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theespressoedition's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
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? It's complicated
4.0
Welp, don't expect me to spell a single name correctly in this review because I listened to the audiobook (which was phenomenal, by the way. I'll get to that). If anything, I may just avoid using character names altogether so I can skirt around inevitable embarrassment.
This story was truly a masterpiece! It has been recommended to me countless times, but I never picked it up because of the age range that it's geared towards. I'm not typically a fan of middle-grade books. However, if that's been holding you back from reading this, let me assure you that you have nothing to be concerned about. It's an ageless book (reminiscent of The Chronicles of Narnia) and if no one had told me that it was MG, I would have never known.
Our protagonist is such an interesting character. She's bold and fearless and a little bit brash - as children can be. There's something so incredibly lovable about her from the minute she first walks onto the page. In fact, that's really how I felt about most all of the characters (of whom you're supposed to like, of course). They're a mismatched pack of cast-outs, orphans, daemons, warriors, and then some. It's impossible not to root for them as they go on their adventure.
The book felt as though it had 3 books in one - and it sort of did. It had a few parts to it, but each part read like a separate installation into the story. This was really interesting to me. It could've been broken up into multiple books and I wouldn't have felt like I was missing something. However, though the book was quite long, it was never dull. The action kept it going and even during the slower moments, I didn't feel myself losing interest, which is an impressive feat on the book's part.
If you have the opportunity to, I do strongly recommend the audiobook. It has a full cast and is narrated almost like a group of people sitting around and just gabbing their story. It's very easy to forget that you're "reading" and become almost overly involved in the plot. I'm really glad that I used this format because it really was an incredible experience!
I can't wait to read the sequel to find out what happens next.
This story was truly a masterpiece! It has been recommended to me countless times, but I never picked it up because of the age range that it's geared towards. I'm not typically a fan of middle-grade books. However, if that's been holding you back from reading this, let me assure you that you have nothing to be concerned about. It's an ageless book (reminiscent of The Chronicles of Narnia) and if no one had told me that it was MG, I would have never known.
Our protagonist is such an interesting character. She's bold and fearless and a little bit brash - as children can be. There's something so incredibly lovable about her from the minute she first walks onto the page. In fact, that's really how I felt about most all of the characters (of whom you're supposed to like, of course). They're a mismatched pack of cast-outs, orphans, daemons, warriors, and then some. It's impossible not to root for them as they go on their adventure.
The book felt as though it had 3 books in one - and it sort of did. It had a few parts to it, but each part read like a separate installation into the story. This was really interesting to me. It could've been broken up into multiple books and I wouldn't have felt like I was missing something. However, though the book was quite long, it was never dull. The action kept it going and even during the slower moments, I didn't feel myself losing interest, which is an impressive feat on the book's part.
If you have the opportunity to, I do strongly recommend the audiobook. It has a full cast and is narrated almost like a group of people sitting around and just gabbing their story. It's very easy to forget that you're "reading" and become almost overly involved in the plot. I'm really glad that I used this format because it really was an incredible experience!
I can't wait to read the sequel to find out what happens next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Abandonment, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Child death, Animal death, and Death
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Child death, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Trafficking, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Cursing, Abandonment, Animal death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Blood, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Torture, and Xenophobia
ok7a's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Kidnapping, and Torture
katiefronk's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping and Child death
Minor: Animal cruelty, Torture, and Animal death
feuillycakes's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
If you think this is a lighthearted fantasy for kids, you’d be wrong. The concepts in this book are horrifying, the main character Lyra faces some horrible abuse and hardships, and though it’s perfectly understandable for a child, I didn’t fully grasp the horrors of this universe until I reread as an adult.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Torture, Violence, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Gun violence, and Body horror
There’s a lot of discussion and descriptions of what is essentially an awake lobotomy but worse and more traumatic and fatal. Descriptions of violence and body horror, descriptions of experimentation on children including a form of torture that isn’t real but is still horrific to read about.kirdyk's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
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
5.0
Probably my favorite book of all time. From the first page you are no longer a reader, but a spectator of the vast world held within these pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Animal death
Moderate: Kidnapping and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Blood, Violence, War, Torture, and Animal cruelty
It's been a while since I've read book one, so trigger warnings are not exact; I'd suggest you refer to someone who's read it recently, or google.kylieqrada's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
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? Yes
3.5
Review to come.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child death, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia
lilymurph's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, and Torture
sauvageloup's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
[~2014]
Read years ago, in middle school, twice I think.
[20/01/2021]
a marvelous book that is as good as I remember it being as a child
pros:
- the plot is complex, neat, clever, and fascinating. It all ties together so cleverly, even all the tiny aspects.
- the writing is brilliant, engaging, beautiful, gripping, and flows brilliantly.
- It's wonderfully imaginative and original, intertwining familiar fantasy ideas (witches) with the original (armored bears) and then tying it up into complex social ideas, like the impact of the Church and thoughts around sin and growing up. And all the details and world-building around daemons is fabulous too.
- I love the characters and their range of voices and personalities. The contrast of different types of power and evilness was fascinating too, with Mrs Coulter's weaponised feminine ambition and Asriel colder ambition. Neither were cardboard villains and both were scarier for it.
- It was very gripping and even though I knew many of the twists from previous reads, I still didn't want to put it down.
cons:
- one thing i didn't like was how servants daemons were often dogs. This implied that they were innately servile and belonged forever to the lower class because of some quality of their character, which seemed extremely classist and backwards. People can work as servants without that being the pure core of their being and it seemed very like if someone was born with a dog daemon they could do nothing with their life but serve others?
- I wasn't sure on the 'gyptians' which seems clearly drawn from the slur word for Romani peoples. There presentation seemed overly positive to me, though most of their purpose did seem to be to aid Lyra.
- some parts were pretty complex and there was some names I didn't remember. Asriel mentions Boreal being one of Mrs Couter's lovers and i don't remember who he is. Also, Lyra asks Iorek to tell the witch Serrapina Pekkala of what she did and I wasn't sure what that was exactly??
- oh and it might be a sign of an older book written by an older written but there is casual discussion of Lyra getting beaten. She's afraid of Asriel or another of her guardians physically beating her and Asriel grabs her and even threatens to kill her at one point near the start I think, which was pretty disturbing.
- I was disappointed that Roger didn't survive and that his death seems barely described in favour of describing Lyra's parents' reunion instead. I wished for more of a powerful emotional scene with his death that we didn't get at all, considering Lyra's wish had been to save Roger all along. His death did seem to be passed off as something not that important in the way Lyra doesn't even seem to mourn him for a moment.
(- Lyra is a bit of mary sue, in the nicest way. The world does seem to rearrange itself around her. but that's alright)
Overall, it is a great piece of literature and extremely readable for adults. I can't wait to read the Subtle Knife.
Read years ago, in middle school, twice I think.
[20/01/2021]
a marvelous book that is as good as I remember it being as a child
pros:
- the plot is complex, neat, clever, and fascinating. It all ties together so cleverly, even all the tiny aspects.
- the writing is brilliant, engaging, beautiful, gripping, and flows brilliantly.
- It's wonderfully imaginative and original, intertwining familiar fantasy ideas (witches) with the original (armored bears) and then tying it up into complex social ideas, like the impact of the Church and thoughts around sin and growing up. And all the details and world-building around daemons is fabulous too.
- I love the characters and their range of voices and personalities. The contrast of different types of power and evilness was fascinating too, with Mrs Coulter's weaponised feminine ambition and Asriel colder ambition. Neither were cardboard villains and both were scarier for it.
- It was very gripping and even though I knew many of the twists from previous reads, I still didn't want to put it down.
cons:
- one thing i didn't like was how servants daemons were often dogs. This implied that they were innately servile and belonged forever to the lower class because of some quality of their character, which seemed extremely classist and backwards. People can work as servants without that being the pure core of their being and it seemed very like if someone was born with a dog daemon they could do nothing with their life but serve others?
- I wasn't sure on the 'gyptians' which seems clearly drawn from the slur word for Romani peoples. There presentation seemed overly positive to me, though most of their purpose did seem to be to aid Lyra.
- some parts were pretty complex and there was some names I didn't remember. Asriel mentions Boreal being one of Mrs Couter's lovers and i don't remember who he is. Also, Lyra asks Iorek to tell the witch Serrapina Pekkala of what she did and I wasn't sure what that was exactly??
- oh and it might be a sign of an older book written by an older written but there is casual discussion of Lyra getting beaten. She's afraid of Asriel or another of her guardians physically beating her and Asriel grabs her and even threatens to kill her at one point near the start I think, which was pretty disturbing.
(- Lyra is a bit of mary sue, in the nicest way. The world does seem to rearrange itself around her. but that's alright)
Overall, it is a great piece of literature and extremely readable for adults. I can't wait to read the Subtle Knife.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Kidnapping, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, and Violence
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