Dan Caddick

Did not enjoy this book, and am so sorry that is the case. I loved the original trilogy and really enjoyed La Belle Sauvage too, but found The Secret Commonwealth a struggle to finish. I found it quite depressing overall, and a lot of the plot points or character choices simply don't make sense. It plods along with none of the magic or wonder that makes the original books special. Far too much boring detail about the inner workings of The Magisterium and far too little about Lyra. What there is about Lyra, and her character in this book is all wrong in my opinion. It's like Pullman hates her for some reason and wants her to be miserable. I hate the whole Lyra and Pantalaimon not-liking-each-other-anymore plot if I'm honest - a real mistake to go down this route I think. Disappointing.