Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Subtle Knife

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The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

19 reviews

epellicci's review

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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orchidlilly's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A fascinating sequel to an excellent beginning. This time, we get perspectives beyond Lyra's with more frequency, and I rather like being able to read the story from all sides. We end on a very compelling cliffhanger, ready to start the next book. My only complaint is that in this second part of the trilogy, Lyra loses a good bit of her charm and free will. It's a bit annoying to see Lyra immediately fall into an almost subservient role the second a male character comes into play. Where is that independence and determination that so greatly defined her in the first book?

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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I have to admit that while The Subtle Knife was plenty adventurous and certainly interesting, it didn't quite hold the appeal of the first installation in this series. I was missing something... and I'm still not sure what that something was.

Maybe it was the fact that Lyra wasn't the primary character that we followed? Instead, it was Will, who I didn't find particularly likable or interesting. I never really felt as though I had a reason to root for him, even though he had his fair share of struggles and emotional turmoil.

Maybe it was that Iorek wasn't even in this book at all. He was, hands down, my favorite character in The Golden Compass, so I missed him dearly - though I know it wouldn't have made much sense to have him in this story.

Maybe it was just that this book felt so disconnected from the first? There were so many questions and so much magic in the first book that I genuinely couldn't put it down. I was desperate to learn what happened next. With The Subtle Knife, I felt more like I was trying to rush through it to get to the end because it wasn't keeping my attention much at all. I don't know.

Not to say that it wasn't interesting at all. It was interesting and it was creative still. I didn't dislike it so much as I just didn't... like it. Ah, this is a bit confusing I realize. But at least it left us on a cliffhanger so I could anticipate the final book in the trilogy. My hope is that it will redeem how I felt about this one.

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