Book Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Title: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Author: Neil Gaiman

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Magical Realism, Young Adult,

Pages: 181

Publisher: William Morrow Books

Year Published: 2013

Format: Paperback Copy

First Line: "I wore a black suit and a white shirt, a black tie and black shoes, all polished and shiny; clothes that normally would make me feel uncomfortable, as if I were in a stolen uniform, or pretending to be an adult."

"Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. he hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie- magical, comforting, wise beyond her years- promised to protect him, no matter what.

A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a string, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly's wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark."

My Rating: 1/5

I want to start this review by saying that I get why people like this book. I do understand that it is well-loved, and I understand why people loved it. It just 100% was not for me. And here is why. First, I really like to be connected to our characters and get an idea of who they are, they are what helps carry me through stories. Second, I needed more information throughout the story it was both too long and not long enough for my enjoyment. And finally, I don't think I like magical realism. Looking back I can't think of a story in that genre that I just adored. I either want fantasy or not, not some in-between trying to figure out what is real. It's just not for me. And that's ok. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny