Sunday, April 21, 2013

Review: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials in one of the best middle grade trilogy there is. I loved every moment of these books. All three of them are perfect. But heartbreaking. The ending of this book broke my heart so much. Yet I refuse to believe it, hih. I will have hope, that there might be a sequel, somewhere. I need one, if my heart is to ever heal from this. But it is also so, so perfect.

The Amber Spyglass starts right where the second book ended. So be aware that there will be spoilers in my review for book one and two in this series. Just so you know :) But oh. I don't know how to share my thoughts about this book. How to share everything that I read about, the creatures, the characters, the world. Everything was so perfect, fantastic and heartbreaking.

We learn so much in this book. Some things made my head hurt a bit. But not much. And most of the time I loved reading about all of it. We get to see lots of new worlds, made by the knife, and I loved all of them. Creepy, though. And so many new characters. Tons of them. I loved them. I even grew to love a few characters I hated in the first two books. The Amber Spyglass is told from many different point of views. And at times it made me angry, because I just wanted Lyra and Will. But I also loved them the other point of views, because we needed to read them. And I was happy about it all. For the most part :)

I can't begin to describe this book. And I won't talk about the plot much, like I usually do, how the book begins and such. It's much too complicated. I'm going to start by talking about Lyra and Will, the main characters in these books. I love Lyra so much. She's just so amazing and loving and kind. She's so strong, and I love her so much. She tries her best all the time, and she's so amazing to watch around Will. Sigh. There is just so much love between them, though nothing until the end of the book. Sobs.

There is still lots of the book from Lyra's point of view, but less than the first book, and that made me a bit sad. I wished to read more from her. But still. I loved what we got from her. I loved seeing her and Pan together. They are just amazing and so sweet. Although when this one scene happened, when they enter the world of the Dead, it broke my heart. So heartbreaking. And sobs. But it was also so perfect, and I'm so glad it was included in this book. It was just written so well, and I loved every moment of it.

Then there is Will. I love him so much. Favorite character. He's so young, but he's still so amazing. He's really strong and kind and loving. But yeah. He is still broken. About his mother, and his father. And yeah. It breaks him a lot of times. And my heart broke so much for him, yet I loved every part of it. Will is just amazing. And I loved reading his point of view. I just wish there had been so much more of him. Because I loved him so, and I need more and more and more. But I did love every moment with him.

While we get lots of new characters in this book, we also get some old ones as well. Like Iorek Byrnison. I still love him so much. He's just so strong and kind. There is also Lord Asriel, whom I still don't know if he was supposed to be the villain. Maybe in the first book, but not in this. I think. And Mrs Coulter confused me as well. But I loved the changes they had. But yeah. I can't decide how I felt about them both. I think I grew to like them a bit. Maybe. I did enjoy reading about the witch, Serafina, though :)

We also see so much more of Mary. And I loved her so. But I was worried, because she was to be the serpent, and I worried in the whole book. Grrr. But I loved her. We get her point of view so much. She meets these new creatures, and I loved reading about their life so much. It was amazing and full of wonder. And those birds that ruined things for them! Ahh. They were awful and yet I loved how they were written, because it was unique and awful and all kinds of perfect. I just loved every part of it.

There is so much in this book. Lots of witches. Many angels. Lots of dæmons. This book has it all. And I'm not talking about it anymore. But it is all so amazing, and I loved it all. There is lots of action in this book, even a war. I loved it. There is mystery and adventure and heartbreak and love. I loved reading this book so much, even though the ending is cruel. So cruel. It just broke me. But I loved Will and Lyra so much. And I'm so happy that I read this series now. Will remember it always. Now, you go buy it.

The covers of these books are just so gorgeous, the editions that I have. It's an UK paperback box set, and I love it so. But yeah. I think I need a second one, to look pretty, because one of the reasons for why I don't like reading paperbacks is that they get ruined no matter how carefully I read them :\ Sniffs. The spines of my pretty copies does not look so good. But I don't love them any less. Still. I might have to buy a second of this box set :) Just to look at, and love. Sigh. These books were so  amazing. <3



Update: Newer and better review of the book can be found here.

3 comments:

  1. Love the sound of Will in this book, I think I would love him as well.
    Brandi @ Blkosiner’s Book Blog

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  2. Wow! Sounds like I need to check out the first book. You had me sold at "mystery and adventure and heartbreak and love," since I'm a sucker for all four ;)

    Fantastic review, Carina!

    And whoa...those covers are gorgeous!!

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  3. I haven't read your review because of spoilers, but I'm glad to see you enjoyed this one as much as the first two! I completely understand what you mean about paperbacks, though. I own more paperbacks than hardbacks, but I hate seeing creases in the spines. I really need to get back into this series soon! I'll have to buy these covers as they are stunning. :)

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