The Golden Compass book review

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
Series: His Dark Materials #1
Published by Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers on April 16, 1996
Pages: 399
Goodreads

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.

This was a reread for me, I really wanted to rehash the entire series purely because of the BBC series and I wanted to make sure I knew what was happening and why. I loved the way that everything ends up happening throughout this book, and I think that now that I’m older I managed to pick up on more of the themes that were hidden throughout the story. It was well done and it made a difference to the story and the characters that played such a big part of the story. I think the action sequences were well written and they were my favourite part of the story.

The characters in The Golden Compass were some of the best parts of the story. I loved Lyra’s storyline and the way that she ends up becoming something so much more than what she was in the beginning but also without changing the fundamentals of who she was. I loved her relationships with each and every one of the different characters, she made an interesting connection with each of them and I loved that about her. Each one was different and my absolute favourite was Lee Scoresby, he made me smile all the way through the book and I think he will be the character I’m the most excited to read about.

I think my favourite part of The Golden Compass was the parts that concerned the armoured bears, they were a really interesting concept especially when there was the interaction between both them and Lyra. I loved Iorek and the way he takes Lyra under his wing so to speak. I also think the parts where Lyra was running around the roofs of Jordan College. I loved watching her play with Roger and finding her feet playing with the other children. The best bit of The Golden Compass was Lyra and her relationships with the people around her they were always well connected and well rounded.

I don’t know whether there were worst bits of this book to be honest. I just wished that I had read it when I was a child to feel more of a connection with Lyra and the way that her story unfolds.

I would recommend this series, I think it’s a great adventure novel with some really great undertones and writing. Plus the characters are fun and exciting. I’m really glad that I have picked up the series again and I can’t wait to see where it ends up going because I genuinely can’t remember!

Have you ever gone back and reread an old childhood series? Which one’s your favourite? Let me know!