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galexy_brain's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This felt like a pretty bog-standard hero's journey sort of book, though the action was great (I felt myself grimacing and cringing often). I wish Richard was a more compelling main character. The backdrop of a creepy London underworld was pretty cool. I've only been to London once so the references to city locations I'm familiar with were neat, though I'm sure it would have been cooler if I had been well-acquainted with the city. However, I found it hard to visualize London Below. I don't know if I missed something, but half the time it felt like they were walking through subway systems and sewers and marshes, and other times it was described as having buildings, almost reflecting London Above? idk maybe I'm inattentive. My only other qualm with this book is when Richard, who seems as if he is in his mid-twenties, wants to kiss Door, who is described by Richard as appearing to be a teenager. Then they never bring this up again??? The final inconsistency that didn't bother me but caught my attention was that the Sewer People are introduced as not speaking English in Neverwhere, but in the short story prologue from this edition ("How the Marquis Got his Coat Back" or whatever), he had a full-on conversation with them. Anyway, if you like gritty grimy creepy spooky hero stories this book may be for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol
julieyael's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I was once again taken into the story by Gaiman’s writting.
This book takes us to a wonderful universe, full of fun and interesting characters.
The reader only has to follow the story and let it evolve through the pages.
As often we find some gory scenes and details, but it makes sense and nothing is gratuitious.
I would have appreciated a slighty faster rythm, but the tension is nice. Also, even if I really enjoyed the book, I found that the overall story and plot could have been a bit deeper to make it perfect.
The best part of this novel is the world building and the little details, and of course the way the story is told.
So far, I’ve never been wrong picking a Gaiman’s book.
This book takes us to a wonderful universe, full of fun and interesting characters.
The reader only has to follow the story and let it evolve through the pages.
As often we find some gory scenes and details, but it makes sense and nothing is gratuitious.
I would have appreciated a slighty faster rythm, but the tension is nice. Also, even if I really enjoyed the book, I found that the overall story and plot could have been a bit deeper to make it perfect.
The best part of this novel is the world building and the little details, and of course the way the story is told.
So far, I’ve never been wrong picking a Gaiman’s book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Toxic relationship
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol
le_mur's review against another edition
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
megselyane's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Death, and Blood
Minor: Toxic relationship
teh_niarr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture and Violence
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship
bluejayreads's review against another edition
Everything in this review is based on a sample size of the three Neil Gaiman books I’ve actually read (this one, American Gods, and Anansi Boys), but discounting American Gods as an outlier since it was, you know, actually enjoyable. So feel free to take this whole review with a grain of salt.
Now that that’s said – I hope Neil Gaiman is okay.
Excepting American Gods, the two books of his I’ve read feature protagonists who are spineless, vaguely depressed young men with mediocre-to-horrible corporate jobs, dating strong-willed, domineering, beautiful women whom they let walk all over them. In this book, Richard made his first independent choice when he defied his girlfriend to help a girl bleeding in the street, and even though it was only about 15% of the way into the book I was SO READY for her to go.
I think Richard was the reason I didn’t end up finishing this one. I could not bring myself to care about him. There were some vaguely interesting things happening around him – a very weird homeless girl named Door, people who seem to be able to talk to rats, sewer tunnels going places sewer tunnels could not logically go – but Richard himself was so boring. He didn’t even have enough personality to actively hate – the best I could manage was aggressive indifference.
It’s funny to me that the same things I hate about Richard in Neverwhere – the bland generic everyman-ness, seemingly existing for the sole purpose of being the reader’s avatar through a weird and magical world – I didn’t mind at all in Shadow in American Gods. I think part of it was the spineless-man-with-domineering-girlfriend aspect, which is a horrible dynamic and not one Shadow was part of since he was a widower.
I think the other part is agency. I’m always complaining about characters having agency. Whether they’re forced into dealing with something by the plot or by their own dealings, whether their actions make things better or worse, the only thing I require of characters is that they take actions of their own volition. I’ve stopped reading because characters did their best to avoid acting and because characters were prevented from taking any action. The one and only action Richard chose to take was to help the bleeding girl against his girlfriend’s wishes, and then he pretty much got dragged along for the rest of what I read. And I couldn’t bring myself to care about anything happening since it was all happening to him instead of him actually being involved in the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Child death, Blood, and Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
ggmariereads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Gore, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Cannibalism, and Death of parent