Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

20 reviews

jessthanthree's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous emotional mysterious sad 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

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

literarypenguin's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious medium-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

5.0

 
This book was so magical and very interesting! It almost hooks you in right away and you are invested right off the bat!

The characters are what made this book shine to me! I love Lyra she was one of the best main characters I have read and her growth throughout the book was just lovely to see. She was feisty, had her own set of morals, would do anything for those she cared about, and was a perfect liar to her own and others' benefit. She truly does the impossible, she befriends a bear, she makes friends and allies with a group of traveling people and she rescues a group of children from a fate worse than death.

The idea of spirit animals and how they are almost like another half of your soul was a very well thought out idea. It was a refreshing take on the idea of spirit animals in a modern setting. How when you are a child your animal keeps shifting into different forms and when you reach the age of adulthood your animal stays as one form. A form that best represents who you are as a person and what your personality is like.

Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel are perfect villains and truly scary and dangerous. I think what made them more dangerous as they were normally looked upon as normal and brilliant people and others would think of them were never able to do something like this to anyone.

I think the author did a great job of discussing spirituality and science and how those two ideologies can clash and be dangerous if in the wrong hands. Like how the world in the Golden Compass is ruled by a governing body known as the Church by some and how they control the use of science and research on certain subjects. Also, science is seen as potentially dangerous and harmful if used incorrectly or selfishly needs.

This book was a wonderful experience and left much more to be revealed in the next book of the trilogy. I may have to read the second book to know what happens next! 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

f18's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

fiveredhens's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.5

this book: the aurora gave humans
the knowledge of good and evil via elementary particles
, adults who seem nice can be horrifically abusive, scandinavian witch communism, girls can be excitable and headstrong and even a little annoying while still being intelligent and worthy of love
10-yr-old me: wow cool ferret

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

violaceae's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional inspiring 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

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tbose22's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious slow-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? Yes

3.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

fruya's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

seedsofsunflowers's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark funny 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? No

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jourdanicus's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark hopeful tense fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

yozhik's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging mysterious fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

As a kid, I really enjoyed this book; 10 years later the flaws of the book stand out to me much more. First of all it just feels like your average European fantasy- not so bad except for the racism towards Asians(the Tatars are ever so evil and they drill holes in Europeans' heads), Roma(they're called gyptians and they're kind but uneducated), and Africans(apparently zombis are just European practices but AFRICAN). Second of all I'm aware this is an older book, but Lord Asriel having the same name as the Undertale goat is so funny- I can't take him seriously. A lot of it I couldn't really take seriously- why can humans and daemons not touch each other? Why specifically is it so bad? I couldn't really get into the mindset of the world. The writing is good; I couldn't really say it's "one of the greatest" but it's certainly anything but bad. The idea of mixing steampunk(with Lee Scoresby's balloon) and fantasy(ghasts and haints) and history is cool.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings