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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Reading this as an adult was an interesting experience, because I remember when the trilogy was popular as a kid and my mom didn't let me read it. The funny thing is that I have no idea how much my mom knew about it - whether it was the story's violence and implications about religion/the institutional church, or whether it was just little things like "demons" and "witches." As I read it, I kept seeing things that not only she wouldn't have liked, but also would have been shocking or heavy for me as a kid - so part of me is actually grateful I wasn't exposed to it, because I might not have had the maturity to deal with heavy questions, not to mention the surprising amount of violence and death for a kids' book.
Anyway, sheltered childhood reflections aside, I enjoyed the story. Somehow I managed to avoid spoilers for all these years, so I was pretty invested in the story and the stakes. The writing style wasn't what I expected - much more serious, gritty, and down-to-earth, when I think I expected it to be sort of whimsical or fantastical. I liked how the characters' dialogue and dialects were so colloquial and unpolished, giving a sense of being in a real, varied, coarse world. Plot-wise, I was annoyed by the final ending twist - a side character who got used as a plot device, with no development of their own... I felt like this character got a really unfair, raw deal just for the sake of the plot.
Also, a huge reason I had a fun experience was that I listened to the original 2003 audiobook, read by the author and a full cast. The voice acting was amazing and made it such an immersive experience! Probably the highest-quality audiobook I've ever listened to.
Anyway, sheltered childhood reflections aside, I enjoyed the story. Somehow I managed to avoid spoilers for all these years, so I was pretty invested in the story and the stakes. The writing style wasn't what I expected - much more serious, gritty, and down-to-earth, when I think I expected it to be sort of whimsical or fantastical. I liked how the characters' dialogue and dialects were so colloquial and unpolished, giving a sense of being in a real, varied, coarse world. Plot-wise, I was annoyed by the final ending twist - a side character who got used as a plot device, with no development of their own... I felt like this character got a really unfair, raw deal just for the sake of the plot.
Also, a huge reason I had a fun experience was that I listened to the original 2003 audiobook, read by the author and a full cast. The voice acting was amazing and made it such an immersive experience! Probably the highest-quality audiobook I've ever listened to.
I remember watching the film, The Golden Compass, when I was younger and not really enjoying. The absolute epitome of ‘the book is better than the movie’. Bought the second and third book within an hour of finishing this one.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
fast-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
adventurous
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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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
My dad really wanted me to read these and I love him so here we go. I don’t really like fantasy. Northern lights is written well and has a beautiful description, however, the magic system and the overall fantasy aspect is boring to me and I don’t really get it.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'm sorry but I hated this book. I should have DNF'd it and I almost did but I was already at 62% and figured I might as well finish it.
I will say that the second half was better than the first and that's why I decided to keep reading it. The second half was much more adventurous and had a lot more going on to keep you interested.
Unfortunately, the first half lacked a lot. I found it so boring and the info-dumping was not helping that either. There would be whole pages of just exposition about the world or something that I mostly tuned out and seemed unnecessary. The time jumping was stilted and just weird. Most of the time it took me a while to realize that months had passed between one event and the next. I was so confused if I wasn't completely bored.
The writing style is definitely not for me. With a children's book, you have to expect more telling than showing and I would have been okay with that, but then there was the info dumping, the pages and pages of exposition, and the basically nothing that happened throughout the first half that made me question why any of that was in the novel in the first place.
I feel like this would have been a lot better if we had gotten the whole hiding-in-the-closet-during-the-meeting thing as a prologue and then did a time jump to when the action actually starts, that would have benefited the novel as a whole.
I was also really confused about the fmc's characterization. She seemed super smart, like even smarter than some of the adults, but yet she's never gone to school or had a tutor or anything. There's no way a kid just knows stuff and can put connections together like she could without having some form of formal schooling.
Anyway, this one was definitely not for me and I know that it's pretty beloved so I'm an outlier here.
I will say that the second half was better than the first and that's why I decided to keep reading it. The second half was much more adventurous and had a lot more going on to keep you interested.
Unfortunately, the first half lacked a lot. I found it so boring and the info-dumping was not helping that either. There would be whole pages of just exposition about the world or something that I mostly tuned out and seemed unnecessary. The time jumping was stilted and just weird. Most of the time it took me a while to realize that months had passed between one event and the next. I was so confused if I wasn't completely bored.
The writing style is definitely not for me. With a children's book, you have to expect more telling than showing and I would have been okay with that, but then there was the info dumping, the pages and pages of exposition, and the basically nothing that happened throughout the first half that made me question why any of that was in the novel in the first place.
I feel like this would have been a lot better if we had gotten the whole hiding-in-the-closet-during-the-meeting thing as a prologue and then did a time jump to when the action actually starts, that would have benefited the novel as a whole.
I was also really confused about the fmc's characterization. She seemed super smart, like even smarter than some of the adults, but yet she's never gone to school or had a tutor or anything. There's no way a kid just knows stuff and can put connections together like she could without having some form of formal schooling.
Anyway, this one was definitely not for me and I know that it's pretty beloved so I'm an outlier here.
Still brilliant. Always nice to see that an old favorite holds up as an adult.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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:
No