Reviews tagging 'War'

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

18 reviews

shinyfox's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional 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? No

3.75

Lyra has moments where she can be annoying as the main character, but she's also a child.... and what child isn't annoying at some point? The beginning of the book was a bit slow and you get hit with a LOT of information pretty quickly. 

Loved the narration of this book, each and every character had a different person reading for them and it was amazing and really lent itself to the richness of the world and characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Confinement, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racism, Alcohol, and War

lycaenide's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious

5.0

This was dark, beautifully written, with a clever tricksy plot and boundless adventure. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, and Trafficking

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Death of parent, Alcohol, and War

kelforrest'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I personally loved it. A lot of my love comes from nostalgia, but I genuinely really love the worldbuilding, the characters, the plot, and the settings.

It definitely felt less like a middle grade at times, with some brutal themes, but when I read it as a child I was okay with it so it depends on what your kids are fine with honestly and what you think they're ready for.

The writing was nice - slightly complex at times, but pretty and made it very easy to picture what was happening in my mind.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Kidnapping, and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Murder, and War

grp101's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

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

5.0

A really interesting book that understands kids very well! The world is creative and fun to read about. Everywhere you looked there was another new, interesting aspect of the world to examine, and all the exposition is given naturally and at times when you want it. 
I do have an issue(?)/question about one aspect. Were the “Gyptians” supposed to be direct Romany rep or a Romany analog? The word “gyptian” is an old-timey word (slur? i don’t know if that’s a slur) for Roma people, and they live out of boats the way Roma people historically had to do in many cases, but I don’t know enough about Roma people to tell if other aspects of the culture were also taken from/representative of Romany culture or just stuff Pullman made up. All the “gyptian” characters we meet are portrayed as noble, honest, and kind, at least from Lyra’s POV. It does a good job of not making them thieves/career criminals (though I think it is mentioned that they smuggle goods sometimes?) or fortune tellers, but I don’t know how a Romany person would react to this “rep” (again, I’m not sure if they’re meant to simply be Romany or just be an analog). If you’re a Roma person and you see this review, what did you think of them? I’m very curious! I’ve looked online but can’t find any reviews from a Romany perspective. 
TWs: child murder, child abuse, general harm to children, religious abuse, animal abuse, violence, animal death, minor sexism, racism (?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Child abuse

Moderate: Child death, Death, Gore, and War

Minor: Religious bigotry

valorelei's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad fast-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? Yes

5.0

a new favorite series! lyra is quite the tempestuous child, but such a loveable character for it <3 pullman has a unique writing style, with heavy exposition via dialogue, which only makes his story that much more compelling. a spectacularly interesting fantasy world with a fascinating build up to a much, much bigger plot line than Lyra thinks she has in store. absolutely love!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Alcohol

jolineliest's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War

Minor: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

alsira98's review against another edition

adventurous dark fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Violence

Moderate: War

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous emotional fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

I adored this book the first time I read it in 2021, scrambling my way through the entire series at breakneck speed. The detail and the world building of this universe is such an immersive experience, it continues to be engaging as I re-read it for school. Reading this in 2023, in association with Paradise Lost and The Chronicles of Narinia, there is so much more depth to the storytelling, beyond the calling out of church-sanctioned abuses and the cognitive dissonances around the concept of heresy. The novel's lack of a centralized paragon of evil complicates the messages of Paradise Lost in unique and interesting ways. Mrs. Coulter and Lord Azriel act as physical manifestations of Milton's Satan's pride, ambition, and cunning, but Lyra's lying, and the willingness of herself and her companions to do what is necessary in their quest creates a gray area between good and evil as paradigms.
I love the characters of the witches, especially in how they (to an extent) are similar to Milton's angels.

It's very easy to get immersed in this world.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Confinement, Vomit, and War

Minor: Toxic relationship

alicelalicon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War

lvl52_grant's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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? No

4.0

This is my first time reading this book as an adult, and I'm happy to say it still holds up! Lyra's world is so fascinating in the ways it is similar and different, and the mythical scale of the storytelling is amazing. I never read the sequels as a child, and I'm now looking forward to starting those soon!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Violence and War