Sometimes children live in a magical world. Sometimes they live in horror. If they are saved, it is hard to remember everything the way it happened because there is a certain amount of "protection" to the memory of extreme youth. This is about a 7 year old boy experiencing betrayal, abuse and loss all in one go. He is saved by the spirit of a girl who cares for him. Does she exist? I do not know, I hope so.

You are left with as many questions (if not more) as answers at the end of this novel. I wanted to love it, but somehow it left me unsatisfied. The little boy is a hero, whether he believes so or not, having survived a horror of a father, whatever the monster was up to.

No child should have to cope with the monstrosity of a parent's selfish desires. There needed to be something more here for me to want to read more of Mr. Gaiman's work. As I indicated, something was lacking. I wanted more in the way of answers.

Maybe, after all is read and done, that was the point. There aren't any answers and the happy endings we make for ourselves.

Interesting reading, but in the end, unsatisfying.

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Created Jan 08, 2019 at 2:01pm • Submit your own review...