medium-paced

I'm torn by this book, Smoke and Mirrors, by Neil Gaiman. I love the author. If I see a book by him that I don't have, I will grab it as quickly as I can. And his reading of his audiobooks are always amazing. His voice is so soothing. On the other hand, this book once again proves that collections of short stories just aren't my cup of tea. I don't think I've ever read an anthology and truly liked every story and, unfortunately, is the same. Some of the stories were intriguing and kept my attention while others were just plain weird and made me feel awkward. There is a decent amount of graphic sex scenes within many of the stories which isn't something that bothers me but I also did not expect so much of it 🤣. A middle of the road rating for me but this certainly doesn't dissuade me from reading future works of Gaiman's.
adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: N/A
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: N/A
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A
adventurous dark fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
dark funny mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Some of the stories are very good, meriting a couple re-reads, while others were not so engaging and downright disturbing. A pretty uneven collection of stories. The story hidden in the introduction remains my favorite.
dark funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced
dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

This collection is one that I never got around to reading when it was first published years ago. I am sorry I took so long to do so, and it reminded me anew that short stories are really in Neil Gaiman's wheelhouse. It amazes me how such short pieces can leave you breathless with fear, sorrow, laughter, shock. But they did. I don't want to pick a favourite because I made sure to read them all one at a time, taking breaks in between, so that they were each savoured for what they were. I can no more claim a favourite story than I can a song -- each had its own meaning and flavour. Each tasted wonderful.

More please.

There were a couple of these short stories that I enjoyed, however most of them didn’t interest me or made me feel uncomfortable. 

Not as whimsical as I expected them to be.