Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

80 reviews

vexasaurus_rex's review against another edition

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

5.0

“Grown-ups don't look like grown-ups on the inside either. Outside, they're big and thoughtless and they always know what they're doing. Inside, they look just like they always have. Like they did when they were your age. Truth is, there aren't any grown-ups. Not one, in the whole wide world.”

The Ocean at the End of the Lane, from the lovely Neil Gaiman, was a breath of fresh air. It has all the whimsy of childhood fantasy, with the melancholy of growing up and growing away from magic. 

If you’re an adult with a hole in your chest, the magic missing, this book is for you. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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oliverreeds's review

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medium-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? It's complicated

5.0


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royalty's review against another edition

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

5.0


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meliemelo's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

 (2023 reread)
I reread this book before going to see the incredible, amazing play based on it. Thus, this read had much of a "how will they translate that on stage" feel to it (the answer? very creatively and so, so well, even better than anything I could have expected). Yet, I found myself fully absorbed once more by the story. It truly is a very special book to me.

-----

(2018 reread)
I was at the bookshop, looking for books to complete my Goodreads challenge, when I saw it: a nice paperback edition of the book that had touched me so profoundly years ago, and that I didn't own yet. So I got it. And read it again.

It's still deep, the connection I have to this book, to this story, the way it speaks to me. Neil Gaiman is an amazing writer, and one of my favourite authors, but this is different. I relate to parts of the story, and not just the ones that don't feel like fiction: I relate to the supernatural parts too, the way they reshape reality. It's not just the kind of books I love to read. It's the kind of book I want to write, someday.

----

(original 2014 read)
I was really touched by this book. Neil Gaiman uses childhood memories to create something and it's both beautiful and terrifying. It's a kind of [b:Lunar Park|4031|Lunar Park|Bret Easton Ellis|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385309748s/4031.jpg|1374605], though I wouldn't be able to tell you which of the two books is scarier. I read them at two different parts of my life, and as much as Lunar Park disturbed me I don't think it was as profoundly as The Ocean at the end of the lane. I saw bits of myself in this book, small echoes.

And even without that, I loved it. I loved every single page of it.

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jessthanthree's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

4.5


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vaguely_pink's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0


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kirame's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0


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kaylahamby's review

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

4.5


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sarahmack's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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


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imaginefishes's review

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

4.5

The book starts out in a serious manner you'd think it would be an average (boring) adult book, but remember that it's Neil Gaiman who wrote this book. Via a flashback, the readers are thrown back into the main character's childhood, filled with myths and tales of fantasy. The characters are strong, especially
Ursula Monkton/Skarthatch of the Keep
, who manages to effectively creep and scare and bring high stakes to the main character's story. I found his relationship with
Lettie
to be especially real, vulnerable, and somewhat cute. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys soft fantasy worlds where things exist without explanation and strange things happen as though they were normal.

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