Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - The Secret Commonwealth

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman

96 reviews

nincrony1's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional sad 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

4.5

Lots and lots of thoughts on The Secret Commonwealth. Spoilers ahead as well - I recommend going in blind.

Phillip Pullman’s return to Lyra, first introduced in the classic Dark Materials trilogy, see her on an adventure fraught with darkness and difficult themes. This is most definitely a novel for those who grew up with the original books and have grown up. Lyra is now a 20-year old student, precocious as ever but in an intellectual way that is rubbing her daemon Pan the wrong way. And things kind of develop from there - I can only really bullet point my thoughts as I have a lot. Needless to say, I really enjoyed the book and can’t wait to see how it ends; for it does end on quite the cliffhanger.

The choice to have this novel explore the implications of Lyra and Pan separating following The Amber Spyglass is a stroke of genius. If there was going to be a late sequel to the series, I think picking up on this aspect makes sense and opens the world up even further. All the stuff involving the expansion of the daemons is fascinating, expertly handled and quite heart breaking
I loved its evocation of Europe, stretching from England to Turkey. The interconnected rail, the variety of cultures, it’s a peon to the place and perhaps in a way, a reminder of the disaster Brexit has robbed from us Brits
That said, the book doesn’t shy away from the refugee crisis modern Europe faces. This aspect is worked quite naturally into the story and serves as a backdrop to Lyra’s adventure as the Magisterium becomes even more totalitarian and expanding into aggressive capitalism
I liked La Belle Savage ok but I thought this one was much better. That said, the book does a good catching one up on the previous Book of Dust novel and I found myself enjoying the returning characters and locations, especially the pub that Pullman so thoroughly established in the last book.
That said, I wasn’t crazy about an aspect to Malcolm’s character. I’m curious as to how it will pay off but it’s just little creepy
This is a dark novel but it’s mature in its darkness. Some very bad stuff happens in the book but it’s never there for the sake of it. The book is about Lyra as an adult and part of that is being an out-spoken strong woman in a world dominated by men and how that can grind one down.
The depiction of Lyra has been controversial, some thinking Pullman used her as a mouthpiece for his thoughts on the state of the world. I think this is bad faith criticism. The plot is partly about Lyra seeing that the world is so much larger and complex than what Jordan has to offer. It makes sense that as a precocious questioning sort, and like anyone at that age in academia, would subscribe to challenging new schools of thought and how this might put a wedge in relationships. I suspect the character arc is Lyra reaching true maturity but we will have to wait and see
I think there might be one too many subplots but for the most part I enjoyed the espionage and secret societies of the plot.
Excellent prose as always. Pullman just has this ability to beautifully craft scenes and suck me in. I’ve been reading this fairly addictively

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francisfrancis's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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corvidcorvid's review against another edition

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I've listened to this book once before, and was extremely surprised and put off by the sexual assault (that I guess is not exactly "graphic" but is brutal) near the end. I feel it might be worse to read about, because, spoken, at least there's an urgency and a speed to it. It gives me the shivers even saying that.

I thought maybe I was remembering too harshly (relationship between main characters)

Malcolm's saying that he is in love with Lyra. But, no, I didn't imagine that Hannah, of all people, who knows that Malcolm first met Lyra when she was a BABY, blesses it by saying something like, "Once, maybe, it would have been inappropriate. But you're both adults!" Gross.

I'll keep my fond memories of His Dark Materials and I'll keep what I've taken from it, but I am not interested in reading the third of The Book of Dust if this is what Philip Pullman is doing with the characters.

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andibez's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

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sunandmoon's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

2.5

WHY PHILIP WHY do you absolutely want

your 30 something man to fall in love with 21yo LYRA, why did you think it was necessary for her to be assaulted

and then go about her quest almost like nothing had happened? Do you hate her and us that much?
What a disappointment after the beautiful book that was La Belle Sauvage.

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annir's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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rakkaussipsi's review against another edition

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This book broke my heart. I wish I never started it. Moving forward I will probably pretend that Lyra’s story ended with Serpentine.

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thewileyseven's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I'll say it: Malcom and Lyra being in love is super contrived and uninteresting. It's giviiiiiing Jorah and Daenerys vibes.

I think Pullman has deftly made the transition from YA to adult with the same characters, which is to be applauded. And I think Lyra's selfhood journey is a smart and realistic one. But I also agree with many of the critiques of this book. Timeline-wise, it feels as though the events of The Amber Spyglass must've been decades ago, when in reality it's been, like, eight years. It feels like the events of those books did absolutely nothing to change the world of Lyra's Oxford, which is bizarre.

Also, I half-agree with some of the discussion around Lyra's sexual assault on the train. Was it necessary? Probably not. But was it handled as badly as some have posited? I don't think so, no.

But despite these critiques, I'll absolutely be picking up the third book, if only because I can't stand not knowing how it ends.

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agoedken's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

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katethealmostgreat's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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