Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

10 reviews

cursed10fold's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Torture, Murder, and War

Minor: Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

cassie7e's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Wow, this one really tugs the heart. Was not expecting such an end! Pullman does not pull his punches, so the stakes feel high and real, and wounded characters properly suffer their wounds. 

Faves:
- Love the dark matter element making this 2% sci fi
- CATS! Will's affinity for them means we get to see them a couple times
- I still do not know who to trust, or if any side besides the children's is good


Critiques:
- Pacing was slow so it took forever for anything to happen
- Lyra's deference to Will felt jarring after the strong personality established in book one
- The world seems to be congealing around one real God figure and only considers judeochristian mythology in the formation of theology and universe, which is just not that interesting to me
- VERY dark for a children's book; then again I read a lot of dark things as a kid and they went over my head way more than they do for me now as an adult who knows what to feel about dark events

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide and Torture

Minor: Kidnapping and Murder

fjerda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Pullman has crafted an intricate world so beautiful and sinister that I adored the read. Although perhaps not a strong as the first book in terms of plot, the descriptive language is effortlessly and incomparably luscious.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and War

abby_can_read's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

📱
This was an enjoyable good. This book was a little darker. I felt this book was like less focused on character and plot development. There was more worldbuilding. I had difficulty falling the plot lines and characters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and War

Minor: Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

jadziaaudrey's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Bullying, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and War

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

3.0

A fascinating sequel to an excellent beginning. This time, we get perspectives beyond Lyra's with more frequency, and I rather like being able to read the story from all sides. We end on a very compelling cliffhanger, ready to start the next book. My only complaint is that in this second part of the trilogy, Lyra loses a good bit of her charm and free will. It's a bit annoying to see Lyra immediately fall into an almost subservient role the second a male character comes into play. Where is that independence and determination that so greatly defined her in the first book?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Torture, Medical content, Dementia, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

jessthanthree's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child death, Suicide, Torture, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cultural appropriation, and War

Minor: Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

beca_reads's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I ended up not finishing this book, it goes on for way to long and I found it oddly confusing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

melancholymegs's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and War

Moderate: Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Torture, Medical content, and Murder

cana_merula's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The second book in this series takes the story to higher stakes. I love how the universe got expanded through the connection of the different worlds. The different plots were all interesting, even though some were more slow paced. The last two chapter broke my heart and this was the first in some time that I cried because of a book. I think that shows the writing skills of Philip Pullman and I knew this would be quite dark for a children's book, but I still wished for a more hopefull ending. But definitifly worth the read and I'm excited for the last one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: War