This book was really interesting - it’s my first Neil Gaiman read.  I thoroughly enjoyed Good Omens, of course - but a rather different reading experience, as it was co-authored by Terry Pratchett.  

Neil is an inarguably talented author - his prose, storytelling style, pacing, plots, character development, etc. are all fantastic.  This book was dark and gritty and real in a way that I think made it better, even if it was harder to read because of it.  

I typically don’t stray into the horror genre because I am an HSP, and my sensitivity to disturbing content makes it hard for me to look past that and enjoy the deeper meanings and content therein.  
For fellow sensitive readers, I would say …don’t read it before going to sleep.  But otherwise, if you can stomach some violence and disturbing ideas, it is a very well crafted and thought-provoking tale that has a lot to say about a lot of these that we ought to talk more about.  

While people don’t literally fall through the cracks in our world, they may as well do, frankly, for all the mind that we more fortunate folks pay to them.  The houseless, the sick, those living in poverty, hungry, etc. - our society casts so many away, wishing them to be unseen as Neil portrays them in this book.  
This book challenged me to try take the time to see people, and not look away just because I feel guilty that I have enough to eat and a warm place to sleep.  

I loved Door, the Marquis de Carabas, and Richard…so many complex characters that have a very real, flawed nature to them, which makes them leap off the page all the more.  

Neil is brilliant, this book definitely makes me look forward to continuing on with more of Neil’s works in the future.  

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.

This book I don’t think I would have ever picked up if I hadn’t gotten the illustrated version and listened to the audio book alongside it due to reviews recommending the audiobook. However tbh I think that was probably the best combination of formats I could have read this in and overal I really really enjoyed this
It was slightly more graphic and violent  than what I usually read but it was a super interesting world and story and overall just a really enjoyable experience to read it. 
Supposedly the second book in this series finally came out like yesterday or two days ago but I can’t find it so hopefully I’ll be able to find it at some find and read that too :)