faustyyyy 's review for:

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

3.0

adventurous challenging mysterious tense 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: Yes

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The unfortunate thing is, I like this book! I like the introduction of Will and his whole character (I still don't really think Pullman can write kids suuuuper well, but well enough), I like the split narrative of everything just happening, but I think that it loses too much focus on this being Will's story and becomes more of a "setup to the third book" story. Will should have been the main focus of The Subtle Knife, but it jumps between multiple perspectives a bit more frequently than the first book did. I think it just should have been longer with Will and Lyra, more from Will's perspective more than everything. What I really liked about The Golden Compass was that a lot of what happened in the book was introduced more through Lyra's perspective over anything else. Will just, kinda takes everything in stride here? Which fits his character mind you, but I wanted to just see more of him just, dealing with everything. 
Besides that, I do like the book, I really do just think it's just a bit too short. Good second entry!