A review by mfox614
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

4.0

I forced myself to continue reading after the first two chapters, which felt like another language. There were so many words and references unique to this world without any explanation that I simply felt lost. I’m so incredibly glad I didn’t give up. After the forth chapter, I couldn’t put it down. My heart was racing and I was trying to read faster so I could find out what happened next. I was enthralled. I don’t know that I would agree that this is a children’s book because it was overly technical, which sometimes made it difficult to focus on the plot, if not simply because I didn’t understand the made-up language that was being used to describe this new world. The overall storyline is also pretty dark. As I said, though, once I got a fairly decent grasp on the world and the language, I was intent on finding out how the journey would continue. To say that it left off on a cliffhanger is an understatement.