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if you have any love for the original series do not read this, it will make you want to commit acts of violence.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a bleak, bleak book. Contrary to La Belle Sauvage, this one takes place 8 years after the events in His Dark Materials. We are reunited with Lyra, now a young woman at university. Unfortunately, after what she and her dæmon went through, their relationship has never been the same. And it's truly heartbreaking. Yes, there is a whole story that is part spy thriller, part fantastical mystery, but what I felt most of all was Lyra and Pan's deep, deep sadness.
If you enjoyed La Belle Sauvage, you'll probably enjoy this one as well! Sadly for me, the elements I hadn't enjoyed in LBS were back here. I kept reading because I wanted to know where the author was taking his world, given that he promised us more about Dust, but I felt rather frustrated at the end. Yes, His Dark Materials isn't a happy story, but there are many lights in the darkness, and I still love this series (even though no matter how many times I read it, I never understand the last volume). Here I thought it was mostly gloomy and hopeless, which didn't particularly cheer me up, go figure.
If you enjoyed La Belle Sauvage, you'll probably enjoy this one as well! Sadly for me, the elements I hadn't enjoyed in LBS were back here. I kept reading because I wanted to know where the author was taking his world, given that he promised us more about Dust, but I felt rather frustrated at the end. Yes, His Dark Materials isn't a happy story, but there are many lights in the darkness, and I still love this series (even though no matter how many times I read it, I never understand the last volume). Here I thought it was mostly gloomy and hopeless, which didn't particularly cheer me up, go figure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Suicide
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Abandonment
Moderate: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Trafficking, War
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Murder
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Arghh! What a frustrating book... Firstly, it basically ends on an unfinished cliffhanger. Secondly, it started off superbly only to divebomb at the end.
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, likethe new head of the college , that I was seething on Lyra's behalf.
The novel continued on strongly until, bizarrely, Lyra andMalcolm develop a mutual unspoken crush on eachother. Putting their difference of age aside, I just didn't see the point of this mutual crush since it doesn't go anywhere. I would have understood it if it was used to show that Lyra is still pining after Will (because Malcolm has parallels to Will), but ultimately realizes she has to move on and "build the Republic of Heaven where she is" . But that's not what happened - the two are separated at a certain point in the story and that's it. No conclusion.
The other bizarre plot event was the attemptedsexual assault on Lyra. This came off as really weird and inappropriate.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Violence, Murder
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Religious bigotry
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicidal thoughts