Jennavier Recommends: The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

 Let’s just start this out by saying I’m not a diehard Neil Gaiman fan. The only thing that I’ve read of his was Good Omens, and that’s because I’m a crazy fangirl of Terry Pratchett, his co-writer. But you can't be a fantasy nerd and not hear about Neil Gaiman, especially over the last few years. So when his new book came out I'd heard the buzz and was mildly interested. Then I read the review by his wife/girlfriend/significant other and It. Was. Gorgeous. (If you want read it click here fair warning there pg-13 language going on). So at that moment I knew I had to read this book.

Because this is me and I'm poor that didn't mean I instantly got in my car/got online and ordered it. Oh no, I went to the library and reserved it. Because that's how I roll. And then I waited five million years for a copy. When it got to me it was not what I was expecting.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a really really tiny book. It's not even two hundred pages. Normally that is not long enough for me to really enjoy. I like meat to a story. So I figured it would take me an hour and then I could say I'd read it. Turns out it took multiple hours and when I try to say I read it I gush instead.

I had a slightly sketchy childhood. There were many good things and few terrible things. Plenty of books try to take me back there and I hate it every time. Yet Gaiman does goes there and he took me with him. The world of a wide eyed child is created that holds the uncomfortable truths of adults. It enabled me to see myself a little more clearly, to understand some of the decisions that I had made that led me to where I am today. To me that is a beautiful thing.

  

On top of that the book is just good. The story is interesting, the characters and the problems feel real, and I finished it out with a real sense of satisfaction. Am I going to reread it? Maybe, maybe not. But reading it the once made me like everything about reading that much better.