Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

23 reviews

mags_'s review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Slavery, Xenophobia, 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.

---

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

moonchildjuli's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Racism, Torture, Xenophobia, 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

---

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

eni_iilorak's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, Abandonment, and Classism

Minor: Alcohol

sarasreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

4.5

This was a great, action packed read. I watched season 1 of the HBO show a year ago, without knowing much of the story at all. I really enjoyed it, but before diving into season 2 sometime this fall, I wanted to read the first book as a refresher. It really didn't disappoint! 

Hard to believe so much was packed into this book. I'm pretty sick in bed this week, so this was a great way to pass the time and distract me from how bad I've been feeling. Very excited for more of this story!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

jessthanthree's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Misogyny, Violence, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Infidelity, Racism, Police brutality, War, and Classism

whirl's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad 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? N/A

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

f18's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

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

3.0

---

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

fiveredhens's review against another edition

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Gore

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Vomit, Dementia, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

orientalism, africa as a wild monolith, romani stereotypes