Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

18 reviews

breamfish1138's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book is kind of like Paddington in that it's an unapologetic love letter to London and its landmarks and history. And there's also a lot of murder, urban decay, esoteric folklore, mild cosmic horror and rats. So yeah, just like Paddington. 

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mreequalsmc2's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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galexy_brain's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This felt like a pretty bog-standard hero's journey sort of book, though the action was great (I felt myself grimacing and cringing often). I wish Richard was a more compelling main character. The backdrop of a creepy London underworld was pretty cool. I've only been to London once so the references to city locations I'm familiar with were neat, though I'm sure it would have been cooler if I had been well-acquainted with the city. However, I found it hard to visualize London Below. I don't know if I missed something, but half the time it felt like they were
walking through subway systems and sewers and marshes, and other times it was described as having buildings, almost reflecting London Above?
idk maybe I'm inattentive. My only other qualm with this book is when
Richard, who seems as if he is in his mid-twenties, wants to kiss Door, who is described by Richard as appearing to be a teenager. Then they never bring this up again??? The final inconsistency that didn't bother me but caught my attention was that the Sewer People are introduced as not speaking English in Neverwhere, but in the short story prologue from this edition ("How the Marquis Got his Coat Back" or whatever), he had a full-on conversation with them.
Anyway, if you like gritty grimy creepy spooky hero stories this book may be for you.

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chronicacademia's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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kiwij96's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The premise for this book really gripped me, but it didn't hold out as a story for me personally. I loved the way that the chapters were written like scenes in an episode of a tv show. The chapters were a manageable length for the most part (barring like 2 or 3 long ones). The story was a captivating tale of a secret and historical world under London for those who fall through the cracks in the London Above. However, at times I found the writing a little clunky and infodump-y, and in places there were too many commas. I still don't completely understand what happened in the book. There was a mystery that they tried to uncover, but then it came to a halt and I just didn't understand what happened. It just ended weird for me, felt a little rushed and unfinished in my opinion.

Flushed Away vibes for sure.

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hexe_19's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0


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bel017's review against another edition

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 Riddel's illustrations are such a perfect fit for Gaiman's prose. I look forward to seeing their continued collaboration.

I'm always looking to fill the Pratchett shaped hole in my reading, but have avoided Gaiman, as I DNF'd Ocean at the end of the lane, which he has said is his favourite of his works, and he seemed way too dark for me (have you met Coraline?). To the darkness, I did glance over some of the scenes with ... Mr C and Mr V, the names escape me ... the scary version of Pratchett's Mr Tulip and Mr Pin (who were scary enough for me). I was quite distressed by the
  loss of Anaesthesia
. Gaiman does go out of his way to be gross and morbid (so many descriptions of sewer content and dead bodies), but the deadpan, understated, humour is great.

Gaiman is a gifted storyteller, and I really enjoyed his writing even though I didn't like the dark/gross/awful/scary/violent parts. I like Riddel has a distinct style that suits Gaiman. If you buy a copy of Neverwhere, make sure it's this one. 

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gabstevi's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


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gayelfboi's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

It’s Gaiman’s first novel and its shows but still very enjoyable and creative. Warning for some very uncomfortable horror descriptions involving animals 

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trying2scribble's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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