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A review by daameliiie
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
3.0
“There are little pockets of old time in London, where things and places stay the same, like bubbles in amber,” she explained. “There’s a lot of time in London, and it has to go somewhere—it doesn’t all get used up at once.”
***
And the prize for the most annoying, stupid and useless protagonist ever, goes to...
Richard Mayhew.
Our beloved Dick (and what a fitting nickname✨) doesn’t do anything, ever. And when I mean ever, I mean EVER.
He’s not obtuse: he is brilliant and has all of the potential to be a strong protagonist, while also being kind and generous.
But no, the others have to forcely push him over and over and over, he follows them like a cute (not even that cute, really), useless puppy.
At the start of the book I thought he was going to be chosen one, he had some sort of prophecy around him… but no. I don’t care about what Door says, he is useless and could be 345% cut out of the book.
It’s the side characters — Hunter, the Marquis, Old Bailey, Croup and Vandemar — & the accurate and evocative worldbuilding that save this book, and make it so fun and interesting.
Even though easily guessable, the plot was fine, and I loved the two antagonists, Vandemar and Croup, so deliberately cartoonish! If I had been in Neil Gaiman’s shoes, I would have cut away all of Richard’s scenes and made a three novels just about them.
And let’s not talk about Hunter— she is the queen, she is the moment and I’m on my knees⚔️
London Below was evocative and felt like a real place— so, the urban bit of the fantasy has really succeeded!!! I would love to go there… and (metaphorically ofc
***
And the prize for the most annoying, stupid and useless protagonist ever, goes to...
Richard Mayhew.
Our beloved Dick (and what a fitting nickname✨) doesn’t do anything, ever. And when I mean ever, I mean EVER.
He’s not obtuse: he is brilliant and has all of the potential to be a strong protagonist, while also being kind and generous.
But no, the others have to forcely push him over and over and over, he follows them like a cute (not even that cute, really), useless puppy.
At the start of the book I thought he was going to be chosen one, he had some sort of prophecy around him… but no. I don’t care about what Door says, he is useless and could be 345% cut out of the book.
It’s the side characters — Hunter, the Marquis, Old Bailey, Croup and Vandemar — & the accurate and evocative worldbuilding that save this book, and make it so fun and interesting.
Even though easily guessable, the plot was fine, and I loved the two antagonists, Vandemar and Croup, so deliberately cartoonish! If I had been in Neil Gaiman’s shoes, I would have cut away all of Richard’s scenes and made a three novels just about them.
And let’s not talk about Hunter— she is the queen, she is the moment and I’m on my knees⚔️
London Below was evocative and felt like a real place— so, the urban bit of the fantasy has really succeeded!!! I would love to go there… and (metaphorically ofc