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msmith892's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: War, Rape, Trafficking, and Medical trauma
lucecanon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.5
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Suicide
Minor: Trafficking and War
theoreads's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Violence and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
Minor: Suicide, War, and Trafficking
crufts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Secret Commonwealth is the second book in this trilogy by Phillip Pullman, following La Belle Sauvage, which I reviewed here.
Twenty years after the events of the first book, our previous protagonist Malcolm Polstead is now 31 years old and a college professor. Our deuteragonist Alice has also grown up and gone to work at the college. But most of the book instead follows Lyra, who is no longer the baby that Malcolm and Alice rescued, but a 20-year-old college scholar.
Having experienced the events of the His Dark Materials trilogy in her youth and sworn against the religious Magisterium, Lyra has grown into a cynical, skeptical adult. Without religion, she feels like the universe is cold, uncaring and meaningless - the "random jostling of atoms". Her romantic forays have turned into dead ends and her studies with the aleithiometer are a struggle. She even starts to believe a popular author's thesis that dæmons are "just imaginary".
Alienated by this cynical Lyra, her dæmon Pantalaimon begins to argue with her. The passages about their conflict are some of the best in the book: they not only reveal Pan and Lyra's feelings but also the philosophical discussions that we love to see in a Pullman novel. The audiobook narrator's performance elevates these sections even further.
Lyra's troubles continue when she discovers that the Magisterium knows about her existence at the college, and they are still trying to hunt her down. This made for a great inciting incident. And the bad guys involved are such slimy bastards, like
The novel continued on strongly until, bizarrely, Lyra and
The other bizarre plot event was the attempted
Most annoyingly, the ending of this book feels just as incomplete as the previous one. It's very much a "To Be Continued". For a book that's just under 700 pages, you would expect to have accomplished some kind of conclusion in that time, but no. This problem colours the entire ending of the book, which has Lyra still investigating secrets in an anticlimactic fashion rather than engaging in a showdown or final conflict.
Overall, I did enjoy the book and was interested to know what would happen next, but these issues definitely marred the narrative.
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Murder and Violence
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Religious bigotry
norwegianforestreader's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Violence, Abandonment, Ableism, Death of parent, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Classism, Confinement, Torture, Trafficking, Death, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma
erinwolf1997's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Murder and Sexual assault
Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Trafficking, Violence, War, Vomit, Abandonment, Gore, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol, Classism, Stalking, and Child abuse
the_pysselfia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Death, Cursing, Classism, Body shaming, Animal cruelty, Xenophobia, Violence, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Racism
snuzzbobble's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Blood, Violence, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Cursing, Trafficking, and Murder
cursedepub's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The thing I next regret most about this book is that the conflict of self-image that Lyra embodies in it (growing up and becoming anxious, self-hating, and distressingly ordinary, especially compared to what one once was) should be incredibly compelling and thought-provoking, but it just falls flat entirely. More than anything else reading this book felt like being lectured about not losing my childhood sense of wonder in a way that really made me want to lose my childhood sense of wonder just out of spite. I could not help but feel that ever since The Subtle Knife, Pullman has been dedicated to diminishing the character of Lyra Silvertongue from her glory in The Golden Compass, just for the sake of it.
I find it very funny that the novel features an author that is described as being very clever and enthralling with his prose but ultimately saying very little of value. Pullman's prose is excellent, of course.
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence
Moderate: Misogyny and Trafficking
Minor: Adult/minor relationship