Book Reviews: The Golden Compass | The Subtle Knife | Eliza och hennes monster

Title: The Golden Compass
Author: Philip Pullman
Original title: Northern Lights
First published: 1995
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: His Dark Materials #1
Publisher: Laurel-Leaf
Format: Paperback
Pages: 351
Finished: 02/08/2019
Summary: Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world. Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want--but what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.

My thoughts: Reading this book was a joy on my behalf. I’ll tell you why, but I won’t drag it out. For one, the world building was excellent. We travel through a world that is so similar to ours, but set in what appears to be another time and contains elements of magic. A great feature to this world are dæmons; an animal companion that every person is born with and with which they share their souls. I loved the dæmons, because they were both used to establish characters, and to be characters of their own. Adding all sorts of animals to every fight or adventure scene also gave the book something unique. I don’t believe a good animal companion is to be underestimated in stories; especially if they’re done well!

Speaking of dæmons; there were human characters as well, of course, and I liked them, too! There was a hefty cast, but not too big to keep track of. The main character, Lyra, is barely even a teen (12-ish), but she has a strong personality brimming with courage and stubbornness. I didn’t feel that her narrative or description didn’t fit what was suitable for her age, which is something I could worry about with books like these, were young characters go through a lot of rough times. It might be easy to have a young character be too wise or too mature much too soon. That wasn’t really the case here, though. I think she made a realistic badass kid character in all the good ways.

I believe every single important character in this book had a unique and effectful aura to them. Some were genuine, some deceitful, some bitter, and some naive. Sometimes I didn’t know what they were, but as a reader, I felt I was allowed to form my own feelings and opinions about the characters, without the narrations pushing me too much in one direction or another.

The plot was good, too. It was interesting, adventurous, and at times disturbing, and I admit that I liked it a lot. I might say that the writing didn’t blow me away, though it was good, and at times I had a hard time finding a flow in my reading. Those are the negative things I can mention about the novel, but overall, I really did enjoy it.

Rating: 4,5/5

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Title: The Subtle Knife
Author: Philip Pullman
Original title: The Subtle Knife
First published: 1997
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Series: His Dark Materials #2
Publisher: Laurel-Leaf
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288
Finished: 22/08/2019
Summary: Spoiler alert! The intrepid young Lyra has passed through a shimmering portal in the sky and finds herself in a beautiful, haunted otherworld - Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky. But she is not without allies: twelve-year-old Will Parry, fleeing for his life after taking another's, has also stumbled into this strange new realm. On a perilous journey from world to world, Lyra and Will uncover a deadly secret: an object of extraordinary and devastating power. With every step, they move closer to an even greater threat - and the shattering truth of their own destiny.

My thoughts: Wow… Honestly, I’m blown away by the utter stupidity of this novel. What the actual fuck? I finished it a week ago at the time of writing this review, because I wanted my feelings to cool for a bit before I started getting into my thoughts, but I’m still baffled that this novel is by the same author who wrote “The Golden Compass”, which I adored when reading earlier this month. I was eager to move on to this second book; I wish now that I never did. Better not to read it and dream that “The Golden Compass” just ends with a cliffhanger, and let that be it. This is the second book in a trilogy, and I can sometimes find those are the weakest in a series. I’ve read disappointing second books before. “Crossed” by Ally Condie. “Scarlet” by Marissa Meyer. “Miss Mayhem” by Rachel Hawkins. I believe it’s been a very long time since I’ve read a sequel that was this bad.

Why is it bad then? Well, I won’t go into too much detail, but here’s the gist of it:

Lyra, who was a fierce character with a strong will of her own in the previous novel, is now turned into an uncertain girl who decides she must follow the new MALE protagonist and fulfill his destiny.

The new male protagonist is a total whine-butt and I could find no positive emotions within me directed at him. I had a constant wish that he might perish.

Bye bye, shiny and exciting world of “The Golden Compass”, hello… well, our world. Did it add anything to the story? No. Was it a terrible mistake to leave the original world behind to explore new ones? Yes! I hate it! If you have to delve into new worlds in your story, at least make them as interesting as the one you’re leaving, if not more. It was such a bore.

“Papa, don’t preach”? More like “Pullman, don’t preach”! Things that were ideas in the last book became flaring messages directly from the author in this one. It’s like Pullman set us up with the first book to lure us in, only to start preaching his own values in “The Subtle Knife”. It’s really not what I came for…

Need I say more? This was crap… I’m unsure whether I’ll give the third book a chance at all. It won’t be this year, at least!

Rating: 2,5/5

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Title: Eliza och hennes monster
Author: Francesca Zappia
Original title: Eliza and Her Monsters
First published: 2017
Genre: Contemporary, YA
Series: --
Publisher: Modernista
Format: Hardback
Pages: 399
Finished: 31/08/2019
Summary: In the real world, Eliza Mirk is shy, weird, and friendless. Online, she’s LadyConstellation, the anonymous creator of the wildly popular webcomic Monstrous Sea. Eliza can’t imagine enjoying the real world as much as she loves the online one, and she has no desire to try. Then Wallace Warland, Monstrous Sea’s biggest fanfiction writer, transfers to her school. Wallace thinks Eliza is just another fan, and as he draws her out of her shell, she begins to wonder if a life offline might be worthwhile. But when Eliza’s secret is accidentally shared with the world, everything she’s built—her story, her relationship with Wallace, and even her sanity—begins to fall apart.

My thoughts: I enjoyed reading this book, but I didn’t love it. I thought it was interesting to read about a protagonist who deals with internet fame and shows both the pros and cons of such a life. It was also nice to read about other modern issues, such as dependency on an online social life and a sort of disconnection to life outside the internet. The story explores how parents can lack understanding for modern day social platforms, and shows their frustration in regards to Eliza’s obsessions with her phone. In my opinion, the book dealt well with such topics. We also get a male love interest who appears to deal with social phobia, and breaks the stereotype of what a big muscular guy can be, which I liked. If I have anything negative to say, it would be that it took me a while to start liking Eliza's character and to fully understand her attitude towards her family. Overall, though, this was a nice book.

Rating: 3,75/5