Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - La Belle Sauvage

I found the extremely long introduction to be very boring and unnecessary, the actual plot, as teaserd by the author, on the other hand is too quick. The world building wasn't convincing either and half of the time I questioned the entire point of the book. I admit, I didn't read it voluntarily, so my judgment might be biased. To me it just felt like the plot wasn't really going anywhere for ¾ of the book and the author put the actual story in the last ¼.

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angelbabe_cj's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? No

4.0

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cowardlyteaman's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful tense slow-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

4.75

I've been very generous with the hig ratings lately, but I can't help it when so many books are good.

It's been a while since I read His Dark Materials, but I absolutely love this return of the universe. It's obvious how Malcolm Polstead influenced Lyra's subconsciousness.

However, I must admit that this book starts off so incredibly with so many amazing areas to explore, and it really raises your expectations on the story-to-come, but in the second half most of these things are pretty much just dropped? The League of St. Alexander, for example, was something I really really liked and wanted more explored in the book.

I have to leave off a note on how amazing the names in this book are, though. I will never seize to fall in love with Pullman's choices on character names. Malcolm, Asta, Asriel, Sophonax, Pantalaimon, Coram van Texel??? So sexy. Not to mention the beautiful image of the Trout you get in the first chapter—with the terrace over the water and the two peacocks.

I absolutely recommend this book.

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moonybombadil's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious tense fast-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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kateships's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

A great prequel to HDM. The characters mostly are new to us as readers so at first, it’s hard to know how the stories connect. It feels a bit different from the original series but is still a great adventure that ties right in and brings you back to the universe.

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labeanorita's review against another edition

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adventurous dark 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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grizzliffin's review against another edition

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adventurous dark reflective

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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