Neverwhere (London Below #1), by Neil Gaiman

 Hey guys, this is Abi here, 

And I'm here with a rare review! 

I chose Neverwhere because, when writting my wrap up for November, I realised that I had way too many thoughts to fit it all into a wrap up, which is why I'm going all out with a review. 

I hope you enjoy it. 

Title: Neverwhere

Author: Neil Gaiman 

Genre: Fantasy 

Status: Book 1 in an uncompleted duology

Release date: 16th September, 1996

Pages: 412

Blurb: "Under the streets of London lies a

world most people could never dream of. 

When Richard Mayhew stops to help a girl he

finds bleeding in the street, his unremarkable

life changes in an instant. 

This act of kindness leads him to a place filled with 

murderers and angels, pale girls in black velvet, a Beast 

in a labyrinth and an Earl who holds Court in a tube train. 

It is strangely familiar yet utterly bizarre. 

Here is London below, the city of people who have 

fallen between the cracks. And for Richard Mayhew, 

it's only the beginning."

My Thoughts

Neverwhere is a book about a world below well, the world. It contains people that have fallen through the cracks. It's a whimsical, magical and mysterious world, full of creatures, beasts, henchman, bodyguards, merchants that deal in information and locked cases. If you're looking for a world with a bit of bite, you've come to the right book. 

Richard Mayhew, our protagonist comes across it by specific circumstances, by an act of kindness to a struggling girl. Next thing he knows, nobody recognises him, he has no job, no house, no money. So, in a quest to find the girl he helped, in order to get his life back, he ends up aiding her in another quest to safety, from the person that killed the rest of her family. 

What's interesting about Richard is that he's pretty much your standard guy; engaged, good job in an office in London. Apart from acting in kindness towards a total stranger, nothing really sets him apart from your standard city guy. Then he's thrust into this totally different, dangerous world. He faces challenges, faces fears and meets terrible people during his time in London Below. You'd expect him to change from an experience like that. Except he doesn't. Which is what's so likeable about him. 

What I mean is, he's much like you and I. Bewildered at this brand new, sometimes scary world, amazed at some of the people he meets, scared at some of the things he's asked to do. Yet he stays set, focused on the one goal of, if he survives, if he helps his friend get to safety, then he'll get his life back. You'll have to read it to find out if he does or not. All in all, I want more books with Richard in them. I keep thinking about him. 

Now, this is probably my issue, because it seems to be taking me an age to finish books nowadays, but I never seemed to want to read for longer than 20 minutes or so, every time I picked this book up. It wasn't like I wasn't enjoying it, I was. But the fact that it was taking me so long to finish, it kind of lessened the enjoyment for me. I'm definitely putting it down to a personal issue on this one, because it was such a good book. 

This is actually the first time I want to spend more time with the characters, rather than spend more time in the world, with which he's created. Don't get me wrong, I love the world, the way you'd feel you have to be looking over your shoulder constantly if you were in there yourself. But it's Richard, Anastasia, Marquis, Hunter, and of course Door, that I want to meet the most. 

It's the will for these characters to survive that drew me to this, not the world. 

To sum up, I really really liked this book. 

At this point, I've read a fair few Neil Gaiman books. Some I felt, I didn't gel with, then there's the odd one that I liked, but didn't LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Then there are two of his books, which are the cream of the crop. Ocean at the End of the Lane is one of them. Neverwhere is the other. 

I really hope we get news on the sequel sometime soon. 

Okay! Those are all of my thoughts on Neverwhere, from the London Below duology! I hope you enjoyed, feel free to let me know in the comments what you thought, of the book, or the review, whichever floats your boat! 

I hope you have a wonderful day, and I'll see you all soon! 

Byeeeeee! 

-Abi xxxxxx