Reviews with content warning for Death - The Subtle Knife

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

45 reviews

jessthanthree's review against another edition

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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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hedsek's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.25

Again, super cool world and story but pretty bad dialogue and relationships. I rated it a bit lower than the previous book because I really think Lyra went downhill as a character. She was a pretty strong female lead and now she mostly just listens to Will which is a pity. Still, love the religious themes and such.

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stoola's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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

3.0

I don’t tend to enjoy high fantasy books but this one was quite remarkable. Also, as someone who deeply loves twists and betrayals, I found this book better than the first

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theespressoedition's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

I have to admit that while The Subtle Knife was plenty adventurous and certainly interesting, it didn't quite hold the appeal of the first installation in this series. I was missing something... and I'm still not sure what that something was.

Maybe it was the fact that Lyra wasn't the primary character that we followed? Instead, it was Will, who I didn't find particularly likable or interesting. I never really felt as though I had a reason to root for him, even though he had his fair share of struggles and emotional turmoil.

Maybe it was that Iorek wasn't even in this book at all. He was, hands down, my favorite character in The Golden Compass, so I missed him dearly - though I know it wouldn't have made much sense to have him in this story.

Maybe it was just that this book felt so disconnected from the first? There were so many questions and so much magic in the first book that I genuinely couldn't put it down. I was desperate to learn what happened next. With The Subtle Knife, I felt more like I was trying to rush through it to get to the end because it wasn't keeping my attention much at all. I don't know.

Not to say that it wasn't interesting at all. It was interesting and it was creative still. I didn't dislike it so much as I just didn't... like it. Ah, this is a bit confusing I realize. But at least it left us on a cliffhanger so I could anticipate the final book in the trilogy. My hope is that it will redeem how I felt about this one.

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jonsnowsmanbun's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

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

3.5

„Every little increase in human freedom has been fought over ferociously between those who want us to know more and be wiser and stronger, and those who want us to obey and be humble and submit.“

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liastar's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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teri_b's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Reading/Listening to The Subtle Knife for the second time made me love this book even more.

It holds so much depth and raises so many question.

It is truly one of the books I feel everybody should read at some point in their lives.

Loved the rendition of the author as narrator and a full cast for the various voices. Very well done and an absolute joy to listen.

I got my copy from the local library, and am ever so thankful for them for having such wonderful books available.

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