From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

Neverwhere (London Below, #1)

Neil Gaiman

Start date: August 22, 2012

Finish date: August 31, 2012

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What Members Thought

Sep 11, 2013 Ronyell rated it it was amazing

Shelves: my-blog-reviews, adult-book, read-in-2013, urban-fantasy, strong-hero, setting-in-britain, fantasy, neil-gaiman, strong-heroine, sexy-good-girl-heroine

“Imagine living in a world where you think that everything has become familiar to you, but then you realize that there is a different world far beyond the one you know.”

I have not read much of Neil Gaiman’s books geared towards adults, until I first read “American Gods,” which was a book that I enjoyed intensely. But now, I have a new favorite from Neil Gaiman’s books geared towards adults and that is “Neverwhere!” Full of adventure, horror and romance, “Neverwhere” is certainly one of Neil Gaiman’s greatest works yet!

Richard Mayhew was an average young man who lived a normal life and had a fiancée named Jessica. One night however, Richard meets up with a young girl named Door who he found bleeding on the London sidewalk and he immediately goes and try to tend to her wounds. But, once Richard performs this heroic act, he will soon discover that his life will change forever when he seems to have vanished from the face of the earth and ends up in an alternative world of London, London Below. Now, Richard must help Door from being killed by the murderous Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar or London Below will be in great danger!

Wow! This book was simply amazing! What made this book such a joy to read was the fact that Richard ends up in an alternative universe of London and he realizes that London Below is far more dangerous and different than the London he knew from above! I loved the way that Neil Gaiman made this story so intense and even scary at times, especially whenever the scenes involving Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar showed up in the story. I was seriously scared of Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar as they were hired by a mysterious person to kill Door at all costs and they are certainly professionals in that field! But, what was the most chilling aspect of Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar’s characters was that they would just calmly tell their victims about how they will torture them and their torturing methods were truly graphic and disturbing to say the least! I really loved the characters featured in this book, especially Richard Mayhew and Door as they were truly interesting characters and they brought so much depth and intensity to the story. I did find it heartbreaking that Richard could not get back to his real home in London and all the other characters telling him that it would be impossible to get back to London Above definitely made me feel even worse for Richard. At the same time, I loved the fact that Richard was such a caring and curious person as I completely sympathize with his confusion in understanding the strange cultures of London Below. I loved the way that Neil Gaiman went into so much detail about the different cultures of London Below from London Above and I also loved the fact that Neil Gaiman included some historical notes about London’s history and weaved them into the story with such clarity. Door was another character that I really enjoyed as she was such a strange yet interesting character. I loved the fact that Door just plunges into a situation because of her knowledge of London Below as it proves that she is a truly brave character! I really loved the Marquis de Carabas, even though at first, he annoyed me a bit at the beginning. But, once the story starts progressing, I found myself loving the Marquis de Carabas more and more as he proves to be quite a surprising character. I loved the eerie atmosphere of this story as I was literally sitting on the edge of my seat, wondering if Richard, Door, Hunter and the Marquis de Carabas will ever find their destination and try to survive London Below without being killed by Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. What really stood out for me in this story was the fact that it was like a darker version of “Alice in Wonderland” and I really liked that dark and gritty aspect to this story.

Neverwhere

The only problems with this book are that it has some strong language, although it does not occur frequently and some scary situations involving the characters being placed in great peril. Some readers might find some parts of this book a bit too dark and creepy, such as the scenes involving Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar.

Overall, “Neverwhere” is a truly brilliant book that deals with deciding what you really want out of life and is probably one of the best books that use dark fantasy in its finest! I would strongly recommend this book to any fan of Neil Gaiman’s works!

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Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog ...more

33 likes · Like · see review

Mar 19, 2016 Rachel N. rated it really liked it

Shelves: humor, fantasy, read-in-2016, england, london, pbt-fiction-100, adventure, london-below, angel, assassins

Richard Mayhew stops one day to help a young woman lying injured on a London street. After getting her aid and dealing with some odd people the next day Richard finds that no one in his daily life recognizes him and he has lost his job and apartment. to figure out what is going on Richard must enter the world of London Below. This book was wonderfully inventive. I got sucked into the world Gaiman created. I didn't want the book to end and still want to know what happens next. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

May 06, 2011 Trisha rated it liked it

meh. it was okay. This author writes an awful lot of YA and I think that pretty well sums up his book. It's kind of a juvenile plot and the characters are pretty childish (so much so I kept forgetting the main character was old enough to hold a job!!)

But, it was kind of cute. ...more

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Oct 02, 2015 Gabriela rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantastic

Magical!

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 24, 2012 Cora rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy, mystery, paranormal, horror, europe, angels, london, england, adventure

Richard Mayhew lives a normal life with a normal job and a fiance until one day he helps a girl he finds bleeding in the street. Another world is opened up to him, one full of the people who fall through the cracks. He begins a quest to help the girl find out who killed her family and to try to find his way back to his old life.

I really enjoyed Neverwhere. The world Gaiman has imagined is compelling because it is both a facinating fantasy world and a commentary on our world where the homeless of ...more

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Jul 16, 2013 Nancy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, audiobook

I found this book slow to start. I actually listened to the audiobook which was read by Neil Gaiman himself and I found it took me a little while to get used to his style of reading. I do like his voice though, and it felt authentic listening to the book as read by the author. But I was at least a third of the way in before the book really started to grab me. Richard just felt like a non-character for much of the book. But I loved how Gaiman had used names of London Tube Stations and realised th ...more

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Dec 13, 2013 Rebekah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: setting-uk, genre-horror, genre-science-fiction, genre-fiction, genre-fantasy, genre-young-adult, genre-contemporary, genre-adventure, genre-adult, rating-4

Lovely!! I think Gaiman is such a master at blending fantasy with reality and past legends in a way that is humorous, exciting, thought-provoking, and realistic enough to be slightly off-putting. He creates wonderful, dreamlike works that are a pleasure to read and new worlds that are hard to leave but also familiar. It is obvious Gaiman knows and loves London well and gets its atmosphere perfect in this novel. I also love all of his characters, particularly his powerful female ones, who usually ...more

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