A review by ghostlydreamer
The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch by Michael Zulli, Neil Gaiman

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

I admit, this one fell a little flat for me. The prose, as always, was marvelous. I mean, Neil Gaiman just knows how to write a damn good story. And I quite liked the premise of visiting a circus, because I'm at the height of my clown/circus phase right now.

In typical fashion, the story didn't answer a whole lot of questions for me. I finished it still wondering many things. It's very open ended. I can see why this might be bothersome to some people. I personally didn't mind it. I feel that's become a trademark move for Gaiman's stories, and a short story is no exception. The lack of answers did not make the story feel incomplete, because already, we enter the story knowing that there is a mystery abound, and it's unsolved, and we're merely retracing our steps through the memories of the MC to see everything leading up to this.

I guess I just wasn't very engaged in the story itself. I didn't care much about Miss Finch, or any of the other characters. I didn't spend enough time with them to bond with them. And I honestly didn't even know about this story until I found it by accident while scrolling Gaiman's works on Hoopla. I'm kind of on the hunt to read all of his works, so I'm glad that I read this, but maybe it just wasn't for me.

I think the biggest turn off though was the art style. It seemed a little...scribbly? It certainly wasn't bad. I think overall the artwork is actually rather incredible, and a lot of effort and skill went into creating it. But it simply wasn't for me, and that made it a little harder to enjoy the story. Art style is very important for me as a reader of these types of books, so given that it didn't draw me in so much, I left the story a tad disappointed. I might have liked it more for different, more appealing artwork.

I guess overall it's very middle of the road for me, and it won't be very memorable later on down the line. The story definitely isn't bad. Gaiman knows how to write a short story. But this one missed the mark for me. I even procrastinated on finishing it. I hate to say that about a Gaiman story, but here we are.