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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
I like this book a lot. It reminds me of Coraline, except written for adults instead of children. Both books have similar themes about the relationships between adults and children, and how easily the former can hurt and manipulate the latter. Our protagonist is just an ordinary seven-year old boy, but he shows his strength through his friendship with Lettie and his sensitive nature. We also get more of Neil Gaiman's classic brand of fantasy: eldritch and horrifying but fascinating at the same time. The way he writes makes it feel like these kinds of things could happen in our reality and that a pond really can be an ocean.
This was my first of Neil Gaiman's adult novels, and I really liked it. It's a hard book to describe so this will be brief. The book is told from the perspective of a middle aged man (never actually named) who's looking back on his childhood (the year he was seven) and remembering some incredible events that had, seemingly, slipped his mind. It reads like a fairy tale or dream, and while it's mostly told from the seven-year-old perspective, the adult narrator jumps in occasionally to remind us that it's being seen from a distance as well. It's hard to really say what this book is about despite it being less than 200 pages. Maybe it's about the magic we all knew about as children but can't hold in our minds as adults. Or maybe it's just a good story like the ones the narrator remembers from his childhood that had things happening unlike the boring adult books he'd tried to read. Either way, it leaves you with the impression of something bigger, something more out there that you knew about once and could know about again if only it would stop slipping from your mind ...
One I think I'll read again and will probably enjoy even more the second time.
One I think I'll read again and will probably enjoy even more the second time.
**Note** I read this for my AP Literature and never reviewed it. This book had a whimsy to it that is unlike anything I have ever read. The mystical world hidden beneath the English country side had me really invested. However, sometimes it’s too drunk on its own whimsical nature and just becomes weird. The world building is good. It’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but it definitely struck a chord with me personally.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
As my second stand alone Neil Gaiman book, I drew similarities to Stardust. Following the story of the main character, you explore features of a world as the plot progresses. Although the story is contained to a small farmland, as opposed to the expansive world in Stardust, it was still amazing to see how much world building is created through the eyes of the main character. Enough to give you hints of what is going on, but never enough to be satisfied, and leaving you to fill in the gaps with your own imagination.
This version was also beautifully illustrated in a way that perfectly reflects the dark story telling. The illustrations were detailed in a way that reflected what was being described but vague enough that you couldn’t rely on it to give you any more information that Gaiman himself didn’t want you to assume.
This version was also beautifully illustrated in a way that perfectly reflects the dark story telling. The illustrations were detailed in a way that reflected what was being described but vague enough that you couldn’t rely on it to give you any more information that Gaiman himself didn’t want you to assume.
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix