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jessthanthree's review against another edition
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Violence
Moderate: Torture, War, Child death, Animal death, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Bullying, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Classism
theespressoedition's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Murder
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Abandonment, and Self harm
beca_reads's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I ended up not finishing this book, it goes on for way to long and I found it oddly confusing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, and War
zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Death, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Grief, Stalking, and Suicide
Moderate: Gaslighting, Violence, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Bullying
Minor: War and Cursing
Saneismcana_merula's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The second book in this series takes the story to higher stakes. I love how the universe got expanded through the connection of the different worlds. The different plots were all interesting, even though some were more slow paced. The last two chapter broke my heart and this was the first in some time that I cried because of a book. I think that shows the writing skills of Philip Pullman and I knew this would be quite dark for a children's book, but I still wished for a more hopefull ending. But definitifly worth the read and I'm excited for the last one!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Kidnapping, Gun violence, and Death
Minor: War
beccasbookcase's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, and Torture
ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
“You ever spend any time among the witches?”
“Yes,” said Grumman. “And among academicians, and among spirits. I found folly everywhere, but there were grains of wisdom in every stream of it. Not doubt there was much more wisdom that I failed to recognize. Life is hard, Mr. Scoresby, but we cling to it all the same.”
Even though I still liked The Subtle Knife, it didn’t have a lot of what I loved so much about the first book—namely the specific world building that had been present in Lyra’s world. I also thought that this book felt a lot more quest-y than the first book, even though Lyra was definitely on a quest in Golden Compass, it didn’t have the same feel, perhaps because there was a stronger use of fate or destiny in this book along with seeking magical objects to fulfill prophecies, etc.
It’s also interesting that Pullman introduced a second main character of the trilogy in this book in the form of Will—a human from “our” world. I actually really liked Will, I sympathized with him a lot and liked his contrast with Lyra.
Something else I liked about this book were the dark academia vibes surrounding Lyra’s experience at the museum as well as her encounter with Dr. Malone. I really liked the story element connected to John Parry as well.
There were still some problematic elements carried over from the previous book. Neither Mrs. Coulter nor Lord Asriel got any more interesting or sympathetic. I still didn’t like a lot of the colonial themes and the white savior trope that continued in the character of Lord Asriel and to an extent in Lyra and Will….
There were also some choices Pullman made vis a vis the story’s plot in this book that left me confused…. especially regarding Dr. Grumman and the witch? Idk. I still liked the book (and the quote I quoted from it at the top of this review is one of my favorite quotes of all time now 🥰) but it just didn’t answer any of my questions leftover from the first book. Which is why I immediately started Amber Spyglass when I finished reading it even though that wasn’t my plan. 🤷🏻♀️😂
“It was difficult to tell them the truth when a lie would have been so much easier for them to understand.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Animal cruelty
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Death, Murder, and Mental illness
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