A review by jane_moriarty
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content notes: drug use, violence (against children)

I read this when I was a kid and I really enjoyed it on reread. It's entertaining, at times funny but also quite dark, what with the opium use and homeless children and so on. (Also that part about the chicken haunted me as a kid...) I liked the characters and shipped the romance, although it didn't really develop. Victorian London really came to life in this book for me.

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