Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Northern Lights: Bolvangar by Philip Pullman

18 reviews

cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? No

5.0

This is one of those books you can read at any age, and you will most likely get something different from it each time.
Both the story line, the characters and the world are so complex and well build.
While it is entertaining it is also quite dark - all in all I loved it!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jolineliest's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wildflower09's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

whimsicalish's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I had fun reading this one. I certainly would have enjoyed this when I went through my fantasy teen years. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jadziaaudrey's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

vegabela's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

abby_can_read's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous 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

3.0

📱
This was an enjoyable book. I think the characters are well-developed. The story started off strong and the ending was weak. I do plan to read the other books in the series. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

epellicci's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

moonchildjuli's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

theespressoedition's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Welp, don't expect me to spell a single name correctly in this review because I listened to the audiobook (which was phenomenal, by the way. I'll get to that). If anything, I may just avoid using character names altogether so I can skirt around inevitable embarrassment.

This story was truly a masterpiece! It has been recommended to me countless times, but I never picked it up because of the age range that it's geared towards. I'm not typically a fan of middle-grade books. However, if that's been holding you back from reading this, let me assure you that you have nothing to be concerned about. It's an ageless book (reminiscent of The Chronicles of Narnia) and if no one had told me that it was MG, I would have never known.

Our protagonist is such an interesting character. She's bold and fearless and a little bit brash - as children can be. There's something so incredibly lovable about her from the minute she first walks onto the page. In fact, that's really how I felt about most all of the characters (of whom you're supposed to like, of course). They're a mismatched pack of cast-outs, orphans, daemons, warriors, and then some. It's impossible not to root for them as they go on their adventure.

The book felt as though it had 3 books in one - and it sort of did. It had a few parts to it, but each part read like a separate installation into the story. This was really interesting to me. It could've been broken up into multiple books and I wouldn't have felt like I was missing something. However, though the book was quite long, it was never dull. The action kept it going and even during the slower moments, I didn't feel myself losing interest, which is an impressive feat on the book's part.

If you have the opportunity to, I do strongly recommend the audiobook. It has a full cast and is narrated almost like a group of people sitting around and just gabbing their story. It's very easy to forget that you're "reading" and become almost overly involved in the plot. I'm really glad that I used this format because it really was an incredible experience!

I can't wait to read the sequel to find out what happens next.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings