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harlaw's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
nickiitay's review against another edition
2.0
There is way too much going on; daemons, angels, zombi’s, witches, specter’s, compasses, world hopping, dark matter, to the point where I don’t even know what’s happening to be honest. I would substitute the entire world hopping plot just to bring back the armoured bear.
A curse on my sister for buying me these books for Christmas and making me read them.
A curse on my sister for buying me these books for Christmas and making me read them.
greyemk's review against another edition
3.75
This is the kind of book that I love while reading it and then when I start thinking about it more I notice things with the structure/worldbuilding/etc that I take issue with. I did find the lore here very confusing, and I kept wondering why he didn’t keep the POV with Will and Lyra and have the other characters fill them in when they met again (it because they died) . However I’m still definitely going to finish the series as I’m having fun. The main characters are lovely and fun and I’m super here for the rest of their adventure
kcrouth's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent! i'm hooked. on to book 3, The Amber Spyglass
shamentha's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
cloneknight's review against another edition
4.0
Whoa...
Continuing my journey of the His Dark Materials trilogy with book number 2: The Subtle Knife. I absolutely loved the first book, and I really liked this one as well! It feels a lot more dense than the first one, which partly has to do with a bit of a switch. Lyra travelled to an all-new world at the end of the first book, but before that we catch up on a new character, who's world is a lot more like ours. As a result, a bit less time is spent on the world-building (although don't get me wrong, it's very much still there, just a little less) and instead we focus a lot more on the characters.
And the characters are awesome! We get entire chapters told from the perspective of who were side-characters in the previous book, all building up to a great event in the next book. This is very much the middle of the story, and though a lot of side-characters got their time to shine, and a new main character got the time he deserved, I would've liked to see a bit more of Lyra. Nonetheless, the story keeps moving and is engaging all the way.
The Subtle Knife is a more compact story compared to it's predecessor, which sometimes comes at the cost of world-building that made the first book so enjoyable and more insight in the main character, but there's still enough of that to have it be a very enjoyable read. I can't wait to see what happens next!
Continuing my journey of the His Dark Materials trilogy with book number 2: The Subtle Knife. I absolutely loved the first book, and I really liked this one as well! It feels a lot more dense than the first one, which partly has to do with a bit of a switch. Lyra travelled to an all-new world at the end of the first book, but before that we catch up on a new character, who's world is a lot more like ours. As a result, a bit less time is spent on the world-building (although don't get me wrong, it's very much still there, just a little less) and instead we focus a lot more on the characters.
And the characters are awesome! We get entire chapters told from the perspective of who were side-characters in the previous book, all building up to a great event in the next book. This is very much the middle of the story, and though a lot of side-characters got their time to shine, and a new main character got the time he deserved, I would've liked to see a bit more of Lyra. Nonetheless, the story keeps moving and is engaging all the way.
The Subtle Knife is a more compact story compared to it's predecessor, which sometimes comes at the cost of world-building that made the first book so enjoyable and more insight in the main character, but there's still enough of that to have it be a very enjoyable read. I can't wait to see what happens next!
bookishgenerations's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-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
4.5