Review: Abhorsen

Title; Abhorsen
Author: Garth Nix
Genre: Fantasy, children's books

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:Orannis the Destroyer has been freed
And only Lirael, newly come into her inheritance as the Abhorsen-in-Waiting, has any chance of stopping it. She and her companions—Sam, the Disreputable Dog, and Mogget—have to take that chance. If Orannis’ unspeakable powers are unleashed, it will mean the end of all Life.
With the help of her companions and a vision from the Clayr to guide her, Lirael must search in both Life and Death for some means to defeat the Destroyer—before it is too late...

Sabriel was good, Lirael was really good, and Abhorsen was freaking fantastic!

I said this in my review of Lirael, but I wish I had read these books as a child. Somehow even though I didn't read them until I was in high school (Sabriel) and college (Lirael and Abhorsen), there is something about them that made me nostalgic for my childhood fantasy novels. Even though this reads very much like a children's book, there is surprising depth to the characters and you can tell that a lot of care went into constructing this story.

I never thought I would grow so fond of these characters that I would cry for them within the first few chapters, but that's exactly what happened. No spoilers from me, but Garth Nix tore my heart out many times in this book. I was crying from loss, relief, and love at different points in time, and I almost never cry when I read books. This has been changing though; I've been crying over characters more and more frequently this year as I turn to books to escape an increasingly stressful and upsetting "real life".

The disreputable dog and Mogget the magical cat are back and in better form than ever. As endearing as these two are, they are also incredibly frightening. You never know when they will unleash their true power, and when they finally do, it's truly epic. The most frightening aspect of this book was that the Necromancer was using an innocent child to further his evil agenda. It's one thing for the evil creatures to lurk in the shadows and stealthily make a move; it's another entirely to watch someone you know is good at heart be taken by darkness.

This was a satisfyingly epic conclusion to an amazing trilogy. I laughed and cried and felt like a child again, and it was wonderful.