Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

33 reviews

tpwreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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? No

4.0

Edit: just found out this guy is a monster. It will be my last Gaiman book, smh. 



“Adults follow paths. Children explore.” 

The story telling in this is so exceptional that I didn’t realize until after completion that we’re never told the narrator’s name. Sorcery! I was immediately captivated by how Gaiman painted his child vs adult theme. This book brought to mind all the horrors that children witness and stay silent about, while adults think their kids are none the wiser. Gaiman has a way of showing (not telling) the heartbreaking truth of a situation that I immensely enjoy. The narrator learning that his bum ass dad never liked burnt toast was truly eye opening to how adults can commit such senseless acts of neglect and think nothing of it. Extraordinary storytelling. 

The climax did not wow me, even though I really really wanted it to. The heroic event in this is too similar to Narnia’s. It was too obvious for me and I would have liked more wonder. The unexplained mythology is unfortunate, but I don’t think it harms the novel in an unforgiving way. 


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soggycedar's review

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

4.0


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grboph's review against another edition

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

4.75

My partner lent me this book to read over my winter break and I'm so glad I read it! I feel like it captures the fallibility and magical elements of childhood memories so well. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes fairytales or fantasy-ish books.

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tarareadsalot's review against another edition

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

4.5


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spookfish's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

It's always difficult to review horror, as I have to separate my physical feelings of discomfort with what I think objectively about it.
Found myself asking "why?" a lot of the time, without answer from Gaiman. There are parts of this book where it doesn't feel sure of where it is trying to head itself. It makes sense knowing this was supposed to be a short story that was extended into a novel. Not a bad book by all means, just... lacking something for me.

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jolineliest's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75


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cathicks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This book was absolutely heart-wrenching and the entire time reading I  kept thinking “he’s just a baby” (7 but still). The relationships he has with Lettie, her family, and Ocean is just beautifully written.

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tabookish's review against another edition

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

4.0


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riverofhorton's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad fast-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

5.0

So I went into this book thinking it was a kid's book and would be a fun frolic in a fantasy world. A kid's book it most definitely is not, despite the main character being 7 through the main part of the story. Once I realised and came to terms with my own assumptions being wrong, I found the book to be really enjoyable.

It tackles a few quite mature themes through the wonder of a child's perspective, which is something I don't think I've seen before. It takes place pretty much in our world but with a bit of magic thrown in, some being things that are still magic to us as children, giving the impression that there is magic to be found in the real world, if you look through that child-like lens.

I did also appreciate some of the little call backs to things that previously seemed unimportant.

I also liked that it ends in such a way as to facilitate re-reading.

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antarcticophile's review against another edition

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

4.5

A wonderful sprint through a fantastical but familiar land in the shoes of a child.

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