I’m anxious to read the third and final book in this series and find out what happens to the characters. The second book was just as good as the first, but I was disappointed that the main character Lyra didn’t seem as strong as she did in the first book—and her strength is precisely what I loved about her in the first place. She follows rather than leads in this book, and I’m uncomfortable with how she beats herself up about mistakes she’s made. The latter is common human behavior, but with so few strong female characters in children’s literature, it would have been nice to see her struggle with these feelings and accept what she’s done and move on. If her character did do this, I didn’t pick up on it myself. Here’s to hoping she regains her strength in the final book!