Book Review: Neverwhere

Title: Neverwhere

Author: Neil Gaiman

ISBN: 0060557818

Pages: 370

Release Date: September 1, 2003 (first published 1997)

Publisher: Harper Perennial

Genre: Fantasy

Source: Personal Copy

Rating: 3 out of 5 Bookworms

From the back cover:

Richard Mayhew is a young man with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he stops to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London sidewalk. His small act of kindness propels him into a world he never dreamed existed. There are people who fall through the cracks, and Richard has become one of them. And he must learn to survive in this city of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels, if he is ever to return to the London that he knew.

Review:

In Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman introduces his readers to a cleverly conceived world of strange magic and even stranger people. Although Neverwhere is an entertaining journey, the main characters were not as developed as one would hope and there was a bit of depth lacking to the story. Richard is a bit of a doormat which was a little irritating but relevant to the story and the personal challenges he faces. The girl that Richard finds bleeding and decides to help, Door, is an interesting character but should have been given more depth and history. The secondary characters were each very different and delightful in their own ways, especially the evil Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar. Those bad boys were thoroughly despicable and their characters well-written.

Throughout the novel, the dialogue was witty and the story was quirky, interesting and a little dark. The descriptions of places and events were rich with atmosphere; the reader could really get a sense of “other-worldliness.” Richard’s journey takes him to bizarre and wonderful places and challenges him to believe the unbelievable. Richard’s adventures will eventually lead him to discover things about the world and about himself that will change his perspective forever.

In all, Neverwhere was an enjoyable read and cleverly written, although not Gaiman’s best work.