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queerbookgeek's review against another edition
1.0
I never thought I’d say this about a Philip Pullman book but this was an utter disappointment. The narrative was disjointed and rambling. The characters were flat. And The sexual violence was completely unnecessary. The ending left me feeling empty and frustrated. Perhaps it suffers from middle book syndrome. The magic of Pullman’s storytelling just wasn’t there.
shellb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
impalingheaven's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a difficult book in the series. Not bad, but vastly different from HDM.
timcooper99's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
nickabockaglory's review
2.0
Overall I was disappointed with this book. I'm a massive His Dark Materials fan and mostly enjoyed La Belle Sauvage but this one didn't hit for me, and actually brought up some major problems for me in the series.
Firstly, it was far too long. I never wanted to pick it up because it was massive and the story was convoluted and telling it from such a huge range of perspectives was confusing to follow. I felt like I needed a character list at various points to remind me who people were since it had been ages since I had heard anything about them. And on reflection, very little actually happened across the book as a whole.
Secondly, I have MAJOR issues with the sexualisatiom of Lyra. Both from her sexual assault/attempted rape and even worse, from the alleged "love" of Malcolm. He has known her since she was a literal baby and is 10+ years older than her. He should not be checking out her body and claiming he is in love with her. That is so creepy. And makes me really wonder about Pullman's own moral stance on this. Plus having the attempted rape in this book brought to my attention the rape in the first book and I wonder why a YA series needs to repeatedly have such violent, sexual abuse of women??
I enjoyed getting more from Lyra's story although I found it hard to believe she'd be so altered from the person we knew in HDM that she would lose her sense of fun and imagination.
I wanted more from Malcolm after getting to know him in Book 1.
I will read the third book when it is released because I am a completist but I will not be raising my expectations or expecting to fall in love with this like I did with HDM and so many people assured me I would in this.
Borrowed from my local library.
Firstly, it was far too long. I never wanted to pick it up because it was massive and the story was convoluted and telling it from such a huge range of perspectives was confusing to follow. I felt like I needed a character list at various points to remind me who people were since it had been ages since I had heard anything about them. And on reflection, very little actually happened across the book as a whole.
Secondly, I have MAJOR issues with
I enjoyed getting more from Lyra's story although I found it hard to believe she'd be so altered from the person we knew in HDM that she would lose her sense of fun and imagination.
I wanted more from Malcolm after getting to know him in Book 1.
I will read the third book when it is released because I am a completist but I will not be raising my expectations or expecting to fall in love with this like I did with HDM and so many people assured me I would in this.
Borrowed from my local library.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Rape
caseybones's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Many reviews articulate frustration with this book and I share those sentiments. It feels like Pullman lost the subtlety of his previous storytelling, glossing over major character development and leaving the reader perplexed.
How has Malcolm Polestead essentially become this universe’s version of a Bond-like spy, dodging knife attacks, walking away from being shot and casually snapping a man’s neck with his
bare hands before heading to the bar for a casual drink?
What happened to Lyra in the eight years since the Amber Spyglass that turned her from a passionate, brave adolescent into a timid, narrow-minded young woman? She read two books and suddenlyshe and Pan hate each other so much they can barely speak to each other ?
Make it make sense.
How has Malcolm Polestead essentially become this universe’s version of a Bond-like spy, dodging knife attacks, walking away
bare hands
What happened to Lyra in the eight years since the Amber Spyglass that turned her from a passionate, brave adolescent into a timid, narrow-minded young woman? She read two books and suddenly
Make it make sense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Racism, Trafficking, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse
lesserjoke's review against another edition
3.0
I hate to foreground the matter in my review, but I think every prospective reader of this much-anticipated His Dark Materials sequel should know that it's a book in which returning heroine Lyra Silvertongue gets sexually assaulted by a group of soldiers in brutal detail. She's twenty years old now, but it still feels like a betrayal of authorial trust to write this treatment of a beloved character first introduced to us as a precocious child.
Even before that incident at the 92% mark, I have some issues with how Philip Pullman has approached the new adult Lyra's story. She has nascent mutual romantic feelings for a man over a decade her senior -- who's known her since she was a baby and first realizes he's in love when he's her teacher and she's sixteen -- and seems poised for a love triangle in the next novel involving an enemy alethiometer-user with whom she already shares an odd Rey/Kylo dynamic. And she's grown up in a Susan Pevensie sort of way, half-convinced that the fantastical adventures of her youth were exaggerated flights of fancy.
All of this suggests that perhaps Pullman has become ill-suited to his protagonist, which is a shame because this second volume of The Book of Dust trilogy is otherwise a major step forward from the forgettable prequel La Belle Sauvage. And plot developments aside, there is a genuine thrill from seeing Lyra and her dæmon Pantalaimon again and discovering what they've been up to since the end of The Amber Spyglass. The narrative that takes them away from Jordan College once more is interesting and exciting, and I only wish I could recommend it without all the sour notes.
[Content warning for some implicit homophobia and Islamophobia, in addition to the above.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
Even before that incident at the 92% mark, I have some issues with how Philip Pullman has approached the new adult Lyra's story. She has nascent mutual romantic feelings for a man over a decade her senior -- who's known her since she was a baby and first realizes he's in love when he's her teacher and she's sixteen -- and seems poised for a love triangle in the next novel involving an enemy alethiometer-user with whom she already shares an odd Rey/Kylo dynamic. And she's grown up in a Susan Pevensie sort of way, half-convinced that the fantastical adventures of her youth were exaggerated flights of fancy.
All of this suggests that perhaps Pullman has become ill-suited to his protagonist, which is a shame because this second volume of The Book of Dust trilogy is otherwise a major step forward from the forgettable prequel La Belle Sauvage. And plot developments aside, there is a genuine thrill from seeing Lyra and her dæmon Pantalaimon again and discovering what they've been up to since the end of The Amber Spyglass. The narrative that takes them away from Jordan College once more is interesting and exciting, and I only wish I could recommend it without all the sour notes.
[Content warning for some implicit homophobia and Islamophobia, in addition to the above.]
Find me on Patreon | Goodreads | Blog | Twitter
silversparkles50's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Blood, Child death, and Gun violence
Moderate: Sexual assault