For once a book had an ending that I thought really delivered on the promises it made earlier on. The beginning and middle were rocky, especially compared to the first two books in the trilogy, but it was pretty good, especially for a book that is for kids (or at least teens). I appreciated the fact that Nix wasn’t explicit in detailing the “happily ever after” aspect of all the characters’ lives, and thought it was plainly obvious what would happen to them all, but I didn’t need to read it to feel satisfied. I think to have written any more than he had would have been to insult our intelligence.

The characters were very “middle school” or maybe early high school, but that’s who the audience is so I’m sure they appeal more to that crowd—the characters are whiny, self-involved and irrational, but still likable.

Warning: spoilers below.

This book was very strange in that it didn’t feel like the conclusion to a trilogy, it felt like another step. It was a good book, not the best, and raises just as many questions as it answers. What happens to Lirael and everyone else? Does she end up with Nick or Sam? Was this book named after her (the Abhorsen who turned out to be the Abhorsen-in-waiting after all) or Sabriel (who is hardly in it). Where is the disreputable dog going? Good triumphs, and all that, but why on earth do they bury the hemispheres together? Why not simply destroy them altogether or bury them very far apart from one another? Engrossing, but descriptions of the dead hands (which i guess are basically zombies) teeter on the edge of morbid fascination with titilating word play. Good book, though not the best ever, entertaining and worth a look-see at least.