A review by grayola
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

3.0

If the story hadn't crescendoed into a wonderful burst of terror, whimsy, and madness, I'm not sure I would have finished it—as short as it is. The beats of a "follow me if you want to live" sort of encounter alongside the mystery of another world inside our own are too familiar to exist by themselves without support. Sure, the childhood wonder of all this is touching and hits home for those of us yearning for that feeling once more, however, there's something about this book that pulls back a little too much on answering the questions the story raises: what the hell is going on? The world of Ocean is a tease of something much larger than what is given. I suppose that's either frustrating or inspiring depending on who is reading. More wolf-rays and less burnt toast symbolism, I guess.