Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

29 reviews

cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

While this book had me crying, wishing it would end differently I can honestly say that I thought at was a great conclusion to the series!
My few points of criticism:
1. At times it felt INCREDIBLY long - there were a lot of ends to tie which resulted in so many povs.
2. I kind of lost Lyra a little bit. I get that her development is an integral part of the story, but sometimes it felt that she had changed completely instead of evolving.
3.
The sub-plot of Lyra and Will’s love story. Personally it just felt so weird to me when they were only 12 years old. I think it would have worked just as well if it had been a platonic kind of soulmate.


(Also, not necessarily a bad thing, just be aware before reading that this is definitely one big criticism of religion - especially Christianity, but also religion generally )

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ladythana's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5


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thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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deliriah's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25


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gentle_garbage_baby's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The His Dark Materials trilogy is one of the best book series I've ever read. Literally had me sobbing by the end. So engaging and entertaining. Would recommend it to anyone to read.

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bones_jackson's review against another edition

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

3.0

Foi um desfecho até que bom, mas muitas coisas foram apressadas ou simplesmente jogadas lá, como se tivesse sido uma ideia de última hora. Parece que o autor criou um monte de seres só para se encaixar no plot, e ficou muito forçado. O relacionamento da Lyra e do Will foi muito apressado e súbito. 

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fjerda's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Pullman’s writing is concise and gorgeous: lush in the extreme. Lyra and Will pull on my heartstrings deeply. A very well executed finale. 

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corrin_takara's review

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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elenaluisa's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? No

4.5


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brycestevenwilley's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Lots of unorganized thoughts. I'll extend this as I add more:

  • it's very good
  • it's very cheesy
  • it does the "chosen one" and prohpecy thing a lot, which I'm not a fan of. But it didn't feel like it mattered as much to me as it normally does
  • the last paragraph of
    the battle scene, where Lee becomes part of the universe
    is one of my favorites of all time
  • it's very weird
  • I rated Subtle knife lower because it starts to introduce all of these weird plot points, almost too many, but Amber Spyglass really uses them well. It also adds some things that I think are unnecessary, but I'm willing to overlook some
  • the begining is slower than I remember, but the last half is such a wild ride
  • human / daemon / ghost split as the holy trinity is really clever, and ties in well with a lot of what is in the Golden compass
  • the amber spyglass itself really doesn't affect much; Mary never does anything to affect the plot, she just reports on what's happening with Will and Lyra. Story would be the same without it.
  • the thing I like most anout this book is that the plot and story is very complex, but the themes are simple. 
  • Much of it really does read like a myth or a folk story, where the details are replaceable, and the main points are extremely strong and iconic. That makes sense given how much of it is from bible stories like Paradise lost, and other misc myths and hero stories
  • somehow does the least with it's multiple worlds than other multiverse stories. Mainly a twin universe story, with a few side universes as well
  • father gomez was a mildly interesting thread with an extremely underwhelming ending. Literal angel ex machina, but no one even knows about it, and kinda makes it stupid
  • Metatron was interesting and built up to be intemidating, but was also dealt with stupid quickly. "He just really horny" is a waste of a character
  • Focuses on Will more, and I really wish that Lyra felt like she had more agency.
    She gets a little in the end, but, nothing compared to Will's entire 1/3rd of the book dedicated to just him

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