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mschwartz315's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
kaylamolander's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. What a disappointment after the first one. I don't like all the heavy handed Bible stuff. I mean, did every character just forget that Lord Asriel killed a child??? It seems to me that Pullman is making the argument that because people have done terrible things in the name of the Christian God, therefore, we should go around killing kids because God would tell us that's wrong, so it must be the right thing to do. Even Satanists don't go that far. Also, way less action than the first one and the way he referred to an 11-year-old girl as "Eve" and "the mother" just came across to me as creepy. It kind of feels like a completely different series from the first book. New worlds (which are boring), science instead of magic, no armoured bears, barely any Lyra, no reading the alethiometer... What's going on? (Way too much, imo - daemons, angels, dark matter, Dust, spectors, the Cold War, bad guys searching for Will, Mrs. Coulter, climate change, and on and on and on...) I'll grudgingly start the third one, but if it just continues on this "God is evil" diatribe, I'll DNF it because that's boring and base af. It's like Pullman decided that his hatred of Christianity is more important than fully developed characters. Malone and Dr. Charles, all the new kids - all pointless caricatures. Re-litigating the original battle between God and Satan? Goodness gracious. I mean, I'm not even Christian and I'm eye rolling.
th_written_off's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ellenmorgan's review against another edition
4.0
Still love these books, but I could do without the 20 seconds of dramatic music at the beginning of each chapter of the audio book.
sereia8's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning was slow, but I enjoyed the introduction of a new character, Will, a twelve-year-old boy from another world who becomes the knife-bearer. I can't wait to see how this series resolves.
zshadow126's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
3.5
beryboy43's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
laerugo's review against another edition
5.0
i had a really good time with this book - the characters are fresh, the dangers are real, and there's an even give-and-take of sides clashing as the heroes won and lost at a realistic pace. the connection to the characters that i was missing in the first book hit hard in this one; i found it easier to care about what happened to them when pullman shows his audience just how massive this battle is and what the stakes are. i think this has to do with his focus on other characters beyond lyra, who still makes mistakes but has grown up so much - she makes a great team with will and i'm sad to see them parted.