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A review by breekeeler
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
This book was a very mixed bag for me.
I could never pin down the narrative voice - was it the adult version of the character or the child version? The vocabulary and descriptions didn’t sound like a child, but the writing didn’t really strike me as child-like either.
I was very bored for the first third of the book, which mostly reads as a young boy coming of age kind of story. Once things got weird and supernatural, I started to enjoy the story more, but I often found the pace dragged, with the same thing happening over and over again. It picked up for me again at the end, but then the epilogue didn’t quite strike the right balance between mystery and information for me.
I could never pin down the narrative voice - was it the adult version of the character or the child version? The vocabulary and descriptions didn’t sound like a child, but the writing didn’t really strike me as child-like either.
I was very bored for the first third of the book, which mostly reads as a young boy coming of age kind of story. Once things got weird and supernatural, I started to enjoy the story more, but I often found the pace dragged, with the same thing happening over and over again. It picked up for me again at the end, but then the epilogue didn’t quite strike the right balance between mystery and information for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, and Gaslighting