Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

3 reviews

breamfish1138's review

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Excrement, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Child death, Grief, Death, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Torture, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, and Genocide

galexy_brain's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Gore

Moderate: Murder, Blood, Child death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

Minor: Alcohol, Pedophilia, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Grief, and Abandonment

nebraskanwriter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Genocide, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Torture, Violence, and Vomit