A review by asmallgremlin
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad 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

Subtle Knife - the one I normally forget - is actually pretty damn good! The plots are more varied than Northern Lights and they are quite well balanced throughout - I felt the plot development of Lee trying to find Grumman was the quickest plot but this was still balanced and the witches plot was interesting as well. Lyra and Will’s plot of exploring Citagazze and learning about each other and the reader’s world was well written and interesting - and generally I really enjoyed this book’s plots! 

lee’s death is heartbreaking and John Parry’s betrayal is not very out of character
 

Loved nearly all the characters save for Lord Boreal - he was a bit weird. Lovely to see Mrs Coulter again - she’s such a fascinating woman and so evil! I love Mary Malone and I have always loved Serafina, and Lyra remains my favourite character. I thought her development from a streetsmart stubborn girl to a girl in an alien world was interesting - since our world and Citagazze are so different to hers. Will was characterised very well - he is smart and rational and a protector - and I enjoyed his developing friendship with Lyra.

The commentary on religion was less heavy handed than I had anticipated - this book is more about innocence and consciousness than religion I would argue. I look forward to the next book.
when they kill god because of COURSE they do


Would give this 5 stares (unexpectedly) and would recommend! 
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