization faltered a bit. I wish I could say I loved the characters, but I did not. They have great style, Susan dressing like a punk rocker with her Doc Marten’s and Merlin with his gender-fluid attire seem like they would be incredibly interesting. However, it was, once again, their dialogue and dynamics that drove me to boredom.

When Merlin was not stuttering and stammering about, he was impressive, especially when it came to his flamboyant attire. However, Nix could have done much more with this gender-fluid character. Given the name Merlin, I expected more.

Merlin is the only memorable character. However, Nix does give Susan the right amount of growth, but she still is not as memorable outside of her Doc Martens.

Final Thoughts

I honestly thought I would love The Left-Handed Bookseller of London, but it ultimately fell flat with the overuse of ellipses and overall lackluster characters.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

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About the Author

Cynthia Bujnicki graduated from Emerson College with a BA in Writing, Literature and Publishing. She has always loved to read since she was a child. A contributing writer for YA Fantasy Addicts, she is also the Editor-in-Chief for Cyn's Workshop. She lives in sunny South Florida with her husband and son and their two cats, Mr. J the Kitten and Nyx.