Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - La Belle Sauvage

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman

38 reviews

alixlowe's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

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nadiaherondale's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Although I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as I did the original trilogy it still is a good book: after all it's written by Philip Pullman and he is a narrative master. I loved the storytelling and the little cameos and the spying subplot, but in the end some parts felt repetitive and I ended up bored.

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montereads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

As a fan of His Dark Materials, I loved this prequel—from the disparate buts of familiar information trickling in, to the delight of baby Lyra, to the dreamlike (and at times nightmarish) wonder of the flooded world. Malcolm’s calm, steadfast character also shone.

However, on its own merits, the book is in many ways lacking. Alice is spirited, but doesn’t really contribute anything to the journey except childcare, a kind of pigeonholing I didn’t expect from Pullman after as phenomenal a protagonist as Lyra. This irritated me throughout, as she had such potential. Beyond that, the purpose of the whole narrative relies entirely on who Lyra is established to be in the central trilogy. I’m not sure what reading this is like if you aren’t already invested.

Overall, seriously worth the read for big fans of HDM. However, if you’re new to Pullman and wondering if his more recent work is the better place to start, I don’t think I recommend these.

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elydy's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

Great fun, made me really want to read book 2 and more PP! I listened to this as an audiobook at points bc I was keen to find out what would happen next. Always enjoy reading books set in Ox. Malcolm's character was so lovable.

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