Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Guldkompassen by Philip Pullman

37 reviews

bexi's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I thought the first part was confusing and a little boring, but it picks up later on. I'd recommend sticking with it until at least part two if you're feeling the same way, because it does get better.

I often struggled to connect with the characters and found many of them unlikable, including the main character Lyra (she grew on me, but I'm still not sure I like her).

I believe this book is supposed to be a critique of Christianity, or maybe more specifically the Church. I occasionally felt I lacked the knowledge to understand all of the critiques because although my parents were raised Baptist & Catholic respectively, I was not raised as such. For context, I'm not a religious person and identify as agnostic. I found the commentary interesting, but if you're a Christian you might get upset by some of it.

This book is marked as middle grade and young adult. I'd say it leans more YA. I found this incredibly dark for MG and would not recommend it to the average middle grader. If said child is emotionally & intellectually mature for their age then okay, but otherwise I'd say it's best for ages 14+. I don't have kids, so take that with a grain of salt. I personally would not have been mature/smart enough to get much out this book had I read it in middle school. 😅

I thought the story was unique and liked it overall, but I'm not sure if I'll pick up the next book in the series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Excrement, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

atalea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, and War

Minor: Alcoholism

orchidlilly's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

An immersive world of steampunk-Esque magic combined with the beginnings of a portal fantasy! The worldbuilding comes naturally, and Pullman brilliantly captures the thought process and mental state of a preteen girl left to her own devices. The side characters are well developed and often ride the fine moral grey line.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting

Minor: Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

brycestevenwilley's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Read this back in middle school, still holds up. Great plot, interesting world and themes, it's all well and subtly built.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

anni_swanilda's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcohol

lucinotlucy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Blood, Abandonment, and Classism

marianneiriss's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Torture, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

sophie_theresia_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

wiktoria88's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Blood

f18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Slavery and Alcohol