Reviews with content warning for Child death - Northern Lights

This was a great, action packed read. I watched season 1 of the HBO show a year ago, without knowing much of the story at all. I really enjoyed it, but before diving into season 2 sometime this fall, I wanted to read the first book as a refresher. It really didn't disappoint!

Hard to believe so much was packed into this book. I'm pretty sick in bed this week, so this was a great way to pass the time and distract me from how bad I've been feeling. Very excited for more of this story!

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rory_o_rama's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious 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

5/5 🌟 purely because I was indulging my inner child.

It was a fun change of pace, an adventurous of a hyper-independent kid learning to accept help and form unbreakable bonds.

I may have shed some tears in the train while reading this, from the line “To fight is all I want. Come little dæmon”

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purlhaggard's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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hedsek's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Absolutely love the worldbuilding and the lore and most things about the story. The ways in which relationships between characters and dialogue are written is not great tbh, but the story more than makes up for it.

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bruinrocks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This is one of my favourite book series of all time, and the audiobook furthered my love for the series. The full cast brings the characters to life, in what was already an amazing story about a little girl on an adventure to save her best friend. On the way she meets many new friends, in the form of a giant bear named Iorek, and a Texan Aeronaut named Lee Scorseby. These two characters go on to become two of my favourite characters in all literature. The friendship between the two is made abundantly clear, and their dedication to Lyra is such a wonderful event to behold. Lyra goes through many hoops to make it to the North to save Roger. With an ending that could leave the book as a stand alone novel, but also propel it forward into the rest of the series I highly recommend this book and the following series to everyone. 5/5

Content Warnings

literarypenguin's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

5.0

This book was so magical and very interesting! It almost hooks you in right away and you are invested right off the bat!

The characters are what made this book shine to me! I love Lyra she was one of the best main characters I have read and her growth throughout the book was just lovely to see. She was feisty, had her own set of morals, would do anything for those she cared about, and was a perfect liar to her own and others' benefit. She truly does the impossible, she befriends a bear, she makes friends and allies with a group of traveling people and she rescues a group of children from a fate worse than death.

The idea of spirit animals and how they are almost like another half of your soul was a very well thought out idea. It was a refreshing take on the idea of spirit animals in a modern setting. How when you are a child your animal keeps shifting into different forms and when you reach the age of adulthood your animal stays as one form. A form that best represents who you are as a person and what your personality is like.

Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel are perfect villains and truly scary and dangerous. I think what made them more dangerous as they were normally looked upon as normal and brilliant people and others would think of them were never able to do something like this to anyone.

I think the author did a great job of discussing spirituality and science and how those two ideologies can clash and be dangerous if in the wrong hands. Like how the world in the Golden Compass is ruled by a governing body known as the Church by some and how they control the use of science and research on certain subjects. Also, science is seen as potentially dangerous and harmful if used incorrectly or selfishly needs.

This book was a wonderful experience and left much more to be revealed in the next book of the trilogy. I may have to read the second book to know what happens next!

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