Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

22 reviews

leighmowzer's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death and Death

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

theespressoedition's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

I have to admit that while The Subtle Knife was plenty adventurous and certainly interesting, it didn't quite hold the appeal of the first installation in this series. I was missing something... and I'm still not sure what that something was.

Maybe it was the fact that Lyra wasn't the primary character that we followed? Instead, it was Will, who I didn't find particularly likable or interesting. I never really felt as though I had a reason to root for him, even though he had his fair share of struggles and emotional turmoil.

Maybe it was that Iorek wasn't even in this book at all. He was, hands down, my favorite character in The Golden Compass, so I missed him dearly - though I know it wouldn't have made much sense to have him in this story.

Maybe it was just that this book felt so disconnected from the first? There were so many questions and so much magic in the first book that I genuinely couldn't put it down. I was desperate to learn what happened next. With The Subtle Knife, I felt more like I was trying to rush through it to get to the end because it wasn't keeping my attention much at all. I don't know.

Not to say that it wasn't interesting at all. It was interesting and it was creative still. I didn't dislike it so much as I just didn't... like it. Ah, this is a bit confusing I realize. But at least it left us on a cliffhanger so I could anticipate the final book in the trilogy. My hope is that it will redeem how I felt about this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Suicide, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

zombiezami's review

adventurous dark funny 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Cursing and War

Saneism

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