So my friend, Dori (an occasional guest reviewer on this blog), suggested that we both read a book and have a mini book club which was a genius idea. She selected “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” for our first endeavor. Here are some of our thoughts.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Review: Reading this book felt like stepping into a dream; a dream which got progressively stranger and scarier. In fact, for about two-thirds of the book, I didn’t know whether the whole thing was going to turn out to be inside the narrator’s head. Now, don’t get me wrong, it was captivating and beautifully written like I’ve come to expect from Mr. Gaiman and yet, haunting. Mr. Gaiman’s prose was ominous, romantic and real all at the same time. Dori called it “visceral” and I have to agree. Additionally, we both agreed that we wanted to know more about the fantastical and mythological world that Mr. Gaiman created. We discussed how hard it is to classify this book because it had an unusual mixture of mythology, loss of innocence, fantasy and authenticity. Parts of this book were disturbing and kinda effed up but neither of us could put it down. I’d have to say overall, it was dark but also thought-provoking and well executed.