The Ocean at the End of the Lane in Into the Forest

Oct 22, 2013 Hesper rated it did not like it

Shelves: salty-reviews, fantasy, should-have-washed-my-hair-instead

A short guide to writing super magical fiction:

You should not, cannot, will not use a single contraction, except in dialogue, and then you must make sure a faux-antiquated vernacular is involved whenever incomprehensible Mythic and/or Magical Things occur. Do not deviate from this rule. Ever.

Do not give your characters a shred of personality, because that would mean they are people, and people do not belong in super magical fiction. Your villain must be full-on generic evil because that means i ...more

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Jun 29, 2013 Jalilah rated it it was amazing

Shelves: urban-fantasy-and-pr, fantasy-and-science-fiction

Without doubt my favourite Neil Gaiman book. It is a story that lives with you, that you keep thinking about even when not reading, that you don't want to leave once you have finished. ...more

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Jun 20, 2013 Angie rated it liked it

Shelves: read-2010-2019, british-literature, pub-2010-2019, fantasy, m-a

I was having a hard time deciding between two and three stars for this book. Ultimately I gave it three because there are interesting ideas in here and for me two stars means I didn't like it and I wouldn't go so far as to say that. I just wanted so much more. The fantasy part of the world is so vague and I wanted to know how it worked and the stories and histories behind characters and the "old country" but we get none of that. I get that it's intended to be mysterious but to me it made the sto ...more

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Apr 13, 2014 Katharina Gerlach rated it did not like it

Shelves: young-adult, adult

When I got the book I though it'd be a short read because it looked so slim. However, when I opened it, I realized that Harper had used a font so small you could barely read it with a magnifying glass. That's no way to print a book! That's why I gave this edition one star only.

Apart from that, the story is brilliant. I've been at odds with some of Gaiman's latest novels (the words imho was American Gods) and this one was closer to the things he used to write. I loved Lettie and couldn't put the ...more

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Oct 19, 2013 Margaryta rated it it was ok

Shelves: ghostly, supernatural, modern, magic, disappointing, no-opinion

I wanted to like this book, I really did. After all, it got such raving reviews from so many places and even a couple of my friends recommended that I read it. Yet I didn't connect with the book. I cannot say I hated it or even that I disliked it - upon finishing it I just felt...nothing, really.

I couldn't connect with any of the characters, for starters. I found the main speaker to be a little annoying at certain parts of the story but once I reminded myself that it was a 7 year old boy (or rat I wanted to like this book, I really did. After all, it got such raving reviews from so many places and even a couple of my friends recommended that I read it. Yet I didn't connect with the book. I cannot say I hated it or even that I disliked it - upon finishing it I just felt...nothing, really.

I couldn't connect with any of the characters, for starters. I found the main speaker to be a little annoying at certain parts of the story but once I reminded myself that it was a 7 year old boy (or rather, the recollections of the speaker when he was 7 years old) then I stopped and kept on reading. Lettie was to be a strong character I believe, one that really draws in your attention and makes you feel something; I, again, felt nothing. She fell flat for me. I couldn't call her that strong a character despite the ending. It was a rather cyclical novel where everything feeling repetitive and predictable and I just wanted it all to end.

What usually makes or breaks a book for me is how well it sucks me in, and whether or not it actually does. This one failed to do so. I felt like I was glancing at everything from the sidelines. The writing was a bit choppy and the story felt rather quickly stitched up. I was expecting something more coherent, I guess, something more grandiose and terrifying or have some kind of little detail that made me go 'Wow, now that's amazing!'. None of that happened. 50 pages of a book are usually, roughly, a good marked to decide whether or not this book really is that good or not, and by page 50 I was still not won over, not captivated.

The only thing that did touch me a little was the ending. It had that bittersweet feeling I enjoy in endings but even then it was a bit lazily dragged out in a way that failed to make me connect with the characters and empathize for them, for Lettie especially. It all just whipped by me, the whole thing reading as if I was inside a bubble and struggling to say what was going on beyond it.

It makes me sad actually that this book left me with such a lack of emotion or thoughts after reading it and, more importantly, I was left feeling like I missed some kind of big piece of the puzzle which I just misplaced or failed to notice. I don't know. Whatever it was it didn't touch me. I felt like I tried to wade deep into a kiddie pool. ...more

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