Fandom-wise, this is the one with the daemons that are people's souls and take animal forms. So I know a bunch about that thanks to crossovers, but as to the plot, I think there is a girl called Lyra and I can't remember the other kid's name trying to stop a being claiming to be God or an archangel or something. Also, there might be a species that uses their food as an extra limb in order to walk? I never actually managed to get into the books, so all my knowledge comes from fandom.