Between this and Good Omens, I'll just accept the fact that I don't care for Gaiman's adult books.
Yes, yes, this book has a paragraph of the amount of prizes it won and rightfully so. This is an amazingly done book with Neil Gaiman's unique storyteller writing style, the characters, the settings, and the anecdotes. However, I found the progression of the plot as well as the pacing to be such a headache that it's what brought this book to a one-star.
First, I don't think this book should've been as long as it is. Although some anecdotes were entertaining, I didn't think they affected the story all that much and honestly left me confused. I understand that it was fleshing out the world, but some stories felt up-right unnecessary along with some of the scenes lacking any point to the plot whatsoever.
For the first 100 pages it was great! The story was interesting as well as the whole world we were setting into, but everything after The House of Rock scenes felt more and more boring. I think there is some merit to not enjoy a book simply because it's boring even though it has a good theme and interesting message.
TL;DR book was boring and badly paced. On another note, I did sense some saving grace in the book so I might re-read in the distant future.
In the book she has to adopt a cover story of being a jewelry thief and that backstory fits her waaayyy better than being the best assassin in the world. Also also, are you telling me the ‘world's-best-assassin' doesn't know not to take candy from strangers? She just gets up one morning and sees a box full of candy and decides to eat half of it without thinking that it might be a part of the killing spree happening! Really??
The only good attributes this book had was the worldbuilding and character banter. Other than that, it felt like the bare bones of a story like the author was just making sure all of the plot points were checked off instead of thinking about a story to tell. By the way, the book was too long for my liking, major ‘this-could've-been-an-email' vibes from me around the 300 page mark.
Everyone I know has been singing its praises, but I just didn't like it. I'll continue the series to find out what people mean when they say it gets better. But overall, this book just did not do it for me.
Oh and it gets two stars instead of one because there's a book she picks up called ‘The Walking Dead' and that made me chuckle.
Thx for reading <3
Gaiman has that really unique writing style of making his stories like fairy tales that feel oddly nostalgic. Even though I have never read the book before and have never seen the movie, I felt like I knew the story. It felt familiar. Not in a creepy way, but in a comforting way. Needless to say, I loved this book and the characters. Highly recommend!
I'm not sure that I was going to like the book at first because it's not something I'd normally read. But it turned out to be a great book! The characters are interesting, the themes are amazing, and the writing is unique. Though it's not a book that I would say is ‘the-greatest-story-of-all-time', it's an enjoyable read. It's definitely a book to end a reading slump. With that being said, four stars to a very fun and enjoyable read with great themes.
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