There were some clever and some lovely turns of phrase, and I find myself (re)inspired to do some blackout poetry, but for the most part these poems just didn’t resonate with me personally.

3.5 stars.

While this book had definite echoes of everything I loved in His Dark Materials, it felt watered down somehow — maybe because it’s the first book in a new series and there’s still so much world-building and character-introducing to do? I guess we’ll find out in the next book.

Malcolm is absolutely as lovable and admirable as Lyra (in HDM; there’s not much to say about an infant who’s currently more of a plot device/tie-in than a real character with choices to make), and I love getting to see the events set into motion even before Lyra goes on her prophecied adventures. We gain a different, or at least more nuanced, understanding of both sides of the philosophical/political war; readers familiar with HDM will have greater knowledge of Mrs. Coulter’s plans and motives, but it’s not at all necessary to understand this series.

All in all, The Book of Dust is pretty well set up to both stand alone from and complement HDM, and I look forward to seeing where it takes us.

I never really got past the narration style; I felt like it was trying too hard to be naive yet wise, simple yet profound. I liked the characters okay, but the plot was pretty meh.

Interesting premise, and I could really feel Christine's frustration. I definitely didn't see

Spoiler

the Ben/Mike twist

coming - not sure it's possible, considering we're limited to what Christine knows/is told - so it was pretty effective. Dr. Nash, though - I saw that one coming.

Not putting this on my lgbtqia shelf; it's not good rep at all. An attempt was made, but it's hard to appreciate when the focus was all on the queerphobic cis teenage boy. Also, "I'm a boy?" Pretty sure that's not how someone who is actually trans would come out.

I'd already seen the movie (unintentionally) so I wasn't at all surprised by the twists, but despite that and some cliches it was an overall pretty solid story.

Quite an original story, with a fairly simple but engaging plot and vivid, likable characters. Touching, memorable, thought-provoking.