A review by heiroffire1989
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

4.0

“You cannot change what you are, only what you do.”

So this was an overall fun read of the first book in a new to me series (it took me some time to finish because I’ve had a major reading slump in between) but also one that took its time to really get me hooked. Actual rating is 3,5 stars

It took me a while to get a good overview of what this world and story is going to be like and I came across some things that didn’t really make sense to me sometimes; the writing is oftentimes too extended and in depth for what it’s suppose to be: middle grade/ young adult and even though I liked that because it gave you a much better sense of the world and its workings, it also didn’t really match with the setup of the MC’s age. Sometimes it takes a really long time before you get answers and other times you get the information in so much details, like you’re expected to be a professor almost, lol.

But overall, I really do like what I’ve come to know of this world and the spin the author gives the magical system etc. I am really excited to read more and to see what’s going to happen next in THE SUBTLE KNIFE.

The MC herself is one with whom it took quite some time to come to love, because I found her quite annoying at the beginning, lol. Writing wise, I find her somewhat inconsistantly written down because she sometimes acts her age Too much or Too les and talks and acts like an adult all of a sudden, so that wasn’t always believable I guess. But throughout the book she definitely grows in a good way and I’m at a point in which I’m actually quite excited to see what more is in store for her now.

The writing style by the author is in itself really beautiful I think. He has a beautiful way with words and sentence creation. Some of the quotes I’ve come across… Just So beautiful! And his descriptions of what’s to be seen in the world and action scenes etc were really well done - Didn’t expect it to be quite so gruesome and visual sometimes, but I really liked that haha. This author is a true story-teller and I’m excited to read more of his work!

The book has a solid build-up in general and especially towards the end, it took no effort at all to ‘fly’ through the chapters and when I was done I felt like I really wanted to pick up the next book so that was definitely a positive sign. So many questions that need to be answered haha so hopefully I’m able to get my hands on the subtle knife soon.

*This book was part of an annotating group-swap-read and I really liked marking and annotating this book while reading.

“Hope holds you fast like an anchor so you don't give way.”