If I had read this years ago, I probably would have liked it a lot more. But the characters were just too flat for me to latch onto. And because I didn't feel like the characters were fleshed out, the romance in turn felt very shallow. Since that was the main driving force of the story, I found myself mostly bored and hoping to get through the book.
The lore was really cool, although there were frequently reveals that I think could have landed better if the world building had been done more upfront. I liked the spooky forest setting, which was honestly my main reason for reading. Eamon's transformations were super cool, and I did like Fife and Lyra quite a bit.
So at the end of the day, this was a very middle of the road book. The main story just kind of left me wanting more, and it seemed to rarely give me the really interesting moments I think it could have.