Goldenhand: Old Kingdom, Book 5

Magical creatures and grotesque dead creatures attack in tense chase scenes and battle scenes. The living fight back with arrows and swords. Some of the good side die from falling off cliffs, drowning in a tidal wave, and getting hit with arrows. A foot is amputated after an arrow goes through it, and a man almost dies of loss of blood. Two women, called Abhorsens, travel into death as part of their dangerous job managing the dead with constant doubt about whether they will be able to get back to the living world again. Among the bad element, a throat is slit, minds are controlled and compelled to fight, a magical creature is shot through the eyes with arrows, and a man is pinned by swords to his throat and then killed. There's talk of how each tribe in the north offers a teen girl to a greater dead creature; if the dead creature doesn't select that teen as a host body, she is sacrificed.

Kissing in many scenes with a few mentions of desires to have sex and mentions of a garden where an all-female group of Seers called the Clayr meet with men to consummate relationships.

"Damn" repeated a few times in the same stressful scene.

Wine with dinner where it seems everyone partakes; Lirael is almost 20. Several glasses of wine served at a meeting. A man packs a tobacco pipe.

Parents need to know that Garth Nix's Goldenhand is the fifth novel in the Old Kingdom series that includes the Abhorsen Trilogy (Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen) and the prequel Clariel. It's helpful to read at least the Abhorsen Trilogy, as well as a story called "Nicholas Sayre and the Creature in the Case" from the collection Across the Wall: A Tale of the Abhorsen and Other Stories. Without that background readers won't understand who the major characters are (save one) and what's happening in this magical world where people called Abhorsens use Charter Magic to fight evil Free Magic. Abhorsens -- two strong female characters here -- wield bells that help them walk in death and return to the living, but there's always a danger that they won't come back. In this sequel, magical creatures and grotesque dead creatures attack in tense chase scenes and battle scenes. The living fight back with arrows and swords. Some of the good side die from falling off cliffs, drowning in a tidal wave, and getting hit with arrows. A foot is amputated after an arrow goes through it, and a man almost dies of loss of blood. Other mature content includes a bit of wine drinking and kissing with talk of the desire for sex.