Audiobook Review: His Dark Materials | The Subtle Knife

          I'm dead inside.
         The Subtle Knife has killed me.
         Once again.
        What was life before this?

         In case you're unfamiliar with the premise:

Lost in a new world, Lyra finds Will—a boy on the run, a murderer—a worthy and welcome ally. For this is a world where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and witches share the skies with troops of angels.
Each is searching—Lyra for the meaning of Dark Matter, Will for his missing father—but what they find instead is a deadly secret, a knife of untold power. And neither Lyra nor Will suspects how tightly their lives, their loves, and their destinies are bound together... until they are split apart.

SPOILERS!

          I will always love how these books just throw you right into the fire saying, "Swim!". You're slightly confused but overall very warm. The Subtle Knife is not different than the rest of His Dark Materials trilogy in doing this with having twelve-year-old Will Parry straight-up murdered a guy in the first chapter. Which I love utter and complete mayhem when I enter a sequel of a trilogy. The Subtle Knife doesn't disappoint.

The Subtle Knife Lyra and Will
 by mialythila.deviantart.com

          Having Lyra Belacqua and Will together again really filled my heart with so much warmth and love! These two are honestly friend goals to the very end. Their journey from Cittàgazze to meeting Dr. Mary Malone, to getting the alethiometer back from Sir Charles Latrom, escaping the spectators with the witches, and everything in-between is just a trip I'm so happy we got to go on. How close the two get with one another and how comfortable, especially at the very end where they're on the cliffs with the witches, I just wish we saw more of those becoming friends in YA and trilogy fantasies, because I am an utter sucker for all of them.
            That being said, I loved seeing Lyra learn from her past mistakes in the previous book but still hold onto what made her Lyra, her curiosity and bravery in wielding that curiosity. For instance, this curiosity leads Lyra to speaking with both Sir Charles and Dr. Malone, and each of those encounters leads way to new mistakes and more information about Dust. Sir Charles encounter with Lyra makes room for him to take the alethiometer and for Lyra and Will's mission to get the alethiometer back. While Dr. Malone's encounter with Lyra gives us information about Dust and angels via the computer and later sets up Dr. Malone's arc for The Amber Spyglass. Through all this, though I love seeing Lyra as a child and almost young woman growing up and constantly learning, as an adult experiencing this story now, I really appreciate that

           Now for Will and his journey of finding his father and wanting to be an explorer, well as mentioned above;
          I'm dead inside.
          I should have seen the ending coming. Especially since I've read this story, many, many times might I add. I just... I-
          I WASN'T READY!
         That ending!
         That setup!
         Okay so to spill the beans on what I'm trying to say; at the very beginning of the story Will just wants to find his long-since-missing explorer father so that he can take care of his mother better. Before he can do this Will accidentally kills a guy. As you do. Then he escapes to Cittàgazze and meets and befriends Lyra, then end up going back to Will's world where he tries to find more about his father and doesn't find much more than he already knew.

Lee Scoresby by Daaakota

         While this is happening, Lyra's friend and local zeppelin owner, Lee Scoresby is on the hunt to find this shaman guy up north who is said to have a powerful object that will protect Lyra. Lee eventually meets the shaman guy and wouldn't you know it it's John Parry! Local dad of Will! Then they go up on Lee's zeppelin to find the bearer of the knife (unbeknownst to them this is a now seven-fingered twelve-year-old Will). However, soldiers end up finding them and Lee stays back to let John get to the knife bearer and the number three most heartbreaking moments happen when Lee and his daemon Hester are killed in the gunfire.
           After this happens John meets Will by surprise attack and the second, THE SECOND, they realize that their father and son a witch goes and murders John, because OF COURSE SHE DID! So there's number two of the most heartbreaking moments in the His Dark Materials trilogy occurs within the very last pages of the sequel.
          So to reiterate.
          I'm!
          Not!
          Okay!
         That ending had not one but TWO of the most heartbreaking moments in the entire trilogy and I'm just supposed to be fine after that? I don't think so! Philip Pullman is such a master of words, worlds, and characters that he can pull this off and still get you psyched for the next book. Just like with The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife doesn't hold back its punches but this time we learn twice as much as we did in the first novel and have five times the more questions. We were given some answers about the witches and their culture, we were given more information on Dust and were introduced to spectators and angels and we were given the hopping in and out of different world.
           There was a lot.
           And there is so much more coming in The Amber Spyglass, but I'm gonna be honest with you. I don't think I'm ready. It's gonna get more sad from here on out and Oh boy! I'll need another decade of forgetting this trilogy to recover!
            In conclusion:

𝓦𝓗𝓐𝓣
•]••´º´•»   🎀  𝒲𝒜𝒮  🎀   »•´º´••]•

【T】【H】【A】【T】

E̵̜̩̘͙̼͛͘͠N̶̠̟̮̟̻̗̗̑̉͊͆̇͜Ḑ̵͕̥̣̜͇͔̘̠̲̒͌͗̉̏̇͗́͝I̴̖͉̺̣̩͎̖͔̘̿͛̔͐̊̈́̀͘Ņ̷̩̯̱̗́̒̓̓̋̈́̿̎G̷̢͕̬̤̩̗͆̐͒͜?̶̜͔̱̪̭̊́̊̍!̴̧̤̣͍̭̤̭̌̽̕͝ͅ?̷̘̮̏̃̿́!̸̨̙̖̟͓̈́̐̍̋̓́̈́?̵̲̜̖̱̠̜͉̩͌͝!̸͓̖͍̎̊͒̂̕̚͝?̶͉̄̽͒͋͌̀͊͘͘͠!̵̨̰͍̼͚̣̦̱̒͛̊ͅ?̶̣͆͜




       Overview:


The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I missed Will and Lyra so much you guys have no idea! Again I read this very long ago, just like Golden Compass, and I forgot a lot of the fine details but ugh! My heart! That ending! I should've seen it coming (not just because I read it before) but because of all the signs! Philip Pullman is such a master of words, worlds, and characters. He never fails to just pull you right on in and make you love or hate a character instantly. Just like The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife doesn't hold back its punches but this time we learn twice as much as we did in the first novel and have five times the more questions. Will and Lyra's friendship in this book will never not warm my heart and poor Will's plight throughout this book and for it to just end like --That! Brb, I might need to take another decade to recover from that. The second book of His Dark Materials instills why I've always had a soft spot for this series and why it will always stick with me no matter how long I leave it behind or how much I forget, it will always live on.

View all my reviews

           Until Next Time,

❤CJ❤