Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

17 reviews

valorelei's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad fast-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

5.0

a new favorite series! lyra is quite the tempestuous child, but such a loveable character for it <3 pullman has a unique writing style, with heavy exposition via dialogue, which only makes his story that much more compelling. a spectacularly interesting fantasy world with a fascinating build up to a much, much bigger plot line than Lyra thinks she has in store. absolutely love!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Alcohol

fantine525's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

   This would make a great video game.
   Was this really for children?? Like, I know children's books used to be a bit darker back in the days, but we're not talking about the Grimm Brothers here, this was written in the 90s.
  Anyways, this was really good, but also not as good as I thought it would be? When I think of the plot and the world created by Pullman I marvel at its complexity; but was I having a great time reading it? Not really. A good time - yes, but not a great time. 
  I really should stop starting new series all of the time, because now I have to decide which one I should follow next by reading its succeeding volume and which has to wait for its turn... Once I'm done with all those newly-begun series, I need to find myself a good standalone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Animal death, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, and Alcohol

cecilielaugesen's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

5.0

This is one of those books you can read at any age, and you will most likely get something different from it each time.
Both the story line, the characters and the world are so complex and well build.
While it is entertaining it is also quite dark - all in all I loved it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Grief, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child abuse, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Confinement and Alcohol

jolineliest's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, and War

Minor: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Slavery, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

rhiannon814r's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Classism

thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition

adventurous reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Sexual content, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

alicelalicon's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious fast-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, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and War

mirandyli's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

This was a delightful read. I read this book after watching the HBO series, which was great as well. The premise is adorable. I wish I read this series as a child.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

plume_de_renarde's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Misogyny and Religious bigotry

Minor: Racism, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

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