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kimel_reads's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty
montereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
However, on its own merits, the book is in many ways lacking. Alice is spirited, but doesn’t really contribute anything to the journey except childcare, a kind of pigeonholing I didn’t expect from Pullman after as phenomenal a protagonist as Lyra. This irritated me throughout, as she had such potential. Beyond that, the purpose of the whole narrative relies entirely on who Lyra is established to be in the central trilogy. I’m not sure what reading this is like if you aren’t already invested.
Overall, seriously worth the read for big fans of HDM. However, if you’re new to Pullman and wondering if his more recent work is the better place to start, I don’t think I recommend these.
Graphic: Blood, Animal cruelty, Murder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Child abuse and Rape
tifftastic87's review
- 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
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Police brutality, and Child abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault, Classism, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Torture, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Blood
Minor: Sexual content, Gun violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Animal death, Racism, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, and Rape
marioncromb's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Sexual violence and Child abuse
cowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
It's been a while since I read His Dark Materials, but I absolutely love this return of the universe. It's obvious how Malcolm Polstead influenced Lyra's subconsciousness.
However, I must admit that this book starts off so incredibly with so many amazing areas to explore, and it really raises your expectations on the story-to-come, but in the second half most of these things are pretty much just dropped? The League of St. Alexander, for example, was something I really really liked and wanted more explored in the book.
I have to leave off a note on how amazing the names in this book are, though. I will never seize to fall in love with Pullman's choices on character names. Malcolm, Asta, Asriel, Sophonax, Pantalaimon, Coram van Texel??? So sexy. Not to mention the beautiful image of the Trout you get in the first chapter—with the terrace over the water and the two peacocks.
I absolutely recommend this book.
Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, Murder, Self harm, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, and Stalking
Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Animal death, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, and Child death
Minor: Cursing
erinwolf1997's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, and Confinement
Minor: Child abuse, Self harm, Gun violence, and Alcohol
the_pysselfia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking
twhin's review against another edition
4.0
Minor: Child abuse
lowercasenospaces's review
4.75
Pullman has thrown me back into the world of His Dark Materials without relying too much on previous characters or tropes (other than young, adventurous, independent protagonists).
I loved how he threw some new character descriptions in which (deliberately?) go directly against how they were portrayed in the 2007 film.
Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, and Sexual assault
literallyerin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Pedophilia and Child abuse