Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

35 reviews

ronan_lesh's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, and Sexual content

valorelei's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious 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

5.0

i absolutely adore will and lyra <3 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Gun violence, Mental illness, and Death of parent

cicizzy's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Rufus Beck macht seine Sache wie immer wunderbar. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Religious bigotry, and War

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

nicola_scutt's review against another edition

adventurous sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death and Death of parent

Minor: Blood

silversparkles50's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was really great!
While all the information was incorporated beautifully into the story, it still felt a little more like an information dump than the first one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Abandonment

freedo8quigly's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

4.0

I ended up finishing this as an audiobook which was very enjoyable as it's a full cast with Pullman narrating. It still amazes me that this is a youth book. These are some heavy concepts, but I love that the author isn't talking down to his audience. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Violence, and Death of parent

aseel_reads's review against another edition

adventurous 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

Would have preferred this as a physical read and when I was younger. I liked specific plot points but the writing was a bit jarring 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

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