Garth Nix is always a winner for me and this one was no different! A great cast, his usually amazing plot, and a quick read!

The beginning took a bit of getting used to. The descriptions of places, people and clothing were... extensive. But once the story got going, it went off, this world begs to be explored further in more books. First of all, when we talk about bookstores or booksellers, I listen carefully. There were some things that were reminiscent of Mortal Instruments, but the story and the plot are completely separate. I would recommend this thought to students who love that series. I loved the description of the headquarter/shop of this organization that sails between two worlds to protect London. The booksellers' hierarchical system is interesting and strangely done. Regarding the characters and the story itself, I was captivated by the dynamism of the events and I felt sympathy for our trio: Susan, Merlin and her sister Vivien. They have only known each other for a short time, but a fairly strong friendship binds them from the start. It is easy and quick to read. It's been a long time since I had such a good time reading. And I'm looking forward to the release of the second volume.

This was my first book by Garth Nix. It was a fun story that features neat characters. It sort of has that found family theme, which is something I always enjoy, but with an air of mystery.

A light fantasy read dealing with British folklore and legends. Was a lot different than other nix books I’ve read but still fun.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book so much! Great characters and world building. I was surprised often, and that doesn’t happen much these days.

'The Left-Handed Booksellers of London' by Garth Nix is a fun quirkly paranormal romp. The world is richly built and the story is fun!

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix is a young adult historical fantasy standalone novel. The story in this one is set in 1983 making it historical but is a alternate version of history in the city of London.

Susan Arkshaw has been working to track down just who her father is not having ever known the man. Susan has made it to London and found a man, Frank Thringley, she thinks may know something when that man is struck down into a cloud of dust before her very eyes. This is when Susan is pulled into a whole world of magic she never knew existed.

Being someone who normally loves to find an action packed adventure while reading I was surprised to find I didn’t end up enjoying this one more as it was one long adventure story. However, the book seemed to get off to a very slow start, one in which it felt as if dropped right into the middle of something. I think that for me if this one had a smoother start I would have been pulled in quicker but instead once the story flowed at a better rate I was just kind of so-so on the characters and adventure making this one just an ok read.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

An easy to read, enjoyable, solid 4-star offering! This is my first book by Garth Nix, and I really enjoyed the writing style and world-building. This story features a young woman, Susan, and the magical bookseller Merlin, who come together to solve dual mysteries about their pasts that end up being related. I thoroughly enjoyed the alternative London setting and the take on the handed booksellers. I actually would love to read more of this world and these characters.
The only misses for me were that the story seemed to drag at certain points and then rush during others, that the violence and cursing became a bit over the top, and some of the events were off putting in that they were just too out there (the head scene in particular I thought was just a strange choice and could have been much better done).
Overall, highly recommended as a unique read!

I love all of this authors work, but wasn’t sure what to expect of this new world. I connected immediately with the setting and characters, and wanted more!

Having enjoyed some of Nix's other series, I was excited for this one. I liked it, possibly more than Abhorrsen.

I haven’t read much by this author and I probably won’t after this book. His writing style feels more adult. It plodded along and did a lot more telling than showing. I won’t get this book for the library.

In an alternate version of 80s London, Susan Arkshaw stumbles into a world of magical booksellers who police the borders between the mythical Old World and the modern world.

I loved the world and characters, but there was a lot of setup and background information that sometimes pulled me out of the story and got in the way of meaningful plot movement. That said, once the back story was really established, the second half of the book has me glued to the pages.

Overall this was a fantastic book -- I think there is a lot of potential to explore this rich world at a more leisurely pace through a series or companion novel.

As a left-handed lover of magical reads, I looked forward to seeing how a story could potentially replace some of the old wive's tales about southpaws and their proclivities. What I got in this was more of the same old magical schtick which left me underwhelmed and unwilling to read past the 15% mark. Better luck next time?

Susan Arkshaw has turned 18 and headed to London to try to find her father. Her mother is a little spacy and doesn't give Susan much info to help in the search so she is left with just a postcard from a "friend" of her father's. Before Susan can gather more information she is confronted by a young man who informs her of danger and helps her escape to where she is introduced to the Left-handed Booksellers who will protect her on her search.

Several items in this book bothered me. First, even though it is science fiction, I felt that it was a bit too graphic and frightening in some areas for the younger readers (It frightened me in spots!) and second, it was hard to follow in some areas. I felt that it could have stood a little more editing.

Disappointing for a fan of Garth Nix.

Garth Nix is always a win in my book and he knocked it out of the park yet again with this one! Merlin was such a swoon-worthy character, made even more so by his gender fluidity -- something I haven't come across often in YA. Move over Mr. Darcy, Merlin is my new book crush now!

I feel dissapointed. I expected more from this book after all the hype and glowing reviews. It wasn't a bad book in anyway. It had a unique plot and it was very much "go go go" from the first page but I just feel "meh" about it.

This book reminded me of the Jackaby and Monstrumologist series. We follow a quirky group of characters around the streets of London finding out mythical beings are real and left handed and right handed booksellers are our worlds protectors. It was a light, fun adventure with way more literary references than I could follow. Lovers of books, magic, and London will enjoy this story with its surprises and episodic encounters.

How do I even begin to explain my feelings on this book?

The left-handed booksellers of London, which is a really ridiculously long title, is the story of Susan, a young girl who goes to London in search of her father. The year is 1983 but this is an alternate London to the one we know. There is a group of people called booksellers. They are divided up into two different classes, left-handed and right-handed, according to their abilities and where their power comes from. Here we have a London that is full of different kinds of magic. We have the old world still influencing things going on. Then we have this young girl Susan who's thrust into the middle of this world that she doesn't completely understand, but might be a part of in a way she never knew.

I do have to say I absolutely adored the premise of this book. We have these magic wielders who use bookselling as a way to ground themselves. At one point in the book, they talk about how books anchor the soul. So I really love how books played a huge role in this story. But it wasn't as big as I wanted it to be. We didn't actually get to see a lot of the actual foundations of the booksellers.

We got a lot of information dumped on us very rapidly, in various different sections of the book. Which made it feel a little bit too much info-dumpy, but a lot of this information had to be dumped in order for you to actually understand what is going on. This book has a wild whimsy feel to it that if some of this information wasn't given, it could be very easy to get lost in all of the different twists and turns this book decides to throw at you.

It does have a very very dry sense of humor. Which if you do not enjoy that, you probably will not enjoy this book. It has a little bit of a feel of a mix between 'Alice in Wonderland' and 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. I think it's that British humor that is playing up to that Hitchhiker's side of it. And then it has this whimsical old world, pulling into all of these magical creatures and all these magical systems in a way that is very in your face.

This book just doesn't let you catch your breath at any point. It's constantly moving and there's constantly these really bizarre things happening. Merlin and Vivien, his sister, who are both booksellers, are constantly telling Susan what is going on and why.

I did enjoy where this book went and all the things that it covered in Susan's drive to find her father, however, I struggled to actually enjoy how the characters were written and how things progressed. There were a lot of times where it was too much too quickly and it never really gave you time to feel the build-up of Susan in finding her father and learning all of this information. It just slaps you in the face with all of it. I wanted to go on the journey with Susan but I wasn't given the chance. I was just given - "Hey all of this happened. it's a thing".

so do I dislike this book? No, I liked it for what it was. I just wanted to be involved more in the story than I actually got to participate. It was a very quick read, though at the beginning I struggle to get through it because you do have all this new stuff thrown at you and you have to try to catch up to where this world exists. But overall it was an okay read.

I really enjoyed this read. I loved following these characters around London and England without all the technologies we rely on today. This is my first read by the author but the characters were easy to relate to. I truly hope this ends up having a companion book. I would read it in a heartbeat