Reviews tagging 'Fire/Fire injury'

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

13 reviews

fantine525's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

   This would make a great video game.
   Was this really for children?? Like, I know children's books used to be a bit darker back in the days, but we're not talking about the Grimm Brothers here, this was written in the 90s.
  Anyways, this was really good, but also not as good as I thought it would be? When I think of the plot and the world created by Pullman I marvel at its complexity; but was I having a great time reading it? Not really. A good time - yes, but not a great time. 
  I really should stop starting new series all of the time, because now I have to decide which one I should follow next by reading its succeeding volume and which has to wait for its turn... Once I'm done with all those newly-begun series, I need to find myself a good standalone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, 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

rhiannon814r's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

a_kingdoms_secret'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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, and Abandonment

Moderate: Blood and Fire/Fire injury

deliriah's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Gun violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Fire/Fire injury

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

clrouse's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and War

jadziaaudrey's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Grief and Murder

Minor: Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

I have a vague memory that I read this as a kid, and it has so many things that kid me would've loved, so I'm surprised I didn't remember a single thing about it! The particle physics, animal companions, fantastically reimagined biblical doctrine, free roaming kids... I wonder if this was the source of many of my tween interests and I forgot, or if I was into these things all along and just read this book too young and it all went over my head.

Also this book is unexpectedly DARK in the details, some graphic fights and descriptions of atrocities done to people in the name of something or other. Things I probly wouldn't've understood or caught as a kid but definitely noticed as an adult. 

Overall very enjoyable and just what I needed when angsty YA fantasy wasn't doing it for me. It was action packed, with plot after plot strung together that might've been the sole focus in some other story, plus it was full of moral questions and mysterious characters, and gave a lot of agency to the kid characters.

Main gripe w the audiobook was Lyra's constantly exasperated/whiny voice even when she's sposed to be whispering, and that the voices cut in abruptly between bits of narration and other dialogue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Gun violence, Infidelity, Blood, Medical content, and Medical trauma

bexi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I thought the first part was confusing and a little boring, but it picks up later on. I'd recommend sticking with it until at least part two if you're feeling the same way, because it does get better.

I often struggled to connect with the characters and found many of them unlikable, including the main character Lyra (she grew on me, but I'm still not sure I like her).

I believe this book is supposed to be a critique of Christianity, or maybe more specifically the Church. I occasionally felt I lacked the knowledge to understand all of the critiques because although my parents were raised Baptist & Catholic respectively, I was not raised as such. For context, I'm not a religious person and identify as agnostic. I found the commentary interesting, but if you're a Christian you might get upset by some of it.

This book is marked as middle grade and young adult. I'd say it leans more YA. I found this incredibly dark for MG and would not recommend it to the average middle grader. If said child is emotionally & intellectually mature for their age then okay, but otherwise I'd say it's best for ages 14+. I don't have kids, so take that with a grain of salt. I personally would not have been mature/smart enough to get much out this book had I read it in middle school. 😅

I thought the story was unique and liked it overall, but I'm not sure if I'll pick up the next book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Excrement, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism