Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - The Ocean at the End of the Lane

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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lolailons's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-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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acid28's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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leona's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is my first Neil Gaiman (adult) novel other than Good Omens (co-written with the brilliant Terry Pratchett) and I really enjoyed it. I didn't say love because I wouldn't exactly call this a new favourite, but it was an excellent story.

The characters are excellent, the narrator (whom I don't believe is named?) is interesting and tells the story in such a straight-forward way but he manages to notice so much about the world. The book was funny at times, deeply creepy and unsettling but also hopeful. It reminded me very much of Coraline, just a kind of grown up version. Saying this, I definitely don't think the content couldn't be read by teens, I just feel like adults will be able to get more from it, as a story about a man looking back on his childhood self. It's nostalgic.

I don't really have anything else to say about this book, other than that I enjoyed it, would recommend it, and can't wait to read more Gaiman books.

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jesseybean's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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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elyssajoh's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.0

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bea_becker's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

This book really cut to what it is to be a child. I think it's a fantastic depiction of memory, reflection, and how stories impact us. It's so poignant and incisive and got to my heart with practiced ease. Definitely sad, and upsetting, and emotional. Read it at the right time.

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