Just One More Chapter

Sabriel, how I truly wanted to adore and praise you but alas, it wasn't meant to be. There were moments of awesome...Hello Mogget!!...alongside long stretches of...YAAWWNN...complete boredom....then there was Mogget again YAY! The hubby and I listened to this book and the narrator was quite good...especially the voice of....you guessed it...Mogget. Anyway, let's back up and give some context. In this world there are MANY MANY creatures that go bump in both day or night. Amongst the magically borne creature folk there are Necromancers (dark magicians who bring the Dead back to life with hopes of wreaking havoc and causing general mayhem in the Old Kingdom) and then there are Abhorsen (Necromancer from a specific familial line that makes sure the Dead go back to being worm food). There are more than just zombies that populate this world and the person that is Abhorsen at the time (in this book that is primarily Sabriel) must deal with them all...no pressure. Well Sabriel was thrown into this monster mix without any training and no one to guide her except for the awesomely aloof, oft times sarcastic, sometimes vicious, always cryptic Free Magic cat named Mogget. He was a large part of why I enjoyed the book at all. Sabriel herself was a 2 dimensional, unrelateable character who constantly encountered a Monster then (rather easily) defeated said monster, encounter another then defeat...rinse, wash, repeat...UGH!!! THAT was a large reason I was so harsh with the rating. This book, listed as middle grade level, could have easily been a 4 star book but the similarity of the scenarios Sabriel faced was unnerving/infuriating and it made me check and recheck my player to see if the book was stuck on regurgitate mode. None of the characters were deep, satisfyingly complex or humanly (or other being-ly) flawed. The magic system was very interesting and the overall premise was undeniably unique... a HUGE star bumping attribute. If only the characters were as complex as the Magic system. Overall this book has NO foul language, there IS action, the premise is provocative, the heroine is pretty quick witted and is a quick learner. I will be moving on to book #2, Liriel, not only because the hubby thinks I am being too harsh with Sabriel but mainly because the new book will take place in the same world but revolve around different people. Sounds like a win win. I'll let you know.