Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

29 reviews

asmallgremlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Subtle Knife - the one I normally forget - is actually pretty damn good! The plots are more varied than Northern Lights and they are quite well balanced throughout - I felt the plot development of Lee trying to find Grumman was the quickest plot but this was still balanced and the witches plot was interesting as well. Lyra and Will’s plot of exploring Citagazze and learning about each other and the reader’s world was well written and interesting - and generally I really enjoyed this book’s plots! 

lee’s death is heartbreaking and John Parry’s betrayal is not very out of character

 

Loved nearly all the characters save for Lord Boreal - he was a bit weird. Lovely to see Mrs Coulter again - she’s such a fascinating woman and so evil! I love Mary Malone and I have always loved Serafina, and Lyra remains my favourite character. I thought her development from a streetsmart stubborn girl to a girl in an alien world was interesting - since our world and Citagazze are so different to hers. Will was characterised very well - he is smart and rational and a protector - and I enjoyed his developing friendship with Lyra.

The commentary on religion was less heavy handed than I had anticipated - this book is more about innocence and consciousness than religion I would argue. I look forward to the next book.

when they kill god because of COURSE they do

Would give this 5 stares (unexpectedly) and would recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Mental illness, and Violence

abby_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

📱
This was an enjoyable good. This book was a little darker. I felt this book was like less focused on character and plot development. There was more worldbuilding. I had difficulty falling the plot lines and characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, Religious bigotry, War, and Body horror

Minor: Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Kidnapping

jadziaaudrey's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Death of parent, Death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Kidnapping, Bullying, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

aliteraryescape's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent and Blood

Minor: Suicide and Death

orchidlilly's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Grief, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Animal death, Gaslighting, Violence, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Misogyny

Minor: Medical content, Ableism, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Torture, Classism, Abandonment, Dementia, and Death of parent

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

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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

hedsek's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

Again, super cool world and story but pretty bad dialogue and relationships. I rated it a bit lower than the previous book because I really think Lyra went downhill as a character. She was a pretty strong female lead and now she mostly just listens to Will which is a pity. Still, love the religious themes and such.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Child death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death, Gun violence, and Mental illness

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Abandonment, and Self harm

jonsnowsmanbun's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.5

„Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.“

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Torture, and Death of parent

teri_b's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Reading/Listening to The Subtle Knife for the second time made me love this book even more.

It holds so much depth and raises so many question.

It is truly one of the books I feel everybody should read at some point in their lives.

Loved the rendition of the author as narrator and a full cast for the various voices. Very well done and an absolute joy to listen.

I got my copy from the local library, and am ever so thankful for them for having such wonderful books available.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Mental illness, Death, and Blood

Moderate: Abandonment, Gore, Grief, Murder, Physical abuse, and Confinement

Minor: Death of parent