Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

18 reviews

cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was really great!
While all the information was incorporated beautifully into the story, it still felt a little more like an information dump than the first one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Bullying, and Death

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Mental illness, and Torture

Minor: Abandonment

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Wow, this one really tugs the heart. Was not expecting such an end! Pullman does not pull his punches, so the stakes feel high and real, and wounded characters properly suffer their wounds. 

Faves:
- Love the dark matter element making this 2% sci fi
- CATS! Will's affinity for them means we get to see them a couple times
- I still do not know who to trust, or if any side besides the children's is good


Critiques:
- Pacing was slow so it took forever for anything to happen
- Lyra's deference to Will felt jarring after the strong personality established in book one
- The world seems to be congealing around one real God figure and only considers judeochristian mythology in the formation of theology and universe, which is just not that interesting to me
- VERY dark for a children's book; then again I read a lot of dark things as a kid and they went over my head way more than they do for me now as an adult who knows what to feel about dark events

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Animal death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Blood

Moderate: Suicide and Torture

Minor: Murder and Kidnapping

deliriah's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Blood, Gun violence, Death, Torture, Suicide, Death of parent, and Mental illness

atalea's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Suicide, Torture, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: War

fjerda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.0

Pullman has crafted an intricate world so beautiful and sinister that I adored the read. Although perhaps not a strong as the first book in terms of plot, the descriptive language is effortlessly and incomparably luscious.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Torture, War, Animal cruelty, Child death, Blood, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Body horror, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Murder, and Violence

jadziaaudrey's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Murder, Torture, Death of parent, Death, Religious bigotry, Violence, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Kidnapping, Bullying, War, Fire/Fire injury, and Grief

brycestevenwilley's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Not a bad book, but the writing is a little more clumsy than the first book, which kept it's air of mystery. This one revealed a lot, but less with a flurish, and more like a curtain being pulled back and kinda falling down halfway though.

Trying to tie Dust to dark matter I guess makes sense, but it's first talked about so weirdly

.  There's a lot that's clearly just setup for the next book, and a lot of world building, not bad world building, but that is most of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Religious bigotry, War, Torture, and Suicide

epellicci's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Mental illness

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

3.0

A fascinating sequel to an excellent beginning. This time, we get perspectives beyond Lyra's with more frequency, and I rather like being able to read the story from all sides. We end on a very compelling cliffhanger, ready to start the next book. My only complaint is that in this second part of the trilogy, Lyra loses a good bit of her charm and free will. It's a bit annoying to see Lyra immediately fall into an almost subservient role the second a male character comes into play. Where is that independence and determination that so greatly defined her in the first book?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Grief, Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Animal death, Gaslighting, Violence, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Misogyny

Minor: Medical content, Ableism, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Torture, Classism, Abandonment, Dementia, and Death of parent

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Violence

Moderate: Torture, War, Child death, Animal death, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Bullying, Murder, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Classism