The Golden Compass

When I first read this, I was young and impressionable and I could not put it down. This time around, I'm a little less likely to be wooed by books (and I consider that a disadvantage to growing up as well as a major downer). I liked it...really liked it, in fact. The writing is beautiful, the characters are well-drawn, and the world is complete and satisfyingly different from our own. I wish more than anything that part of my soul went walking around outside my body in the form of an animal. Still, I can't see giving this book a full five stars for reasons I can't quite articulate. It was missing...something.