There is so much to say!! First of all, my rating is obviously biased : I was way too excited about this book and I was just so happy to go back into that complex universe. As a standalone, it should probably get 4*. As a prequel, it deserves 5*! It is impressive how Pullman manages to set up the events of His Dark Material in such an amazing way. After all, even though it felt like a great adventure, not much really happened! Also, Malcolm is an intriguing boy and I hope we will see more of Alice in the next book as well. I liked how "magic" took a more important place. That is, in the sense that in His Dark Materials, it was more low key and omnipresent than obvious. Baby Lyra and Pan made my heart melt! I'm excited for the next book and in the meantime I will surely reread the trilogy!