Review: The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

The Subtle Knife is shorter than the first book. That depressed me. Until I saw how long the last book is. I cannot wait to start it. This book was amazing, even though it was shorter. It was easier for me to read this than the first one, must be because I was more used to the writing and the words this time. I loved this book. Unsure if I loved it more or less. Wished for a bit more fantasy, but I still loved it so much. It was just perfect.

My review will not be that long this time. I'm sure of it. Because there isn't all that much happening in this book that I can talk about without spoiling it all. And I don't want to spoil anything. Because oh. This book was wonderful. And I loved reading it so much. I loved the characters. The story. The writing. I just loved everything. Mostly I loved Lyra and Will. They were amazing.

This book is told from a lot more point of views. At times I didn't approve of that. But mostly I loved it, because we got to know some characters a lot more. Like Lee Scoresby. He was in the first book, and I adored him. He and Lyra were close; he was almost like a father to her. And oh. I liked him a lot. We get to know him really well in this book, and read a lot from his point of view. We get to see his dæmon a lot too, his Hester. Sigh. She's a hare, and I loved her so much. Together they are perfect. But there was this one scene that broke my heart. Sobs.

This book starts where the first one ended. We see lots more of Lyra. And I just adore her, still. She does something stupid, though, and I didn't like that. Sniffs. But I didn't blame her either. For the most part. She's still just as strong and kind and loving. Her and Pan are amazing to read about. I just love her dæmon so much. He changes shape a lot, though. And I adored it. Not sure which shape I like him the best in. But I love him as a mouse :) Sigh. They are just perfect. And I love reading her adventures.

We get to know a new person in this book. Will. He's a twelve year old boy, and I loved him so much. He's pretty broken. He lives in another world, far from what Lyra is used to. He lives alone with his mom, who's kind of mad. I felt so sorry for him. And my heart broke for him so many times. But I loved him. So much. While he is broken, he is also strong and kind. We get to read from his point of view a lot, and I loved that so much. He's a big part in this book. Even more in the next one, I'm sure of it.

I'm not going to talk that much about the plot in this book. Just a little bit. It is a lot about Lyra's sort of compass, that I can't remember the name of, lol. But I loved it so much. How she can read it, and what it tells her. Sigh. But it is also about this knife. The subtle knife. And it's a special knife that can do lots of awesome things. I just loved reading about it so much. But gah. To become the bearer of it was awful. Sobs. It broke my heart so much. But I loved it, still. Because it's beautiful and heartbreaking.

We learn of three different worlds in this book. The one where Lyra came from, although we don't see it in this book. The world where Will came from, closest to our world. And the world where they meet. It was such an awful place. With Specters, that sort of murders adults. I loved reading about it. So special and unique and amazing. The plot in this book is so good. And that is all I'm saying about it. The witches and everyone in this book is getting ready for a war. Which I think we'll see lots of in the next book.

There is a lot of characters in this book. Most I can't remember or spell their names. But I loved reading about them all. This woman who helped Lyra was amazing, and I hope we'll see more of her. This old creepy man from Will's world was awful. I hated him. We also get to know the witches a lot more. I loved them. But oh. A scene near the end broke my heart so much. It was awful and so heartbreaking. Yet I loved every second of it. This book was just so good. I loved all of it, truly. Now to read the last one.

If you have only read book one, then you must read this sequel. It's amazing. And so perfect. If you still haven't started this series, then you must. Because it is an amazing middle grade series, with amazing characters and perfect story. I'm worried about book three, because I know the ending is heartbreaking. Since I've already read it. But I need to read it, still. I have to. Because I'm so in love with these characters and this world. You need to read this book. You won't be disappointed. It's really perfect.

Goodreads - Buy it

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