N is For Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman

A little note for everyone stopping by for the A to Z challenge:

First off, hi! Welcome! Look around, have fun. My posts will be short this month, but they'll be following a theme: Books and Authors. I'll be showcasing some of my favorites within those categories. But I'll also be having some special posts regarding the release of my debut novel, Elemental, from time to time.   

Blurb (from Goodreads):


When Richard Mayhew stops one day to help a girl he finds bleeding on a London pavement, his life is forever altered, for he finds himself propelled into an alternative reality that exists in a subterranean labyrinth of sewer canals and abandoned subway stations. He has fallen through the cracks of reality and has landed somewhere different, somewhere that is Neverwhere.

Neverwhere is brilliant. The writing is beautiful, the story is unique. And let's face it, this is written by Neil Gaiman, so you know it's good. I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book, but honestly, I probably would have bought it anyway. 

If you haven't read this yet (or anything by Neil Gaiman), I highly suggest you add this to the list.

Enjoy!

Neverwhere, by Niel Gaiman

Back of the book blurb

"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."

The best way I can describe this book to you is this:

It is a dark and twisted story with elements that reminded me of PETER PAN and THE WIZARD OF OZ, but written for adults.  Neil Gaiman broke practically every rule that has ever been beaten into writers as unbreakable, and it was beautiful.

In essence, the book follows the story of Richard Mayhew, though there are plenty of other pov characters, around London Below in his quest to get home.  And in order to get home, he has to help Door, a girl with a particular knack for opening anything and even creating a door where there wasn't one before.  Gaiman skips around from pov to pov in a very who-dunnit-mystery kind of way.  

About halfway through, you'll be positive you know who the mastermind behind everything is, but when you get to the last few chapters, you'll realize you were totally wrong.  And THEN you'll be positive you finally know everything, and you'll STILL be wrong.  

NEVERWHERE is one of those books that will keep you entertained all-around.  Between a fantastic premise that has you constantly guessing and beautiful prose that's quite simply a pleasure to digest, you won't be able to put it down, but you won't be able to read it in a day, either.  Though it's not particularly long, it IS one of those books you have to keep going back and rereading because the writing is so beautiful and intense, you'll want to keep reading the same paragraph over and over before moving on.

Out of a rating system that goes like this:

1 star: don't bother

2 stars: It may be your cup of tea, but it ain't mine

3 stars: pick it up at the library some time

4 stars:  go ahead and buy it.  You might like it

5 stars: What are you doing still reading this post?? Go out and buy this NOW!

I give NEVERWHERE...

5 stars! 

If this review has piqued your interest, I give this link for your purchasing convenience. :)

Have any of you dear readers read this already?  If so, what did you think?