I first read the Sally Lockhart series when I was a little girl, and it became one of those series that I call one of my favorites and that I have fond memories of without really remembering all the details. All I remembered from before was that there was opium involved, that the second book was one of the first books that ever made me cry, and that the third book was very sinister.

Philip Pullman is a masterful storyteller. No one else writes quite like he does. These days it seems like most writers for teens like to use first person narration, or sometimes third person limited. Pullman is fond of third person omniscient, which, in my opinion, is a lot harder to pull off. Pullman takes you from Sally's POV to Mrs. Holland's and several others' flawlessly. You get all sides of the story without getting the mystery resolved before its time. You never delve too deeply into any one character's emotions, but they are still real and relatable. Futhermore, the writing is concise, but still vivid enough for you to get a clear picture of the settings in your mind. It's just really well-written.