shona_reads_in_devon's Reviews (529)

His Dark Materials 3-Book Mass Market Paperback Boxed Set by Philip Pullman

His Dark Materials 3-Book Mass Market Paperback Boxed Set

Philip Pullman

5.0
Pamela by Samuel Richardson

Pamela

Samuel Richardson

4.0
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

Jung Chang

5.0
Call the Midwife Boxed Set: Call the Midwife, Shadows of the Workhouse, Farewell to the East End by Jennifer Worth

Call the Midwife Boxed Set: Call the Midwife, Shadows of the Workhouse, Farewell to the East End

Jennifer Worth

4.0
Byron's Women by Alexander Larman

Byron's Women

Alexander Larman

4.0
The Passage by Justin Cronin

The Passage

Justin Cronin

4.0
The Twelve by Justin Cronin

The Twelve

Justin Cronin

4.0
The City of Mirrors by Justin Cronin

The City of Mirrors

Justin Cronin

3.0
Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

Northern Lights

Philip Pullman

5.0
adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
'π‘Œπ’π’– 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒐𝒕 π’„π’‰π’‚π’π’ˆπ’† π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’šπ’π’– 𝒂𝒓𝒆, π’π’π’π’š π’˜π’‰π’‚π’• π’šπ’π’– 𝒅𝒐'

'π‘Œπ’π’– π’”π’‘π’†π’‚π’Œ 𝒐𝒇 π’…π’†π’”π’•π’Šπ’π’š 𝒂𝒔 π’Šπ’‡ π’Šπ’• π’˜π’†π’“π’† π’‡π’Šπ’™π’†π’….'

'π‘Ύπ’Šπ’•π’‰π’π’–π’• π’•π’‰π’Šπ’” π’„π’‰π’Šπ’π’…, π’˜π’† 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒍𝒍 π’…π’Šπ’†.'


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I can't count the amount of times I have read this book and every time I pick it up it's like snuggling up under a warm blanket.

Pullman's style soothes my soul. The tone is very YA and yet it' never shies away from tackling big ideas and it never patronises. 

The older I get, and the wider my reading becomes the more I pull out of this book and the deeper my connection to the characters becomes.

And just like when I watch Romeo and Juliet and I'm holding my breath that the ending somehow changed since the last time I watched it, the end of this one still makes my breath catch.

If you've never picked this series up, I heartily recommend it.
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman

The Subtle Knife

Philip Pullman

5.0
adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
π‘¬π’—π’†π’“π’š π’π’Šπ’•π’•π’π’† π’Šπ’π’„π’“π’†π’‚π’”π’† π’Šπ’ π’‰π’–π’Žπ’‚π’ π’‡π’“π’†π’†π’…π’π’Ž 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 π’‡π’π’–π’ˆπ’‰π’• 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 π’‡π’†π’“π’π’„π’Šπ’π’–π’”π’π’š π’ƒπ’†π’•π’˜π’†π’†π’ 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 π’˜π’‰π’ π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 π’Œπ’π’π’˜ π’Žπ’π’“π’† 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 π’˜π’Šπ’”π’†π’“ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’”π’•π’“π’π’π’ˆπ’†π’“, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 π’˜π’‰π’ π’˜π’‚π’π’• 𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒐 π’π’ƒπ’†π’š 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒆 π’‰π’–π’Žπ’ƒπ’π’† 𝒂𝒏𝒅 π’”π’–π’ƒπ’Žπ’Šπ’• 

π‘Œπ’π’– π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’Œ π’•π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’” 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 π’‘π’π’”π’”π’Šπ’ƒπ’π’†? π‘»π’‰π’Šπ’π’ˆπ’” 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆!

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I find it harder to decide which of this trilogy is my favourite but I know that this one is an absolute masterpiece.

The intricacies; the weaving of narration; the allegorical meanderings and the scale of the influences that Pullman gathered into this novel are mind-blowing. Every time I read it, I make new connections and am teased down new paths of thought. 

And this is a book that only becomes more rich with more experience under your belt (yeah I know, right?) experience of life, of reading, of the world and human nature. Every time I come back to it, I think I might lose something in that moving away from the young mind I had when I first read it and it blew me away and led me down a path of study that changed the course if my life. But it just gives me more every time.